Disclaimer: I admit I'm a slightly over-zealous, biased proponent of hydraulic disc brakes, so please take this as nothing more than absolute truth :). I'm sure SRAM will solve whatever problem is plaguing these particular disc brakes, but I have to say in the last 10 years of riding in sub-freezing weather on hydraulic discs without a single failure, I have only experienced superior performance and reliability with hydraulic discs under severe conditions.
Look, we all know rim brakes (under the right conditions) are a time-tested, simple and reliable technology, BUT can be subject to all kinds of rim variables and conditions that can affect their reliabilty... (e.g. muck, wet, snow & ice that collects on the rims, misaligned pads, poor lever/cable setup, trueness of rim, etc.). Disc brakes are generally not impacted by these same rim conditions (other than poor setup/adjustment... which still leads to lousy braking regardless). Cable-actuated disc brakes are less-impacted by mud, muck and ice, but still have moving, semi-exposed cables, calipers and springs that can really stiffen up in cold weather. Hydraulic disc brakes are less-impacted by mud, much and ice, and are mostly sealed to the elements. Besides the plunger at the lever and the pistons, fluid (in a sealed environment) is the only thing moving. Just like automobile brakes and heavy equipment hydraulics, hydraulic brakes on bikes are designed to function reliably in extreme conditions. And anyone who claims hydraulic brake lines can't easily be fixed out in the wilds just hasn't done it, that's all. It's not rocket science. In fact if I were embarking on a multi-day tour away from civilization, I'd have a lightweight, compact kit with me that would get me through any potential jam with my brakes... but then again there's also a very high probability I'd never need to use it. Like em or not, it takes a much stronger case to bash hydraulic disc brakes. Hydraulic rim brakes? Sorry, can't argue that one... End of rant. BB On Tuesday, December 17, 2013 10:56:56 PM UTC-5, Doug Williams wrote: > > I'm weaving flowers into my beard right now and looking for a lugged steel > maypole. Care to join me? From SRAM and the Bike Snob New York: > > Doug > > > *It has recently come to our attention that during last weekend’s > Cyclocross racing in the US, in sub freezing temperatures, several failures > were reported. In these conditions the master cylinder seals failed to hold > pressure resulting in abrupt loss of brake power, and an inability to stop > the bike. These failures are related to product that is outside the > originally stated date code range and unrelated to the original failure > mode. No injuries have been reported to date.* > > *As a result of this new finding, SRAM requests that anyone who has a bike > equipped with SRAM Hydraulic Disc or Hydraulic Rim Brakes stop using the > bike immediately. All products shipped to date, and currently in the market > or in inventory will be recalled.* > > Upon reading this, retrogrouches around the world wove flowers into their > beards and danced arm-in-arm around the lugged steel maypole, reveling in > the irony that the very conditions in which hydrolic dick breaks are > supposed to excel were instead their undoing. Meanwhile, the experts at > SRAM have been working around the clock to find a new way to convince > people that you need hydraulic braking for slow bicycle races that last > only 45 minutes to an hour in which you have access to a spare bicycle > roughly every five minutes. > > As for the hydraulic rim brakes, all SRAM has to say about that is that if > you actually bought those then the joke's on you. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
