the buying a road bike dilemma

[LOOK695]

I've been wanting a disc equipped road bike for the past 4 years now, note that I also started cycling 4 years ago

 

I have had my MTB, 2 road bikes and a CX bike in attempt to satisfy my desires, but at the end of the day I still wanted a roadie with discs. Why? Because I love them, so so much. The main reason being consistent and dependable braking all year round - I can't count on my two hands how many times I have ridden my roadies down Chapman's Peak, Suikerbossie and Smitswinkel in the rain and I would be squeezing those road levers with a deathgrip for only just enough brakes to slow me down. Not a problem on my MTB though, the discs really do their job well.

 

So like you, I have been waiting for discs on roadies to surface, but they just aren't? Not in bike shops anyways. This has pushed me to go ahead with a handbuilt steel frame that is both disc ready and futureproof. I have had several bumps in the road to date, I'll try keep this short:

 

a. Brake and axle standards

b. Wheelsets

c. Tyres

d. Framesets

 

 

a. Brake and axle standards

 

Disc brake standards have not settled at all, and in the latest news it seems that it will be something like this:

 

- Front: flat-mount disc with 12x100mm thru axle

- Rear: flat-mount disc with 12x142mm thu axle

 

I have seen a handful of disc roadies in the past year, and they are all post-mount and have QR wheels. I can't help that think those bikes will be obsolete in the next year or two when industry standards settle because post-mount is not backwards compatible with the flat mount standard - there is a flat-mount to post mount brake adapter, but not the other way around. So with a post-mount brake QR  frameset, you won't be able to upgrade to the latest iteration of disc groupsets.

 

http://www.roadbikereview.com/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/fork-15qr-700x524.jpg

 

http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.imdserve.com/images/bikes-and-gear/bikes/road/zenium-sl--9-of-14--1453464284039-101h0m22i60kq-960-540.jpg

 

http://brimages.bikeboardmedia.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Rose-Bikes_X-Lite-CW_thru-axle-fork_disc-brake-mount-detail.jpg

 

Next is that a pair of hydraulic road shifters and brakes will, more often than not, cost as much as a complete bike. And again, you don't want to be stuck with something that is available now that will be phased out in the next year or two. Because of this cable discs are great in my opinion:

 

- they allow you to use whatever groupset you want, and are simple nad easy to fix/maintain. Upgrade your groupset(s) at will!

 

- they are also available in the post-mount standard as well as flat mounts now. Check out TRP's Spyre brakes

 

http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.imdserve.com/images/news/2013/12/11/1386771872937-1c1z2wt4lo4rs-700-80.jpg

 

b. Wheelsets

 

No one stocks road disc wheelsets locally, no one. I have been to every single shop around where I stay and there is simply nothing. The best route is likely having a set handbuilt: your choice of hubs (thru axle with QR adapters is a must) laced to Stan's Grail rims. The rims have a nice profile for the road and are tubeless ready, I choose these over carbon rims hands down, not that I won't have a set of carbon wheels ready for race day The next alternative is to buy online, Chainreaction Cycles has a fair range of road disc wheelsets available ranging from dirt cheap Mavic Aksium One discs to Fulcrum Racing 5 discs and beyond. However, the most futureproof wheels they have are the Kinesis Racelights which accommodate for all the axle standards you may need and are tubeless compatible.

 

http://brimages.bikeboardmedia.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/stans-notubes-grail-gravel-road-bike-rims-preview2.jpg

 

 

c. Tyres

 

I want tubeless road tyres, period. I am so done with punctures, granted I haven't had any since riding continental GP 4seasons. Then there is the fear of a tubeless tyre burping when you are bombing down a hill at 90km/h+ or cornering hard, but that is a discussion for another day. Tyre size is a bit more important, do you want to run 25mm, 28mm, 32mm, 35mm or 42mm? I want to run 32mm for myself, but tyre choice limits me to 28mm which is fine.

 

http://photo.velo101.com/2013/grande/tubeless_hutchinson_sector_28.jpg

 

 

d. Framesets

 

If you're like me, you want a bike that can do it all. I want my bike to be able to use any and all of the brake and axle standards, all of the wheels and all of the tyre sizes. I don't want to be stuck with something this is unable to adapt to change. My opinion is that a frameset which can accomodate larger tyres is great, looks abit funny with skinny tyres but does the job perfectly well. I have ridden my CX bike in many road races while my roadies have been out of action and it performs no less than the roadies in the slightest. Some of my best times are all set on that CX actually.

 

If you want you bike to last more than 10 years, think long and hard about your frame in terms of both materials and standards. In shopping around, more than one carbon fork manufacturer has advised that any carbon disc fork should be replaced after 5 years.  Carbon is great, it is gorgeous, light and is a pleasure to ride (and to drool over and caress when you are not riding) but I wouldn't trust my life on it at high speeds on bad roads. I have come downhill at that 90km/h+ on very bad roads and have prayed for my life; my 95kgs on this 1,1kg frameset, at this speed? Will my fork snap on the next bump or will my integrated carbon handlebar-stem give in? I can't deal with those worries anymore, so I'm moving to steel. I have carbon and aluminium bikes at the moment, but steel is better suited for my specific needs. My frameset will be able to accept any axle standard, brake standard and whatever wheels and tyres I put on to it, as to how this will be achieved, it is my little secret for now.

 

This may or may not have been helpful, I may have even ruined everything and over complicated this, but I am quite tired but still wanted to share some of my thoughts. Heading off to dream about my new bike now...

 

http://roadbikeaction.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/StainlessSnobDisc-4.jpg

 

http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.imdserve.com/images/news/2012/09/24/1348580625297-z22k7lrjuksp-960-540.jpg

 

http://theradavist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Niners-RLT-9-Steel-Disc-Cross-Bike-with-Ultegra-Hydro-19-1335x890.jpg

Great informative post