It’s late. And we’re in the throes of a long standing discussion about what brakes to put on our new Argo Cyclo X beauty. Like Sophies Choice, we’re torn. Strong solid reasoning, current marketing trends and an overdose of MTB in our veins, tells us to take the risk, and go with Disc brakes – and re-haul the frame design. But then like the lure of an ex-girlfriend who’s gotten older, a little lumpy but still has all the ‘bits’ in the right places, one of us is still drawn to Caliper brakes.
Disc: is it the future? Is the braking really that much different on a cross bike? Does it bestow that much more confidence, to make substantial gains? Is it worth all the extra attention (new/specific wheels, specific forks and frame mounts, etc…)?
Caliper: reliable (most of the time). Massive wheel choice and double usage if you need the wheels for road. Easily adapted to a lot of bikes (no additional new fork or frame mountings). But is it the same scary face that DVD had when it heard about it’s mate ‘Movie Download’..?
We can’t decide. Be the adjudicator. The peacemaker and dealbraker. Let us know your thoughts… there’s some big ego’s at stake here!
The Kingdom Crew.
(Here’s our debuting piece about the Argo )
Alas, poor Canti breaks, I knew them well (to continue the Shakespeare quotations)
I defer to the opinion of James Huang (@angryasian), tech guru of cyclingnews.com. The one major point, beyond brake performance or wheel choice, is that you can trash a disc wheel and still be able to ride to the pits. No matter how wobbly the rim, the brakes will still work and the wheel will still roll.
I have just had a pair of SS disc wheels built (I am AVANT GARDE). There is plenty of MTB hubs to geek out over, and the list of options is only going to grow.
I hd them built onto 32h reflexes, ‘natch. Some inherited Dugasts and away I go. They are some of my favourite wheels now.
Definitely go disc. The other benefit is (as long as the hubs are the same) that wheel swaps are super easy, no fiddling with brakes. Great mud clearance, more consistent braking, what’s not to like?
But please go with 135mm spaced rear, 130mm is outdated and awkward!