Originally Posted by
kingston
Perhaps if you do a lot of loaded touring in the mountains it's worth the trouble. I spend most of my time in the midwest so I have all the headaches without any of the advantages. I switched to hex-key skewers because it took forever to get the front wheel aligned just right with with the QR, and I never have been able to eliminate the rub without excessive free-play at the lever.
and you know what, I would tend to agree with you.
Yes, for mountainy stuff, and gritty wet dirt road stuff over long periods of time, they clearly have an advantage. That said, I think its realistic to say that a lot of our riding isnt like that, and rim brakes work fine for most of our experiences. If I had to take a front wheel off regularly, it would get a bit tiresome getting the wheel just right, but I guess thats why thru axles are the thing, although my understanding is that there certainly is not a standard for that.
no clear clear answer, but as someone who uses bikes with cantis mostly, they do the job, but I do also appreciate disc stuff.