According to Wikipedia The maiden voyage of a ship, aircraft or other craft is the first journey made by the craft after shakedown. I had ridden Pikes Peak 10 times last year and was excited to ride it for the first time in 2015 on the Defy. The ride up was great as the Shimano Ultegra 34/50 crank set coupled with the 11 speed cassette (11-28) offered a low enough gear (34-28) to manage the HC grade. 
I got to Glen Cove (11,450ft) and leaned the bike against the big snow cutter used to clear the road to put on a vest and and grab a picture.
As I rolled out of Glen Cove I was ready to enjoy the benefits of the research and purchase of the Defy. I descended braking smoothly but after dropping about 500ft over vertical the brakes began to howl and the bike shuttered front to back. I slid back in the saddle to help stabilize my position but after a couple hundred more feet pulled over to ensure the wheels were seated correctly. Within 3 switchbacks my vision of the perfect descent was crushed. I carefully managed down the next thousand feet uncomfortably wondering if the bike had ever been tested in such conditions. After a cooling off through the middle flats I got stuck behind a car for the last 1000 feet of descent. Rather than add acceleration and pass, I decided to use this to accelerate to the car then brake firmly to “bed in” the pads. As I got to my car at 7000 ft, I pondered if I had made the right bike decision or what the possible remediation could be. The Maiden Voyage was a failure that left me frustrated and even pining for my rim brakes.
Road Disc 