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Wind tunnel testing undertaken by Specialized has suggested that traditional calipers may just have the edge over road discs when it comes to aerodynamics.
Cameron Piper of Specialized’s aero research and development department said: "Both frames are identical, with the major changes being the brakes, the hoods and the rims. Like all other testing we’ll take a baseline of the rim brake bike, then switch to the disc bike. We’ve then introduced a crosswind to the disc side to see what the difference is."
Head on, the results are negligible, however with a 10-degree crosswind angle around eight seconds were added over the standard 40km test.
As pointed out in the below video, there are of course other considerations to take into account, particularly for long distance riders, with discs allowing a rider to brake slightly later into corners and on descents.
