Carbon Fibre Rotors

A couple of years ago BrakeTech announced on their website that they had developed some new rotors. Here is a cut and paste from their site.

News Release
We are very pleased to report the successful conclusion in finalizing the development of the new Third Generation CMC material matrix (MK III). So although the AXIS/CMC composite rotors are yet not currently available, the focus has now shifted to the logistics of production manufacturing. As such, we cannot assign a hard release date as of yet. However, we can say with confidence we'll see this amazing product coming back into stock relatively soon.
The AXIS/CMC is without doubt the most sophisticated and technologically advanced aerospace derived brake system in existence, period. And although the move to commercial production employing the latest advancements in manufacturing technology has just begun, the extraordinarily high performance parameters combined with their ultra lightweight makes this incomparable aerospace product uniquely worth the wait!
Finalized pricing on the MK III is not available at this time.
More information to follow as it becomes available.

Anyway that was approximately 2 years ago. Because I my interest in this product due to the weight reduction, I wrote to and asked when they might be released. After a while I got an answer which was "Do not know but hopefully soon." More than a year later I wrote again and basically after a couple of weeks got the same answer. Looks like they jumped the gun with the press release. It is a pity as it looks like it would be a good product.

I got a little more detail. But basically the aerospace company they had contracted to make the material and the prototypes upped the price drastically after development to the point it wouldn't be worth it.

You're not going to see those rotors again at least not from BT. Many rumors as to what happened and who the source of the material was. The material used on the BT rotors is noticeably different from current CMC discs. Very familiar with the Brembo carbon material and process as well as many other sintered carbon discs but the BT discs were strange. A particularly interesting rumor was that the original agreement had those discs available as "off road" use only as supplied by the manufacturer with no insurance indemnification to cover anyones ass if something went wrong on a street application. Seems the discs were sold to the public as a standard product through BT violating an agreement with the supplier and potentially putting a large aero mfg in a bad spot. Again just another rumor in the mill. Have not been to Jeffs shop in a while. Last time I was there the dream was still alive. CMC brake discs are on a lot of vehicles now and you can get the Sicom's. You would think there would be a greater demand for bike discs but maybe not at 3500.00 a set. The tech is def available. Bummer, the BT rotors were nice pieces and you could swap carriers for different bikes.

Just a point, CMC stands for ceramic matrix composite so they aren’t “carbon fiber” rotors. The MotoGP rotors are Carbon-Carbon which also aren’t carbon fiber.

RetardedTiming said:

I got a little more detail. But basically the aerospace company they had contracted to make the material and the prototypes upped the price drastically after development to the point it wouldn't be worth it.

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I wonder why they still have that blurb on their website. I will write and ask about it. Be interesting to see what they say.

I found this page interesting and the graphic at the bottom shows weight differences tween c-carbon and steel also shows what is going on with the tech

https://www.brembo.com/en/company/news/moto-gp-carbon-discs-in-the-rain-(2)

bradp51 said:

I wonder why they still have that blurb on their website. I will write and ask about it. Be interesting to see what they say.

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I have a pretty lengthy email from Jeff at work I'll dig up when I get there. At the time I was rebuilding mine so it was a lot of back and forth over the phone and through email.

Macattack said:

I found this page interesting and the graphic at the bottom shows weight differences tween c-carbon and steel also shows what is going on with the tech

Click to expand...

Brake Tech CMC rotors are even less weight. To give you a comparison...


Braketech Axis Iron rotor 3.475lbs

Braketech CMC rotor 1.469lbs


Irons are even lighter than stock steel.

My Long History W/CMC Rotors

My Long History W/CMC Rotors
Almost a decade ago I purchased a set of CMC rotors from Braketech for an intro price of $1400 for a set for my '01 Suzuki GSXR1000 track bike. I did track days on all the West Coast tracks, in the "A" group.
The brakes were great: FOUR pounds less unsprung weight, excellent linear feel for trail braking, never wear out, great stopping power.
Unfortunately, I noticed slight pitting on them. Immediately, Jeff had me return them for a replacement Second gen. set. These worked well and had no pitting. BUT, they were so great that when I met the engineer from Starfire (manufacturing company for Ferodo), he wanted me to send them back for study. In return he sent me the third Gen. set plus a used rotor that had been torture-tested for my wall Art.
They were also great. So, when I upgraded to an '05 GSXR, I transferred the CMC rotors to it.
Now, I had Jeff@ Braketech, make carriers for my Panigale R. Perfect improvement for a great bike. No warm-up required, works in the wet, 4lbs unsprung saved, now Unobtainable.

Nice write up on the evolution of the CMCs. I bought a set ($2500.00 off ebay a couple of years back that have GSXR carriers. Jeff's shop is 30 min from me but i have yet to get them retrofitted. They were some of the last units produced. I plan on putting them on the next build. So the question still remains, what happened to the deal and why hasn't someone else besides Sicom stepped in. I don't see cost as an issue. If anything the cost to manufacture CMC and like components has dropped. We are actually making prototype CMC pieces (small) using a modified ultrasonic welder in place of a forge and the parts are very inexpensive. Additionally, look at all the auto manufacturers who have CC rotors as options now. You can get carbon ceramic rotors for just about anything that rolls, hell Interbike had a slew of CCRs for flippin bicycles last year. The mystique was always that BrakeTech had some unobtainium material no doubt left by aliens and there just isn't any more of it and the inventor took the secret back to planet Zatar and no one can ever replicate those rotors. This is just garbage. I surmise that the business just isn't there to justify it. It certainly isn't limited by materials or technology. Awesome product for any motor vehicle.

My understanding based on contact w/Jeff and the engineer, plus reading financial pages. Starfire, the actual manufacturer, made rotors for airplanes and trains. The motorcycle market is miniscule. Plus, there is a slight judder in the last feet of stopping on the street. Some persnickety Ducati and BMW owners complained.
Starfire tried to get the Corvette contract from GM but lost out to Brembo.
The manufacturing process, while more cost effective than ceramic, still requires many steps. The CMC's Are more versatile than either ceramic or full CF.
Sicom seems like a (not very) reasonable alternative.

Makes sense in all respects and I agree on the points. Thanks for posting