Thinking about giving in and getting a winter bike......

[Hels147]

I'm debating getting a winter/bad weather bike.

My main justification is that I've realised rim brakes scare me witless in conditions like we've been having recently! I'm also going to start commuting on the bike again soon, so want to use it for that, as well as winter club runs.

So, my main criteria is for disc brakes, and probably hydraulic as that's what I'm use to on my mtb's.

I've been looking at the Planet X London road hydraulic disc

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXLDNRIV ... -road-bike

Does anyone have an option on that bike, or suggestions for alternatives I could look at? Budget is around a grand.

Tia

Hels

[Colin G]

Hi Helen

I bought an Eastway last year to commute on. It's taken a hammering on the tow paths and so far has proven pretty bullet proof. Old school road bike geometry and very comfortable. Mine has cantilever brakes and lots of clearance but they do disc brake bikes for less than a grand. Got mine off Wiggle, reduced from £999 to £399!

I did the C run 100 mile on it last year and was glad of the comfy 35mm tyres. It's my favourite bike to ride.

Worth a look.

[Hels147]

Thanks Colin,

I've now had a look at eastway on wiggle and found this one I like the look of....

http://tinyurl.com/jhgj4ce

Aaaaand, I keep pushing the budget! (although I do get 12% off that price...)

I'll keep looking.

Hels

[deero83]

Definitely worth looking at a Genesis Croix de Fer.

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/adv ... -de-fer-10

[Colin G]

Stick some mudguards on that Genesis and you've got a perfect all rounder. Just the ticket.

[petemarshall]

I'm debating getting a winter/bad weather bike.

My main justification is that I've realised rim brakes scare me witless in conditions like we've been having recently! I'm also going to start commuting on the bike again soon, so want to use it for that, as well as winter club runs.



Tia

Hels

Any modern rim brake correctly set up is more than capable of locking up your wheels,something you don't want on a road bike. You will loose traction from your tyres long before your brakes have a problem. Duel pull brakes with decent pads give excellent feedback and control when used correctly.
Discs have their place off road and on touring bikes but for riding in groups on the road are not a good idea particularly for in experienced riders who often over use brakes.

I have witnessed three incidents on C runs in the last couple of years that caused minor accidents. All were caused by riders locking their wheels by over enthusiastic use of their brakes, none were caused by lack of braking power.

[Hels147]

Any modern rim brake correctly set up is more than capable of locking up your wheels,something you don't want on a road bike. You will loose traction from your tyres long before your brakes have a problem.
Disc brakes are not a panacea for braking and can be hazardous when used on the road particularly in groups.

Sorry pete, but I don't agree with you there. Yes rim brake can be more than capable of locking up a wheel, but both braking systems depend upon the friction between the pads and the braking surface. In weather and lanes such as I've encountered recently, the problem has been detritus between the rim and the brake blocks preventing braking from being effective and also causing damage to the wheels. Rim brakes, by their design, regardless of whether they are set up correctly or not, will always be more suceptable than disc brakes to this type of failure.

And as for being hazardous in groups. A lot of things can be hazardous to groups, but fortunately I go on social group rides, not high speed chain gangs. I think being unable to stop would be a lot more hazardous to groups than correctly used disc brakes will ever be.

[Colin G]

I think Helen you refer to the particularly foul weather C run recently where we were all affected to varying degrees by a drop off in braking efficiency(especially Tom at the bottom of Weatheroak - but that's another story!).

I have disc, caliper and cantilever braked bikes and for me cantilever give the best all round feel and you get less of a build up of crud compared to calipers. My disc braked bike gives consistent stopping power which does instil confidence, but can catch you out if the surface you're trundling along degrades (loose material, moisture etc) where as Pete says the brakes suddenly outperform the tyres. It's all about judgement I guess, and that comes from getting out on the bike and getting to know its characteristics which I'm sure you will.

Plenty of people ride discs on the road without a hitch - it's all personal choice. At least we're not all on steel rims anymore - now they were scary in the wet.

Anyway, thread hi-jack - happy bike hunting whatever braking system you plump for!

[jdtate101]

I ride my CX bike with Canti's in the wet and as long as you have a quality set of pads it's just fine. Swissstop Green's or Koolstop Salmons are the best for wet weather riding and give great modulation and feel in both dry and wet conditions. I'd recommend you buy a set and try them before spending out on another bike.....


....but don't let that put you off an N+1 , that's always a good option

[CakeStop]

I used to think the same as Pete regarding the limit imposed by the size of the contact patch between tyre and road but when I bought a CX / "Trail" bike it came with 42mm tyres which helped deal with that.

I only have cable discs but I've never ever felt in danger of locking them up on the road. I have much more fun on my CX bike than my regular winter bike and I love the ride with the wide tyres. The key thing is sufficient clearance for tyres that can be used on / off road, the disc brakes simply mean that in wet and / or mucky conditions the brakes are effective and don't trash the rims.

In dry conditions they're possibly less effective than koolstop salmon rim brakes but that might be my instinct not to squeeze the levers hard enough to get the best out of them and it might not be the case for hydraulics. If I were so inclined, in the dry I could lock the koolstop rim brakes easier than the discs. The same is possibly also true in the wet because rim brakes tend to be ineffective initially but then suddenly grab. So, in a group, I reckon I'd probably be more predictable with discs and if people behind me have a problem stopping I'd expect them to leave a bigger gap.

[Hels147]

I use swissstop green already because of their good reviews.

As mentioned in my original post, I am use to hydraulic disc brakes from both my mountain bikes having them.

[dweben]

I had swissstop on my older commuter and running discs on the newer one. Much nicer in the rain. No lag from wet discs plus you buy one set of wheels and never wear them out and rarely change pads.

The whole thing locking wheels before losing brakes I doubt really ever happens on the road for the front.

Only downside is the horrific noise they can make if setup wrong, though it has some use.

Then again I'm an MTBer and hate rim brakes

[snailmale]

A single fixed is ideal in wintry conditions, gives you far more control than riding a 'free',and doesn't involve arm and a leg' kit investment.

You would rarely have seen a club rider out on gears in the winter months in the 50's - 60's, and they were almost universally used for time-trialling, up to 100 miles. Fixed wheel riding teaches you how to pedal and, to me, always seems far more positive than gears.

[petemarshall]

A single fixed is ideal in wintry conditions, gives you far more control than riding a 'free',and doesn't involve arm and a leg' kit investment.

You would rarely have seen a club rider out on gears in the winter months in the 50's - 60's, and they were almost universally used for time-trialling, up to 100 miles. Fixed wheel riding teaches you how to pedal and, to me, always seems far more positive than gears.

They also have the great advantage of teaching you to slow gradually with control particularly useful when cornering in groups.
I have strongly encouraged those who come to my coaching sessions to try fixed both on the road and the track and am glad to see that some are doing so.
Being unfit myself these days I find descending on a fixed a bit much so run a freewheel single speed with brakes in the winter. Maybe it's because I am slow but have never run out of brakes just legs despite not using discs. But obviously technology changes and encourages sales.

[Andy Terry]

The other thing riding a fixie (road and/or track) teaches you is observation and anticipation. And that, in turn, leads to less braking.

[petemarshall]

In coached sessions I wouldn't mix fixed and free wheels though and I am not sure I would want to mix them on group rides on the road unless all the riders were very experienced. As I said in my initial post all the incidents I have witnessed (as I usually lead C rides there may have been others that happened behind me) had at the root over braking rather than lack of brakes. When on a fixed the last thing you want is people yanking on the anchors in front of you My primary concern with riders using disc brakes on C runs is that this may get worse. I will stick to riding at the front