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Whoa. Now what am I going to race on? Oh yeah, I don’t race.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) has approved disc brakes for competition in the 2010-’11 cyclo-cross race season.
Read the rest at www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-allows-disc-brakes-for-cyclo-cross.
The biggest change is going to be in the wheels. Making a fork disc compliant isn’t too difficult, it has been done many times over already. And I would think the weight issue is a push – you reinforce the lowers and save nearly as much where the cantilever posts once resided. The carbon fork boys will have to invest in some new molds. But, they only have to make that investment once. Assuming, of course, the UCI doesn’t pull a Spinaci.
“This is super exciting to us,” said [Paul] Kantor [with Avid/SRAM brakes]. “Obviously we’re going to want to talk to our brothers at Zipp, they’re going to be happy to see the brake track moved off the rim; lots to discuss.”
We are going to see some interesting concepts in the wheel department.
Is this a good thing? I don’t know. I can’t really say that it is. But, I should be clear that I don’t find the inverse to be true either – that this is a bad thing.
Thoughts?
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Those 29″ Easton Carbon Haven wheels might get a lot of popularity. Let the insanity begin and the Luddites whine!
No Luddite whining here…just a concern about going down in a pile in the first few turns, before the race(s) spread out, and catching a spinning disc in the leg/back/arm/neck. It happens…
my ‘cross bike already runs disc brakes.
The issue I has was rear dropout spacing— Lemond went with the 130mm and the rest of the disc world is 135mm.
…let’s remember that along w/ the discs, you’ve also got 33mm as the new max for standard tire width…
The UCI is the speech impediment of cycling.
Sweet now cyclocrossers can have Avids that squeal like a stuck pig. You all must be stoked!! I keed. Kinda. Just got a new (used) bike for the first time in 10 years that has the Elixr(?) Jesus! They stop on a dime and give ‘ya 9 cents change. Are the courses that steep that you need discs? Or is it just the good braking in nasty conditions? Used to love waiting for the old Kool Stops to get dry enough to actually even slightly reduce your speed, tuning Dia-Comp 957’s….no I didn’t, actually. Welcome to the future you drop bar freaks!
it’s gotta be a good thing. not that I race either but it just makes good sense. the UCI are stuttering fools for taking so long before accepting the inevitable.
Aw yeah baby, let the fun begin. And wow, Spinaci, that’s a blast from the past.
Isnt a wheel technicaly a “disc”
cable actuated disc brakes are crap.
how soon will SRAM bust out hydro brake STI style shifter / brake combo
What!!!
I love my cane creek road levers and the cable actuated avid discs they yank. And hell, they give more pad clearance than the hydros. I’ll never understand why with the flimsy rotors most disc brake brands are pack’n, why they have such narrow pad clearance. some days i’ll just look at them all stink eyed and they start whining!
F!!!
i roll with them as well…have for the past two years and dig it…especially on singletrack
wound up makes a kick ass cross fork
the faster you can stop the faster you can go
My avid shortys suck, no matter how they were adjusted, still squeaked, stock brake pads wore down very fast requiring very frequent adjustment. I went with a non-avid pad, much better. Avid customer service said they would send me a free set of pads because they were wearing so fast but they sent me the wrong ones.
when I upgrade the cross bike in year or two I hope it has disks.
My road bike brakes are campy chorus, absolutely superb. However it is hard to compare cross with road brakes.
Even the postmen have these funky little disk brakes in Belgium…
The best thing about disks is that the manufacturers must make stronger front wheels. These have long passed the insanity level and fold at the slightest provocation. And if you think disk brakes on road serve no purpose, just put Beloki’s career finishing crash on loop until you do.
On a personal level, I ride all winter, and here in Belgium winters are long and muddy. This wears down pads at a rate of 1 to 2 sets in front a month. And the front wheel is toast once spring cometh. So, hell yeah, bring on the disks, i’d rather change pads and rotors than throw away wheels.
(And on a side note, does anyone still make steel wheels for race bikes? I’ve got steel wheels on my city bike, Raleigh from 1975, and the tracks are still good and despite spleeping outside only a few specks of rust.)
G
It’s about time for disc brakes, and it would be nice if they result in fewer crashes and tighter racing. I understand the UCI’s conservative stance on not letting technology change the nature of the sport, but brakes are brakes. Just because one system does the job more safely and reliably than the other, doesn’t mean the sport is going to be polluted.
It will be interesting to see how the tire width restriction plays out on some of the sandier race courses though.
cable-actuated disc brakes are not really suitable for MTB applications but for riding my ‘cross bike in sloppy conditions (Seattle) they work great. I also run Avid hyrdos on my MTB and GOD DAMN are they fussy to dial the squeal out of.