Disc Brakes and Velomobiles

[Aushiker]

I am still working through the options/directions to take with respect to a velomobile and whilst the Sinner Mango is on the short list I also do like the Ice Sprint/Borealis combination. However one deal breaker for me is having dynamo power. Now Sinner Bikes have made progress on this aspect with a mid-mount dynamo but it seems that with the Borealis the only option is a SON XS-M and disc brakes.

Some velo pilots seem to have issues with disc brakes in their velomobiles with pad wear rates being high. There is also the issue of having to remove the calliper to replace the pads.

I am wondering but if the pad wear rates would be that high for a velomobile ridden here in Western Australia where the riding conditions are generally much milder (Mediterranean climate) or would there still be enough crap getting into the wheel well during winter to do the damage?

Thoughts?

Andrew

[tonycollinet]

I still have original pads in my ICE Sprint after two years and about 5000 miles. (Avid BB7 brakes)

[PhilO]

No experience of disks on velomobiles specifically, but I get at least 6 months muddy, abrasive riding out of a set of pads on my MTB so I find it hard to believe that you'd get high wear rates on the road. 

Calliper removal is trivial (2 bolts) and aligning the callipers is p*** easy when refitting with post mount. The only thing I'd be mildly cautious of is heat build up on long descents. Disks can overheat with prolonged dragging and are better employed to give a series of hard decelerations with gaps in between. I suspect (but don't know) that brake cooling might be compromised by the body shell, while the extra weight and aerodynamics will increase the load on the brakes on a long descent, making this harder to avoid. Whether this is a potential problem depends on the terrain, of course.

[Kim]

I still have original pads in my ICE Sprint after two years and about 5000 miles. (Avid BB7 brakes)

My Streetmachine's getting to the point of needing a new front pad (also BB7) after about the same mileage.  That's with a single front brake.

Barakta's ICE Sprint is just bedding them in at about 800 miles.

[StuAff]

Josef Janning (Quest owner) recently posted on BROL that more water, salt & dirt ends up on the brakes with a velomobile as it gets thrown around the wheelarches, causing higher pad wear. I get his point, but should I succumb to buying a velo myself, it'll have discs....I wouldn't fancy drums on most of the terrain round here. And cleaning should help anyway.

[Aushiker]

Josef Janning (Quest owner) recently posted on BROL that more water, salt & dirt ends up on the brakes with a velomobile as it gets thrown around the wheelarches, causing higher pad wear. I get his point, but should I succumb to buying a velo myself, it'll have discs....I wouldn't fancy drums on most of the terrain round here. And cleaning should help anyway.

It was these comments that got me thinking ... no snow here but

Andrew