In 2010 the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale - the world governing body for sports cycling) allowed disc brakes to be used on competition cyclo-cross bikes. Since then there has been much speculation on whether the suits at UCI would change the rules for road cycling.
I am a big fan of disc brakes. I was a mad keen (and dangerous) mountain biker in the 90s and getting my first bike with disc brakes was a life changing moment (ok so maybe it wasn’t that big a deal but it was memorable). The stopping power is so much better compared to calipers. The issues that have prevented the UCI allowing discs for the road included problems that were faced by the MTB industry – such as when the braking force was twisting hub axles out of it's frame or fork (more details here on road.cc). But there is no reason road bikes can't adopt the quick release thru-axle seen on modern day MTBs to counter this.
Whilst not all bikes will adopt discs in the future if UCI pass the ruling to allow them in competition all the top end performance bikes certainly will. Here at Cooper Bikes we have already been in development of one Urban commuter bike that has disc brakes. Our challenge is too keep the simplicity and beautiful look to our bikes when adding disc brakes – which is certainly a challenge. Look out for some sneak spy shots of the T400 commuter bike soon. Below is a picture of Colnago C59 Disc recently launched.
