The future of road cycling?

Carbon fork, 15mm thru-axle road disc. Road discs have been touted as the next big thing for years, but it looks like they’re finally ready for the mainstream. Are you ready? Or still unconvinced?

Follow Jeremy on Twitter at @jeremyrauch

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2 Responses to The future of road cycling?

  1. Doug P says:

    I am ready. I’m waiting for road discs to become the norm before I buy wheels with carbon rims.

  2. Rolling Doughnut says:

    I’ll ride discs when they pry the Mafac Racers off my cold, dead 531 frame…

    No, all seriousness aside: the brakes have arrived; I don’t see anything but minimal refinements in their design, which after all has been evolving for decades. What I’m holding out for is a fork that’s *really* designed for them — not a conventional fork with eyelets stuck on, but one built to take into account the forces the caliper applies, which are very different from those applied by rim brakes. I believe these will be the “second wave” of road discs, and I’m not looking for them to become viable and widespread for another five years at least.

    But I’m open to being happily surprised!

    The large-diameter through-axle, though — is that a little excessive? Only the noodliest road forks show meaningful side-to-side flex, to the extent that the rims move over into the brakes — so what’s a more rigid wheel attachment buy us?

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