Bicycles
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Having ridden and raced both I can say I marginally favor disc. Rim brakes are very easy to deal with as compared to disc and, I personally think, look better. But, disc has noticeably better stopping power, especially in wet conditions. Brake rub on disc brakes makes me want to stab myself in the ear. You can get rub on either type of brake but only one type (disc) sounds like you're sharpening a knife for the entire ride.
This summer racing stage one of the Baker City Classic down in Oregon having disc brakes probably saved me from a very serious crash. Going somewhere between 50 and 55MPH I was leading the group into a blind right hand corner that until you began the turn you couldn't get a look at the road. Turns out it was covered in gravel and the line I had chosen was leading me right into it. Rather than chance riding through it with a solid lean, as we were hauling ass, I sat up and rode straight into the other lane (there was no oncoming traffic) which gave me enough time to grab a ton of brake and keep the wheels down and stay on the road. There's a legitimate chance I would have gone off the road into the barbed wire cattle fence had I not been riding disc.
Rim also tends to be more aero and lighter, but those two factors are pointless reasons to choose one over the other unless you're a highly competitive bike racer.
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@BloodnThunder beautiful bike!
Curious what invisible means do you use to keep the bike upright?
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@motojobobo Thanks! Just a cheap camera trick. iPhone is set to 0.5x zoom which gives it a bit of a fish eye effect. Looks like I'm not close to the bike at all but I'm standing just outside of view to the left. Hand on the saddle, pull hand off, click photo, hand on saddle. Bike has to stay upright on it's own for maybe 1-2 seconds.
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Another vote here for disc brakes on the basis of the safety of better stopping power.
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Retrogrouch checking in:
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Yeah I like to feel shifts as little as possible and for them to occur as quickly and decisively as possible. Clicking into a gear versus sort of pulling into it is great. Hydraulic discs retain the dynamism required to feather and modern drivetrains seem to support more of a quantized all or nothing feel and less dicking around between gears.
This is the song @seawolf
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Look at that beauty!!
Yup, I love riding this thing. 2011/2012/2013 (totally unclear) Ritchey Swiss Cross canti with Paul brakes and HED Belgium+ laced to White hubs with Sapim spokes. This thing shreds. 40T with 11-42 in the rear.
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@motojobobo Thanks! Just a cheap camera trick. iPhone is set to 0.5x zoom which gives it a bit of a fish eye effect. Looks like I'm not close to the bike at all but I'm standing just outside of view to the left. Hand on the saddle, pull hand off, click photo, hand on saddle. Bike has to stay upright on it's own for maybe 1-2 seconds.
Cool trick! Never thought of it, I’ll try it soon. Thanks
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less dicking around between gears.
This pretty much sums it up. When I tap the shifter, it shifts. Period. Less dicking around. No stretched cables. No barrel adjustments. No tweaking. Just shifting. It's heavenly, to be honest.
Thanks for the song! WP has always intrigued me, but I've never really dipped my toe in the water.
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New crank for the S5 came in yesterday. Absolute work of art, is super stiff, and weighs half as much as a Dura Ace crank.
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Whoa. Looks really good. What power meter are you using?
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Switching to Assioma pedal based power. I've been using them a bit on my Exploro and they work really well.
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is it a drop bar lever you are looking for?
Microshift make an Alfine compatible lever set. They are in stock at St John Street cycles in the UK.
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The Pinion build is nearly done.
Looking forward to the shakedown ride.
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Pinion build completed.
Test ride next!
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Beautiful @ddtrash ; I hope to hear more once you've ridden!
