If you haven’t noticed by now, road discs are coming. The benefits of a road disc brake system have long been understood, but designing a system that functions in the unique circumstances of high performance road cycling has proven harder than anticipated. With hybrid offerings leaving something to be desired, improved purpose-built road disc brake systems have become a target of many industry leaders.

Looking to capitalize on the new wave of road stoppers, TRP -the high end division of Tektro- has been at the forefront of road discs starting with their Parabox Hydraulic disc brake converter. Even as hydraulic integrated shift levers are popping up, the truth is that there are still an incredible number of mechanical brake levers both out in the wild and on lower end bikes, so designing a disc brake that’s compatible with them represents a huge opportunity for both OEM and aftermarket.

Not content to just create a better hydraulic brake, TRP thought they could reinvent the mechanical disc as well, resulting in the TRP Spyre mechanical and HyRd mechanical/hydraulic road disc brakes. The brakes have been teased for some time, though we finally got to put some real world testing in the hills of Los Gatos on both braking systems to see how well they could take the heat.

Read on for first impressions and tech break down of the HyRd and Spyre…

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At Interbike, Volagi showed a very attractive commuter build of their steel Viaje road bike. Using FSA road compact cranks, stem and  Metropolis handlebar with XT hydraulic brakes, levers, derailleurs (rear) and cassette, it blended the right gearing for both speed and ease with impeccable braking.

One could argue that it doesn’t have the right geometry for a commuter bike. That it doesn’t have appropriate rack mounts to carry enough cargo or mount panniers. You could even argue that there are more purpose built bikes or steel road bikes for less money.

Logical arguments, sure, but they missing the point entirely. Make them and you’d be missing out on one wicked fast, wicked smooth bicycle that simply rides perfectly. Besides shaving five minutes off my already short ride-the-kids-to-school-quickly-because-we-got-up-late-but-still-made-waffles-from-scratch morning intervals, this bike did two great things:

First, it showed the incredible versatility of the Viaje. Want a road bike? Great, build it up with traditional parts. Want a super fast commuter? Here’s proof it works for that, too. Want any combination of anything for riding any kind of terrain shy of full on mountain biking? No problem, just mix and match to get exactly what you want.

Second, it’s given me confidence that disc brakes on road bikes will indeed live up to expectations – or surpass them, depending on where you sit. Click through to see why and for a full review of the Viaje…

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Braided carbon fiber tubes aren’t completely new, BMC’s doing it with their Impec, but they’re still rare. Rarer still is seeing it done to maximum effect using silicone mandrels to shape the finished tubes like design student Jacob Haim’s RaceBRAID road bike shown here.

Developed as a graduate project with the help of Munich Composites, the bike’s main tubes are woven around silicone mandrels to provide shape. The benefit to such construction methods is that it minimizes wasted materials and man hours spent on layup. The material layup and density in each section of each tube can be precisely controlled, then resin is injected and it’s cured. The inside of the tube looks as good as the outside, and minimal finishing work is necessary.

For his thesis project, Haim used a lugged construction, which allowed him to use the same tubes for all frame sizes from 50 to 60 cm while still allowing it to be customized to the riders. That’s part of the reason the seatstays meet the seat tube so low on this bike.

Click through for more pics and details…

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There’s no doubt disc brakes are well on their way to the road bike market. A few major brands like Colnago and Specialized recently introduced production models, Volagi built their brand with them from the outset, and disc brake cyclocross bikes are pouring in.

But what does all this mean for the other side of the wheel? We’ve covered (here and here) some of the technical challenges and concerns of using disc brakes on road bikes and the changes required for wheels. But the conversation’s been missing one critical element of the shift. Virtually everyone that’s making or planning a disc brake road or cyclocross bike has 135mm rear hub spacing on the drawing board.

That’s 5mm wider than what road bike frames have been designed for. 5mm wider than what decades of drivetrains have been designed around. Sure, that’s only 2.5mm per side, which doesn’t sound like much. Until you consider that Shimano only needed 1.8mm to add an 11th cog.

We spoke with the engineers and product managers at FSA, SRAM, Shimano, Specialized, Parlee and Volagi to see how this will affect chain line, shifting performance and heel clearance on what could very well be your next road bike…

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The Volagi Viaje steel framed disc brake road bike has successfully closed it’s Kickstarter Campaign, raising $23,000 and change more than they needed.

If you were fortunate enough to snag one through the fundraising campaign, you’ve got two bits of good news coming: First, you got one helluva deal. Second, frames start delivering in late November if you chose the 4130 chromoly Viaje XL frame, and early December for complete bikes. If you went for the higher end Viaje SL with Columbus Spirit tubing, you’re looking at a February delivery and something else to fall in love with around Valentines Day.

Volagi’s chief-of-everything-except-bike-design Susan Forsman told us they have about 1,000 frames in production between the two models, so inventory should be good for anyone looking to grab one post-Kickstarter. XL frames will be $1,195 and SL’s are $1,495. Both include their fork, which is a bit taller than the Liscio’s and has a full 1.5″ taper at the bottom. And fender mounts.

Now, about that gorgeous flat bar build above: That’s the showstopper they had at Interbike, and we just got it in and built for a full review here at Bikerumor! Look for a weigh-in and first impressions soon.

Founded in 1980, Pacific Cycles is a large scale (one of the largest) private label manufacturers. While they weren’t giving up their client list, I was told they make the frames for one of my personal favorite brands, and you’ll see a few of the brands in this two-part post about them.

First, a bit of clarification: This is not the Pacific Cycle that bought and commoditized Schwinn and others before selling to Dorel in 2004. This is Pacific Cycles-with-an-S that’s introduced some technological firsts to the cycling world and makes some seriously high end frames. And has some seriously unique products and ideas. A quick bit of history, as told by founder George Lin:

• 1985 – First company in cycling industry to use AutoCad
• 1988 – First 7005 alloy frame in Taiwan
• 1992 – First twin shock full suspension bike
• 1993 – Created the Hot Chili, which was developed by Peter Denk, who went on to work in product development for Scott and (currently) Cannondale
• 1998 – Set up their first CNC shop for faster prototyping
• 2012 – 3D scanning & rapid prototyping added, and the first fruit of this labor is the Mando Footloose we saw at Eurobike.

In 2010, they opened a bicycle museum with about 150 bikes, including historical models (including a few Schwinns from the heyday) and capped by the modern ones built by Pacific Bicycles. They’ve seen more than 10,000 visitors so far this year, which is impressive considering they’re not located in one of Taiwan’s major cities.

They developed lots of folding bikes, two of note are the Birdy, Carry Me and, with a designer, the iF Mode shown above, which won an IF design award. The new “baby Mode” is a 20″ folding bike that’s coming soon.

This year, they added 3D scanning and rapid prototyping. The first fruit of this effort is the Mando Footloose folding bike we showed in one of our tradeshow galleries.

Take a tour for the old, the new and the bizarre…

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We’ve rounded up the miscellany road bikes and mountain bikes, but this may very well be my favorite grouping. I call it “other” and it has some of the best bikes of both Eurobike and Interbike.

The Blackbraid from PG Bikes in Germany was a showstopper. Not only does it give new meaning to asymmetric stays, but the insanely high end build of THM bits, Lightweight wheels and Gates Belt Drive put it in under 11 pounds! Check out plenty more eye candy cruisers and bruisers below…

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Disc brake adventure bikes are getting big, really big. Images of the Volagi Viaje adventure bike showed up a while back, and the complete is now on Kickstarter. They’re offered in two versions, Columbus Spirit for the Viaje SL, a higher end build pictured above, and 4130 Chromo steel for the less costly Viaje XL. It resembles the Viscio visually, with the Longbow stays, and they’ve changed up the geometry, extending the wheelbase and shrinking the top tube for a more upright riding position.

The Viaje SL runs $2,900 complete, $900 for the frame. The XL runs $1900 complete, $600 for the frame. Both come in a choice of three colorways – Blue, Cream, and Red. Click on through for the video…
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Volagi has updated their frames with internal routing for both mechanical and electronic routing. It’s a running change that becomes the second generation Liscio and will start shipping soon.

The other big change to the frame is a move to 135mm rear spacing, bringing it inline with trends.

Co-founder Robert Choi says the frame weight is about the same despite the changes.

They’ve been testing the TRP Parabox extensively for use as a stock option. And by extensively, we’re talking ever since its introduction. They opted not to spec the first generation of it, but after working with TRP to develop better bleed procedures (they recommend using the Jaguar Pro Bleed Kit, QBP part no. TL0121 if you’re interested) and even swapping in Shimano resin pads for better heat resistance. They’ve been abusing them and are finally ready to offer it as an upgrade option next month.

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Unveiled in early March, Colnago’s C59 is the second current-generation production road bike with disc brakes (Volagi being the first). Where it differs is with the integrated Di2 shifting and dedicated hydraulic brake levers without any converter. For a close up look at the braking/shifting system and a matte black version of this bike, click here.

Apples to apples, the complete frameset is 150g heavier from reinforced fork and chainstays, but Colnago USA’s Billy Kanzler say the brakes are about 20g lighter than a Dura-Ace set. So, the difference is minimal and the added weight sits low on the frame. Benefit: Lower COG. Kanzler says they’re excited about the potential for the added frame weight being offset by lighter, more aero disc specific wheels in the future.

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