WEST LONDON CYCLING

West London and Chilterns Cycling … plus loads more

Topical tool as (at the time of publication) we have seen Chris Froome commenting on Disc Brake Rotor Rub

Now if you’ve been reading the cycling tittle-tattle that journalists use to fill space in the quiet months, you’ll be aware that we are all supposed to be concerned that top pro cyclist Chris Froome still isn’t convinced that disc brakes are right for him. His recent comments centre on disc rotor rub, and to be fair to him, there can be an issue.

The point is that the disc pads are very close to the rotor and, consequently, alignment is a fine art. If the wheel shifts or pistons are slow retracting after a long downhill, there will be a short period of rub after, say, a long descent. We don’t disagree, although we are not so bothered as Chris about fine margins and a bit of rotor rub is unlikely to be crucial on a Sunday Club Run. Whether rotor rub has cost any West London Cyclists a Strava KOM, we’re not sure, but we have not heard any gripes about rotor rub causing heartache in this area.

The other issue is warped discs. This can occur through heat, or at the point of manufacture. Rotors get very hot on long descents of course and some mechanics tell us that not too many discs are perfectly true from the get-go.

There is a tool around for truing a rotor, but we are not sure whether we recommend you all risk scratching and worsening your discs in the process ….. if you do decide to give it a go, it may be worth watching some instructional YouTube videos first!