Chris Froome has said he ‘isn’t 100% sold’ on disc brakes in an honest review of his new Factor Ostro Vam bike.
The Israel Start-Up Nation rider has only recently starting riding with disc brakes with his former team Ineos Grenadiers being the last bastion of rim brakes on the WorldTour (although Fausto Pinarello suggested that they may take the leap in 2022).
In the video, Froome takes us through the key features of the Ostro Vam before turning to the disc brakes.
‘I’m not 100% sold on them yet myself,’ he explains in the video, below. ‘I’ve been using them for the last couple of months, performance-wise they’re great: always stop when I need to stop, dry, wet, they do the job.
‘The downsides to disc brakes… the constant rubbing, the potential for mechanicals, the overheating, the discs becoming warped when you’re on a descent for longer than five/ten minutes of constant braking. Personally I just don’t think the technology is quite where it needs to be yet for road cycling.
‘I think the distance between the disc and the rotors is still just too narrow so you’re going to get that rubbing, you’re going to get one piston that fires more than another, you’re going to get these little issues. I don’t think the pistons quite retract the way they’re meant to be all the time. Quite often it will work on the stand when the mechanic sorts it out but then once you get onto the road it’s a different story.’
He concluded: ‘I accept that’s the direction the industry wants to go, we as bike riders are going to have to adapt, learn to use them and I think if you’re not on disc brakes already it’s only a matter of time before you’re made obselete in a way and forced onto them.’
Froome praised his new bike’s design and handling, bigging up the CeramicSpeed bottom bracket and rear derailleur – which he has been keen to try with an Osymetric chainring – and Hammerhead Karoo 2 computer.
Froome also admitted the Ostro Vam’s handlebars are a bit too flexible but that Factor is working on improving them.