Froome's Disc Brake Doubts: What Can We Learn?

Following Chris Froome’s appraisal of his new Israel Start-Up bike, Stefan Abram looks into the anatomy of his foremost bugbear

- Stefan Abram

Just when the fuss about disc brakes in the pro peloton had started to die down, the topic was reignited by Chris Froome, via a YouTube ‘review’ of his Factor team bike from Israel Start-Up Nation.

In the video, published earlier this month, Froome reawakened several arguments against disc brakes, including stating that he experienced issues with the pads and rotors rubbing, as well as overheating on descents.

In part, we were grateful. Where would cycling be without its little holy wars? Whether aero or lightweight is best, how high your socks should be, how wide your tyres should be, and what you should put inside them. Without these (at times bewilderingly) passionate debates we would lose some of the richness that attracts us to cycling.

Part of the joy is hearing and understanding different people’s opinions, applications, and priorities. We learn what works well for others and through that we can reflect on what might work well for us. So, let’s take a deep dive into the points Froome raised and try and work out what to make of them.

Froome’s comments around warped rotors and rubbing disc brake pads are not unique. So, clearly, there are cases where disc brake technology can throw up issues – and these are areas where the technology and compatibility need to improve.

WHAT COULD BE GOING WRONG?

1.ROTORS

Firstly, it’s notable that Israel Start-Up Nation uses Swiss Stop rotors and pads, rather than the Shimano DuraAce components that would match the rest of the groupset.

Although both brands’ rotors are nominally the same thickness at 1.8mm, Dave Farmer from Surrey Hills Cycleworks finds that the Swiss Stop rotors actually tend to come up a little thicker at around 2.0mm.