Road Disc Brakes- Rotor Choice

[Tifosiphil]

Anyone got any recommendations for 6 bolt 140mm rotors? Using R9170 brakes with Shimano semi-metallic pads.

No issues with cheap rotors (Sram Centerline) this year and I've had good wear out of them but the rear has finally gone out of true. Any better options in the mid price range? (If it helps, 70kg, predominantly flat dry riding)

[BigBoyND]

Has anyone else had issues with Campy rotors? I just got some for my Shimano groupset...

[Nereth]

Has anyone else had issues with Campy rotors? I just got some for my Shimano groupset...

When you say "anyone else", do you mean other than you, or other than me?

Did you see my post above on campy rotors?

[TobinHatesYou]

I had no functional issues with Campy rotors and SRAM monoblock calipers. My one complaint is the repetitive vent design resulting in amplified noise interference. This was exacerbated by imperfect pad coverage of said vents leading to hot air shooting out tiny gaps and a fluting effect. My brakes sounded like a moaning Chewbacca under medium brake power.

[robertbb]

Just a note for everyone - I tried Campy rotors with my Shimano pads/brakes. They don't warp, so, mission succesful there.

However, this combo is actually really dangerous - if you get this combination real hot and pull real hard (my use case is basically an 86kg guy doing an 80kph->0kph emergency stop), the shimano organic pads rock/squish into the slots on the campy rotor and then the passing slots basically machine the pad down instantly. The levers pull straight to the bars. You can't achieve full brake force, and I reckon if you do it about 3-4 times, you'll completely consume the life of the pads. I did it twice, with a pair of new pads, and they were more than half gone in a single ride.

So I think 1) full steel construction is good to prevent warping 2) campy rotors are a bad idea if you have shimano pads.

Shimano sintered metallic pads don't seem to have the same issue, however I am pretty disappointed in the braking power unless you get them hot first - although that might be because sanding and cleaning the rotors (with IPA) was not sufficient to be able to switch the same rotors to metallic after being on organics (which is not strictly recommended).

I want to go back to organic pads, on steel rotors, and am considering getting some swissstop rotors to allow that, as their slot pattern looks like it would better support the pads. I can find the "race" versions at the same price as the "pro" versions, but I've emailed SwissStop to ask if the lightweight "race" versions might have more propensity to warp than the Pro ones or not, so I can get the ones that will give me the least drama, given my history.

I find this difficult to understand. I just bought a set of CL900's and before installing them I laid them flat on top of a set of Campy AFS03 rotors I have here. The pattern of cutouts is practically identical now, and both rotors have shorter and longer slots - the longest of which will not be fully covered by the pad surface. I can't see how a Shimano rotor would behave any differently to the Campy one.

What you described could/should have happened just as easily on either rotors. Maybe the pads aren't holding up for your system weight and use case? Which pads were these?

Incidentally both the 160mm CL900 and the 140mm CL900 are true as an arrow out of the box.

[TobinHatesYou]

I find this difficult to understand. I just bought a set of CL900's and before installing them I laid them flat on top of a set of Campy AFS03 rotors I have here. The pattern of cutouts is practically identical now, and both rotors have shorter and longer slots - the longest of which will not be fully covered by the pad surface. I can't see how a Shimano rotor would behave any differently to the Campy one.

I haven't tested the newer CL900s, but to my eye the vents are going to be better than Campy ones for dissipating noise. It's a repeating pattern where the largest three vents are clearly different in size and the smallest four vents are angled differently. The Campy vents aren't all identical either, but the Shimano vents are clearly more dissimilar from each other. Even the external notches will help change the way the rotor resonates as the pads pass over them.

One detail I've never noticed before is that the CL rotors have a single additional notch along the outside edge and I have no idea why other than it possibly reducing resonance even more.

[Nereth]

The amount of supporting steel between vents on the shimano rotors is way higher, so the contact pressure, and thus the deformation, should be much lower, would be (one of) my guesses.

[MarcFaFo]

Does anyone has experience with the disc rotor from Italian brand Braking. Then specifically the LightWave CL version.
I overheated my Galfers last week in the Dolimites when descending the Mortirolo (18% decent) and a car infront of me did not let me pass. They started to rattle and scream and since then they have been horrible in every decent. When they start to heat they start to scream and howl. Therefore I am looking for something that is better and not irritating me during my cycling holiday.

I experienced the same thing with my Galfers. Once they get hot, they'll start making noise, then they'll start screaming and vibrating. Once they cool down a bit, the start to behave again, but I don't think they ever get back to their original state after they've been overheated. I'm waiting for my replacements to arrive (also Galfer Waves) so I can see if these will be better. It's too bad because the overheated rotors have plenty of life left - 1.79mm on my calipers.

From what you're writing, this is exectly what I have experienced. I think it's the design of the CL piece that is "rivited" (or something like that) to the disc section.
I contacted Galfer about this issue but their answer was go with higher resin pads, this whilst I told them I was usng heir blue pads ie high resin content. Decided to ditch the Galfers and bought the Braking Wave. So far great discs, only ridden in Ardennes.

[MarcFaFo]

I overheated my Galfers last week in the Dolimites when descending the Mortirolo (18% decent)...

What pads were you using? Most people usually overheat the pads (organic pads). Semi-metallic pads have better temperature range, and they are more resistant to fading e.g. Galfer green (G1554T) or blue (G1455)... Also, heavy riders could consider going to 180 mm discs...

At that descent I was (and still am) riding th Blue Pads (G1455) from Galfer. The "losen-up" of the front disc 160mm is easily detected at a short stop when the disc is still hot. Just tap with the nail on the rim of the disc and you will hear a "rattle". This happend the the rear disc as well btw.

[BigBoyND]

Has anyone else had issues with Campy rotors? I just got some for my Shimano groupset...

When you say "anyone else", do you mean other than you, or other than me?

Did you see my post above on campy rotors?

Your post. So far I haven't seen anyone else experience something similar, but I'm worried about installing this combination now

[Maddie]

Does anyone has experience with the disc rotor from Italian brand Braking. Then specifically the LightWave CL version.
I overheated my Galfers last week in the Dolimites when descending the Mortirolo (18% decent) and a car infront of me did not let me pass. They started to rattle and scream and since then they have been horrible in every decent. When they start to heat they start to scream and howl. Therefore I am looking for something that is better and not irritating me during my cycling holiday.

I experienced the same thing with my Galfers. Once they get hot, they'll start making noise, then they'll start screaming and vibrating. Once they cool down a bit, the start to behave again, but I don't think they ever get back to their original state after they've been overheated. I'm waiting for my replacements to arrive (also Galfer Waves) so I can see if these will be better. It's too bad because the overheated rotors have plenty of life left - 1.79mm on my calipers.

From what you're writing, this is exectly what I have experienced. I think it's the design of the CL piece that is "rivited" (or something like that) to the disc section.
I contacted Galfer about this issue but their answer was go with higher resin pads, this whilst I told them I was usng heir blue pads ie high resin content. Decided to ditch the Galfers and bought the Braking Wave. So far great discs, only ridden in Ardennes.

Same here. Once overheated, the Galfers are extremely loud as soon as you brake with middle to high force.
At first I thought the noise was related to loose spoke tension since I felt a lot of vibration. But when the same happened on a another Galfer rotor I realized it must be the rotor itself. Doesn't matter what pads, also sintered pads.
I switched to Swiss Stop rotors for now.

[iamraymond]

Same here. Once overheated, the Galfers are extremely loud as soon as you brake with middle to high force.
At first I thought the noise was related to loose spoke tension since I felt a lot of vibration. But when the same happened on a another Galfer rotor I realized it must be the rotor itself. Doesn't matter what pads, also sintered pads.
I switched to Swiss Stop rotors for now.

I experienced this on both 6-bolt and Centerlock Galfer Waves on two different wheelsets - so it does seem like something to do with the rotors. I have never experienced this issue until recently which is really puzzling to me. My first two seasons were completely fine using the Wave rotors. I don't know of Galfer changed something?

Which Swiss Stop rotors are you using? Do you recommend them? My local bike shop recommended the Swiss Stop Catalyst Pro - or maybe it was the only 6-bolt disc they carried. They're quite a bit heavier than the Galfer Waves.

[Maddie]

I installed Catalyst rotors from Swiss Stop but haven't really tested them on a long and steep descent. They are a lot heavier than the Galfers indeed. But I'm willing to accept the weight penalty if the rotors remain silent.

A real shame about the Galfers. They were really fine until they overheated. Good thing abot them is they don't warp. Which is why I'm not using Shimano rotors BTW.

[iamraymond]

100% agree. The Galfers are fine for the majority of descents and leagues ahead of Shimano discs. They're light, cheap and don't warp. It's only those very challenging steep descents ones where the Galfer's reach their limit. For me that was a local 4km @ 11% narrow road with car traffic and steep switch backs.

[pushpush]

I use the Swiss Stop Catalyst Pro rotors w/ DA9270 calipers. I haven't managed to warp the rotors yet. They have stayed true despite many heat cycles.

They are mostly quiet. I've used SwissStop pads, Jagwire pads, and Shimano pads. The Shimano pads are a little noisy when cold but the screeching stops the moment you put any heat into them. I'll eventually go back to SwissStop pads but I've accumulated a variety of pads and I'm trying to just use them up to get rid of them.

They aren't as lightweight as I would like, but reliable braking is a higher priority.

I would like to try the Catalyst Race rotors. I probably won't bother until I destroy the Pros. Not sure how they will perform in comparison.