Quote:
Originally Posted by shigzeo
the only real problem with disc brakes is that they are not good outside of mountain/touring applications. i need to shed mud and weight and the discs are heavier. they do stop amazingly well though! but for cyclocross, stopping is not really an option!
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I disagree. Good braking is a benefit no matter what the discipline. I'm sure within the next 5 years we will start to see ultra light small discs for road bikes. Quite a number of more utilitarian road bikes are now being specced with discs as standard. They are cleaner, stronger braking, make for stronger wheels, lighter rims and on. My cross bike uses disc brakes and I find it a great advantage - no cantis getting gunked up with mud - e.g....
Quote:
Originally Posted by ricksome
Chain vs Belt vs Drive Shaft
Steel Frame vs Carbon Fiber vs Chromium Aluminum vs Other Compositions
Anyone care to comment and educate me and others reading this thread about different bicycle technologies?
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Chains are here to stay - belt drives have seen a bit of a resurgence in interest in developing the design but I don't think it's going anywhere, too few real world benefits over a chain drive and a lot of disadvantages.
Materials - I don't know what 'chromium aluminium' is but all the common frame building materials have their relative merits. For my own purposes (and I think those of most people who are not purely seeking the absolute ultimate in performance - i.e. pros) steel is hard to go past - light, strong, durable, resiliant, comfortable, cheap. Ti does all of that but doubles up on the light and resiliant bits, and misses out on the cheap. Read Scot Nicol's
Metallurgy for cyclists an excellent primer even though written over 15 years ago.
I posted a few of my bikes
over in the MTB thread, here are a couple of my more road-going jobs...
Sorry to ramble - I'm much more in to bikes than headphones...
Sam