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Brakco Carbon Brake Rotors, Titanium Brake Pads & More

Brakco carbon fiber mountain bike disc brake rotors
33 Comments

Brakco’s Carbon Rotors aren’t the first carbon fiber brake rotors we’ve seen, but they do look like something that could actually work.

The carbon braking surface is attached to an aluminum carrier with stainless steel or aluminum bolts…they had both on display. I got the sense they’re still finalizing the design a bit, but they admit they’re still working on the companion brake pads.

Brakco carbon fiber mountain bike disc brake rotors

Specifically, they’re developing organic, non-metallic brake pads that can heat up quickly enough – carbon fiber rotors are great for high heat situations like extended steep descending. But they need heat to work well. Brakco’s rep also said those pads will likelywear out very quickly, but that braking performance will be worth it.

Brakco carbon fiber mountain bike disc brake rotors

The rotors are light, around 65g, compared to 117g for standard steel rotors. Price is TBD until they sort out the brake pads. Two different thicknesses could be offered, too.

titanium bicycle disc brake rotor

Meanwhile, they also make titanium brake rotors that come in at just 60g for 160mm.

titanium bicycle disc brake rotors

They’re available in several designs, mostly just for looks between them.

bicycle disc brake pads with carbon fiber and titanium backplates

New brake pads with titanium backplates transfer less heat into the piston. They’re available with an oil-slick ano or bare, and the un-coated bare ones are more eco-friendly (or you can get them anodized if you don’t care). They’re about 10% lighter than standard brake pads.

Carbon backplate transfers less heat, but they say titanium still works better overall.

brakco brake pads with replaceable cooling fins

Last up is this replaceable cooling fin concept. You can replace the brake pad and reuse the cooling fins, helping keep perfectly good material out of the landfill.

Brakco.com.tw

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33 Comments
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Ken
Ken
8 months ago

Seems like a bad idea with carbon dust being so hazardous to inhale.

Beach Nathan
Beach Nathan
8 months ago
Reply to  Ken

Is carbon dust more dangerous than other dusts to inhale? Actually asking

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
8 months ago
Reply to  Beach Nathan

Yes, it is

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
8 months ago
Reply to  Ken

It’s more of a problem for the planet. Just like viruses, every foot further you are away from a brake, you’re getting exponentially less exposure. That said, copper dust from pads is probably a much bigger concern. It’s a huge issue with cars

david harris
david harris
8 months ago
Reply to  Ken

What the hell? back to you screen

Exodux
Exodux
8 months ago

Don’t get me wrong, I love new tech in the bike industry but I wonder, is a brake rotor a good place to save weight? I know of carbon being used on F1 cars and some exotic road cars, but no so certain on these. However, I wish the company luck, these rotors do look really cool!

Billyshoo
Billyshoo
8 months ago
Reply to  Exodux

I agree with everything you said except the part about them looking good. I think they look woefully subpar compared to SRAM and Shimano’s best.

blahblahblah
blahblahblah
8 months ago
Reply to  Exodux

F1 uses carbon carbon not carbon fiber, not the same thing, not even remotely close

Dominic
Dominic
7 months ago
Reply to  blahblahblah

It’s a lot closer in practice than you’re suggesting. The real difference is that the matrix between the fibres is carbonized (in older ones this would take months of high heat and pressure), much like how carbon fibres are made from polymers that are carbonized.
To answer Exodux, disc rotors are a good place to save wight in that they are rotating weight, and they are also unsprung mass. The fact that a bike’s rotor has such low inertia does reduce the impact of the former, but the later will be noticeable under certain conditions for some riders.
If you’ve ridden 203mm and 160mm rotors on the same bike the bike feels more sluggish with the big ones.

Bart
Bart
8 months ago
Reply to  Exodux

The whole press fit debacle happened to save THIRTY GRAMS over BSA threaded frames. Yea, I think people will care.

syborg
syborg
8 months ago

I’ve.seen carbon rim brake wheels that deformed heat. How will these discs be any better?

A. Rearte
A. Rearte
8 months ago
Reply to  syborg

Fibers themselves can withstand very high heat (are manufactured at up to 3000°C). The matrix is the limit. If you don’t have to build a hollow hoop, you can choose a matrix that withstands high heat.

Matt
Matt
8 months ago
Reply to  A. Rearte

Whilst an appropriate matrix will obviously be needed for discs this shape and to retain any form of strength, my main issue would be the operating temp of carbon rotors where they outperform iron is 500C+. Great for F1 cars and exotic supercars, but for a bicycle?

I can’t see enough heat being generated to invoke carbon rotors benefits, leaving a rotor that whilst lighter, will under perform compared to iron rotors.

If they do somehow manage to generate 500C+, do you really want that on a bicycle?

Brent
Brent
8 months ago
Reply to  syborg

rims are subjected to multiple forces, the tire pressure want to push the side walls, the spokes want to compress the rim, the TL beds also compress the rim… the disc “only” sees one force in one direction, so that makes the problem less complex (didn’t say easy, but less variables to integrate).

Rim Brake enjoyer
Rim Brake enjoyer
8 months ago

Seems like a gimmick. Steel rotors and HH sintered pads work fine for my on my track prepped GSX-R 750 in the A group on track days yet somehow steel rotors not good enough for the very minute amount of energy disbursed in MTB or Road bikes? Lol.

nooner
nooner
8 months ago

Wait, you don’t have rim brakes on that Gixxer?

Rim Brake enjoyer
Rim Brake enjoyer
8 months ago
Reply to  nooner

Horses for courses.

Seen it all
Seen it all
8 months ago
Reply to  nooner

Erik Buell designed and sold rim brakes on his Buell motos. The rim-mounted rotors were rim-sized circumference and looked cool. But standard dual front discs work well.
https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/s/AsD0gSwzbJ

Kieselguhr-Kid
Kieselguhr-Kid
8 months ago

It’s not so much about the amount of energy as the amount of energy relative to the disc.
That said, I think the issue for bikes is that under most conditions, long descents aside, the brakes see relatively infrequent use and are able to cool between uses.
The places where carbon brakes seem to excell is in track use where the heat input into the disc is frequent and the temperature of the braking system tends to stay high. That’s not the same as what bicycle brakes see.
This is a product that will attract XC racers but where the only real valid use case seems to be downhill racers and park riders.

Lorenz
Lorenz
8 months ago

I used to work for a small german high end brake manufacturer and we have tested every new brake, pad or rotor we came across. On a test rig and on our bikes. No Carbon or titanium rotor ever came anywhere near the performance of a mid-level steel rotor. Most of those came with special pads but even then the perfomance was low.

Pete
Pete
8 months ago
Reply to  Lorenz

I used to be a tester for a few companies and came to the same conclusions on exotic rotors.
Even ceramic rotors would warp upon the first serious lever pull.
Brakco has a very high bar to clear.

Dominic
Dominic
7 months ago
Reply to  Pete

shouldn’t a ceramic rotor break rather than warp?

Nathan
Nathan
8 months ago

Rotor that doesn’t warp? Sign me up.

Blablabla
Blablabla
8 months ago

If I have to choose between “ensured safety” and “100g less weight”, You know what I put my money on.

When it comes to safety, unless it’s a proven design with years of IRL testing, I’m off.

Dog Farts
Dog Farts
8 months ago

Anybody remember the carbon rotors from Kettle? They never worked, and they warped.

Keith
Keith
8 months ago
Reply to  Dog Farts

Yup, fool me once….you know the rest

Dylan Sutton
Dylan Sutton
8 months ago
Reply to  Keith
realtalk
realtalk
8 months ago
Reply to  Dog Farts

Unfortunately I bought those….biggest waste of money, ever. They didn’t work with any pad type, they were loud, had horrible braking performance as in they literally didn’t work. I couldn’t even get enough braking to lock the rear tire unless I stood up and leaned forward. Their claims for the the performance were pure lies, online complaints everywhere. Look at ‘Lorenz’ and ‘Pete’ comments above if you’re interested in facts. If you want bike brakes that will frustrate you beyond your limits buy something with a carbon rotor….you’ll see

Joshua Seymour
Joshua Seymour
8 months ago
Reply to  Dog Farts

I was super excited about funding these on kickstarter, and I was one of the few that actually got product. They looked super cool, but were absolutely Crapola! We’ll see what happens with these current rotors……..

bmx
bmx
8 months ago

not all metals are the same for this application, brass is slippy kind of material and ti has a similar low level of frictional surface. it’s got to do with size and orientation of the crystalline structure or grain of the materials. cast iron rotors would be amazing but fragile

carbon, well carbon ceramic is used in cars at very high rotation speeds but this doesn’t look like that

Hexsense
Hexsense
8 months ago
Reply to  bmx

Those carbon ceramic need to be hot to work well too. Bike brakes might be too cold to perform it’s best.

E x
E x
8 months ago
Reply to  Hexsense

While somewhat correct, there are ceramic composite rotors for street cars, that are formulated to work at street speeds, so high heat is not 100% required. That said their initial bite is not as good as steel rotors. The big upside in car applications is reduced rotating mass, high heat capacity, and low wear rate, all of which is less critical in a bike application.

Cread
Cread
6 months ago

I’m sorry but whoever came with such an idea doesn’t know how a brake system works… Carbon discs are useful when your brake system is facing very high temperatures. (F1, supercars) Also, to get optimum brake coefficient on a carbon disk / pad you HAVE to get to high temperatures, which obviously you won’t reach… For motorcycle, apart from MotoGP, almost no one needs carbon brake systems, not even in WSBK… So why in the world would anyone need a carbon brake system for their bicycle ? If you need more friction power and no fading, just change your pads to sintered metal brake pads.

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