Now I know that when it comes to spending money on your bike, tyres and brakes are two things you shouldn’t skimp on. They are the only thing that really keep you at the ride speed and glued to the ground, however when it came time for a new set of disc brake rotors I ignored what I know and went for something cheap… and red!
Clarks are a pretty well respected brand in the industry, especially when it comes to aftermarket components for your trusty speed. Unlike Sram and Shimano, Clarks understand that people like to put a bit of bling on their bike and so with most of their products you can find a pretty good range of colours. Being a bit of a color matching wanker I was definitely swayed by the idea of going for red disc brakes.
Clarks Wavy Rotor Review
Looks good, shame it doesn’t last
The wavy rotor looks like every other wavy rotor that you can by from every single other manufacturer on the market, except for one key difference – the non-contact part is red. Awesome. It looks just as good in person as it does on all the shop photos, so no real worries there. The problem however came to when it was actually being used.
I read some of the reviews on Chain Reaction and many of them seemed positive, although not everyone had the same experience. For under £10 I figured I’d give this bit of kit a shot, but in hindsight I wish I didn’t. I stuck it straight on my regular steed using my current Shimano Deore brakes and headed out to the hills. After my first ride I noticed a bit of rubbing but adjusted the position of the brakes and thought nothing more of it. However, by about my third ride the disc had warped so much that it was having a real impact on the ride – making an awful noise and jamming the wheel ever quarter turn. So that was it, it lasted three rides covering less than 100 miles. Shocking.
Hard to show, but there was about 3mm of warp after just 3 rides!
Overall
For under a tenner I don’t know what I was expecting, but I definitely wanted more than this. I was using the rotor for trail use in normal (Welsh) conditions with organic brake pads so I highly doubt that the warping was due to extreme conditions or anything of the like.
Frankly I’d avoid this rotor like the plague, get yourself the Shimano Deore rotor for the same price but without the nifty colours.