Quote:
Originally Posted by TandemGeek
Roadies buy what the Pro's race and discs present issues that make them ill-suited for road bikes:
1. Weight penalty and, well, folks spend anywhere from $1 to $5 a gram for weight reductions on road bikes.
2. Wheel change compatibility issues. When a pro gets a flat they slap on a replacement wheel that may or may not come from their own team, i.e., Mavic neutral support. It's been hard enough with variations of Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo 9, 10 and now 11 speed in the peloton, getting a common fit for disc calipers and rotors would be a nightmare.
3. Too much of a good thing. Road bikes already have more than enough brake power on the front wheel and the rear brake is nearly useless for anything other than scrubbing off speed on long descents. So, adding a disc, even with a small rotor, would be overkill.
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I raced for 12 years, I know full well why they aren't on road bikes, but i don't necessarily believe that the negligable weight penalty keeps them off. it is easier to slow a spinning wheel at the rim than at the hub, so a rim brake will take less force. The larger diameter road wheels require a stronger spoke pattern when you are stopping the hub rather than the rim, a radialy laced front wheel wont take kindly to aggressive disc stopping. in general, roadies resist change for the most part and only adopt new technology after everybody else has.
I started racing mountain bikes when they were still rigid (late 80's), when rock shox released their fork, the hardcore racers declared the added 1 lb as unacceptable, once Tomac started kicking everybody's ass with a fork on his bike, the adaptation was quick.
lastly, aggressive slowing isn't a benefit to road racing, keeping momentum is, so the ability to stop quicker isn't a value added benefit.
with all that said, dics brakes look cool, and are low maintenance. if i ever build up a new road bike i will disc it.