Wheels and axles
Wheels and axles
One of the other problems for early adopters of disc brakes on the road was the fact that most wheel brands didn’t have disc options. If you bought a disc-equipped bike there was a definitely possibility that you’d be wedded to the wheels that came with it, and very little choice if you wanted something fancy.
Now though, most of the big names in the wheel world have disc-ready models in their line-ups. Zipp, Reynolds, Enve, Mavic, Bontrager and more all have something to offer, whether it’s alloy clinchers or top-end carbon. Again, the choice is only set to grow.
In theory, providing you don’t crash them, disc-ready wheels should last longer. Rim braking is destructive as each time you brake you wear the braking surface away a little more and eventually you’ll have to re-rim the wheels or replace them altogether because it’ll have worn through. With disc brakes, all the wear happens to the rotors, which are replaceable.
Wheels also bring up the issue of axles. Currently QR skewers are almost universal on road bikes because their superbly efficient and effective. But on the horizon looms the through (or thru) axle.
With a through axle, widely used on mountain bikes, the whole wheel axle is basically taken out to remove the wheel, rather than a QR which instead slots through the axle built into the wheel’s hub. The advantages of a through axle is that they’re bigger, stiffer and stronger than a QR skewer, and that’s potentially quite important which the different braking forces of discs.
Again, Colnago were an example of an early adopter of this technology, equipping their VR-1 Disc road bike with their Hex Lock 15 through axle that they had developed in conjunction with suspension specialists Manitou.
There’s still some uncertainty about what way the market will evolve, with some disc bikes coming out with QR dropouts and others with through axles. What your disc bike has will affect the wheel choices available. That said, an increasing number bike and wheel manufacturers are looking to future-proof their equipment by offering a convertible solution, but it’s something to keep an eye on.