DiscoBrakes Super Light Race Disc Rotor

Discobrakes' Super Light Race Disc rotors are an affordable way to save around 25% from the weight of typical standard-fit rotors. Through the removal of as much superfluous steel as possible, these 160mm rotors weigh a featherlike 82g each. The Shimano RT66 rotors which they replaced on my bike weigh 113g each.

If you're a fan of lightweight bikes then you might have reservations about joining the Disc-Brake Revolution™. At present disc-braked road bikes are invariably heavier than their rim-braked equivalents. By the time the UCI allows disc-braked bikes in the peloton, you can be sure that they'll be right at the 6.8kg weight limit, but this will inevitably be achieved via the use of high-end components throughout. Of course, the UCI might also have revisited its 6.8kg weight limit by then, but that's another story.

Discobrakes is a Singaporean company (with a UK distribution hub) selling brake pads, rotors, bolts and the like online, and these are their lightest rotors, offering a way to deal with some of that disc brake weight penalty.

For fans of nth-degree colour-coordination, Discobrakes also sells some pretty lurid [read: hideous) brake rotors with painted spokes, as well as some heavier-weight offerings aimed at the gravity market. These Super Light rotors are only available in 160mm diameter, so if you heed Shimano's advice that 140mm is where it's at for road disc, then they're not for you. They're also only available in the IS 6-bolt mounting standard.

Like most disc brake rotors, these are ground to make them as flat as possible; Discobrakes says they're consistent to a tolerance of 0.08mm. That ground surface sounds initially a bit grainy under braking, but after a while it polishes off. Once they were bedded-in, I was hard-pressed to notice any real difference in feel or performance to the Shimano rotors I'd been using before. Overall standards of machining are good, with no burrs or other obvious flaws.

At £16.49 each (supposedly discounted from £25), these rotors cost about the same as RT66 rotors they replaced. They look quite a lot like Airotors from lightweight braking component manufacturer Ashima, but they're not identical. Ashima claimed a weight of 85g per rotor for the 160mm Airotor, which at the time of launch it said was the lightest rotor on the market. The Airotors are priced at £25, which makes these rotors seem like decent value. Another alternative is the Razor from KCNC, which claims to be a few grams lighter and is priced a bit higher. If weight isn't that important, or you just don't think that brakes is the place to go looking for gram savings, there are myriad other options out there.

In short, then, you're getting a significant percentage weight-saving over most standard disc brake rotors without costing a great deal more. If you believe the theory behind those Shimano cooling fins and aluminium sandwich-construction rotors, these solid-steel rotors are perhaps not as well-suited for fast mountain descents, but I had no issues with using them on and off-road around my neck of the woods. A fairly inexpensive upgrade if you're chasing grams, then, and a smart choice if you're building a lightweight disc-braked bike, unless you're going for Centrelock hubs, that is.

Verdict

Well made lightweight disc rotors for the weight-conscious