Just laid eyes on this product. Bolt on carbon fibre scoops that force an air stream over the rotor/pads.
I live in a place with long, steep fast descents and I understand that brake fade is very real. But, really?
Berk Composites has no immediately available science backing this up, but, I ask: could there be any? Or is this one of "those" ideas…
by phantompowered
4 Comments
I’m sure it does improve cooling, but by how much and at what cost? Air ALREADY flows over the brake system, it’s not enclosed. I’d consider myself skeptical until it’s proven necessary/beneficial.
I think there’s already lots of air flowing around the caliper and it’s just going to slow you down the 99% of your ride you aren’t breaking. On race cars the brakes are hidden behind body work and wheels so you gotta force air in there.
I’ve always been a bit dubious about these disc caliper cooling fins. Sure, they slightly boost cooling convection but it’s doing so at a pretty inefficient location. It’s pushing more air onto the outer face of the caliper, basically as far away from the pads and rotor as you can get. It’s also directly behind the fork. I can’t imagine the outside face’s cooling capacity being anywhere close to that of the near side or the middle area with all the pads and rotors; those areas are receiving direct, clean air flow to carry heat away.
In my opinion, you’d be much better off getting bigger/thicker rotors and more heat-resistant pads to deal with brake fade.
The stronger you grab the brakes, the slower you are going. So it’s kind of opposite to what would be ideal. The heatsink things they put on pads and rotors make more sense: more metal and surface area for the heat to dissipate.