After such a positive review of Disco Brakes semi metallic pads back in February it seems only right to try a set of the company’s floating rotors as well.
First impressions
I opted for my go to 203 front rotor and 180 rear sizing as I find this a good compromise on local trails between slowing down and locking up.
The rotors look and feel great, the edges are well finished, no play in the rivets and colour on the carriers is well finished. The braking surface is made of toughened stainless steel with an aluminium carrier and comes in a reported 1.8mm thick with a 0.08mm tolerance. On the vernier caliper the 180mm came up bang on while the 203mm was a little out at 1.73mm thick. In terms of weight the 180 came in at 130g while the 203 came in at 172g. This sets the rotors slightly lighter than some of the big hitters.
On the bike
Fitting the rotors is as easy as any other set, stick the bolts in and torque to manufactures spec. Both rotors were bang on straight with no issues setting them up in our Shimano or Magura calipers (Note: Magura spec a 2mm rotor not 1.8mm). Set up with a brand-new set of sintered pads the rotors bed in very quickly and gave a consistent and firm braking point outside the workshop.
The weather in Scotland has been perfect for testing brakes. We started with snow and ice, went to rain, had a few weeks of super dry trails and now we are back to rain. With all this the Disco Brakes floating rotors have been through the ringer!
To really test the rotors I have been sending it down a mix of flowy, long technical and short snappy runs with lots of breaking. I found that the rotors worked marginally better in terms of bite point with the Shimano set up which can likely be attributed to the Maguras asking for a slightly thicker rotor. Having said that both stopped me and I never had any issues with brake fade or the rotors overheating or warping – you can actually hear the floating part move (click) as it cools which proves its doing its job.
Both rotors have taken a few decent hits with flying rocks and one incident with a rather larger than expected tree root and have held up well with no straightening out required.
If I had one minor niggle it would be that the 203mm rotor has developed some play at the rivets. This is a fairly common occurrence in floating rotors, especially if you use the front brake aggressively and run bigger rotors. As such I’m not concerned about it, but it is worth keeping an eye on.
Final thoughts
With the view that you only think about brakes when they don’t work these rotors have been exceptional. They have worked flawlessly and quietly, haven’t shown any signs of rust or damage and 3 months on don’t register any significant wear when measured on a caliper.
Being available in 8 different colours and 160, 180 and 203mm sizing for a smidge over £35 what more can you really ask for?
Disco Brakes: https://www.discobrakes.com
