Genesis Zeroes in on disc brakes for its top road race bikes

Well, I have always lived in the UK – just north of London. Most people in the UK happen to also live in the dryer parts of the country, (the Midlands, and the South and East of England). The wettest parts of the UK, including Scotland, Wales, the South-West of England, and Northern Ireland, ‘enjoy’ anything up to three times the rainfall we have in the London area. Bear in mind that the population of the London Metropolitan Area alone (approx. 14 million) is more than those of Scotland, Wales, the South-West of England, and Northern Ireland, combined; the population is skewed very much to the South and East.

I believe that GCN, Road.cc, and BikeRadar, are all based in the South West of England, firmly in the ‘wet country’.

The comments about our “wet British summers” on GCN, Road.cc, and BikeRadar are probably reflective both of where they are based, and of the fact that most road bikes seem to be designed for dry climates (e.g. California and South of France), without clearance for proper mudguards (‘fenders’), which makes them unpleasant to ride when it does rain – which can happen here at any time of year. Many wannabe racers in the UK ride those bikes all year round, possibly because, until recently, there has not been much else available, possibly because of a ‘hard man’ cycling culture, or possibly because they want to emulate the pros on their sponsored bikes.

Perhaps I’m not hard enough, but my best bike is a Genesis Equilibrium which has ‘guards fitted for much of the year. I have no pretensions of being a racer.

I find caliper brakes work just fine, if you fit decent pads…….

I agree.

Some interesting stats on the internet regarding the climate of London; (a useful summary, for example: http://www.zmescience.com/ecology/climate/rain-much-london-well-not-much-really/)

I quote: “According to the Met Office Climate data, over the 30 year period, there were 106.5 days of rainfall per year on average (which counts as a day in which 1mm of rainfall or over fell). This means that there was rainfall on 29 per cent of days per year and on average it didn’t rain 71 per cent of days per year. Average rainfall is 557.4mm with 1410 “sunshine hours.” This means there are more rainy days in Miami (at 135) and Orlando, Florida (117) than there are in London. New York City clocks in at 122 days and 1,268mm of rain. Washington DC, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, and Mexico City all have more rainy days on average in any given year than London.
In the rest of the country, according to the UK Met Office, the average rainfall in Britain is 1154mm per year. On average it rains for 156.2 days per year (data from 1981 to 2010). However, some parts of England are much wetter than others, and the further west you go the likelier it is you’ll need to pack the iconic umbrella. The Scottish western Highlands get doused annually with over three meters of rain, the Lake District and the Pennines in the northwest of England top the rainy charts too, as well as the mountainous Snowdonia area in Wales and the higher ground of the Cornish and Devonshire moors.”