BETTERING YOUR BRAKES…
‘How fast does your bike stop, mister?’ You’d be right in thinking I’ve never been asked that question, and that the hypothetical answer would be unlikely to provoke bras being tossed in adoration. Quick bikes are sexy, but stopping fast is, well, maybe a bit pipe and slippers – up there with one of Carl’s stories about how he revised for his maths G.C.S.E. On face value, stopping fast might seem as dull as ditch water, but if you’ve ever tried out-braking your mate on track, or had a heart-in-mouth moment after an artic’s pulled out on you, you’ll probably have a greater interest in how quick your bike stops.
The truth is that road bikes have never been so good and, in most cases, the kind of kit bolted to production bikes of every ilk is unimaginably better than it’s ever been, but there’s a big difference between the braking system on your bike and the one on Dovi’s Desmo. Carbon fibre pads and discs, as used in MotoGP, are generally seen as the best products on the market, capable of hauling up a fat kid on their sprint to the sweet shop. But that doesn’t mean carbon is the right option for you, on your blitz to work or scratch around the local streets. Without going into too much detail, carbon components are too needy of specific conditions to
