Originally Posted by
sstorkel
So, you seem to be siding with the disc-brakes-have-no-advantage crowd... but you admit that rim brakes take longer to stop in wet/muddy conditions?
FWIW, wet weather riding is one of the reasons that I installed a disc brake on my touring bike. In the rain, my rim brake-equipped bikes take a noticeable amount of time to clear water/mud/sludge off the rim before they provide any significant stopping power. The disc brake-equipped bike, on the other hand, begins to slow almost immediately and stops in a significantly shorter distance. Don't know if the disc-equipped bike really has more absolute stopping power than a rim brake, but it does provide more consistent braking and better modulation than any of the rim brakes I've used...
It takes longer to stop in muddy and wet conditions with any brake system...on any vehicle be it a car or a bike. Simple physics. Again it comes down to where the deceleration is taking place...at the tire, not at the brake. Moving your center of gravity rearward in slick conditions (water, mud, ice, snow, boiling oil...if you happen to be attacking the castle
) does more for slowing the bike then what kind of brakes you have.
As for better modulation, I haven't experienced it on the two disc brake systems I've owned. Both have been digital...either being on or off...and don't offer the kind of braking and speed control that I get from a rim brake . The hydraulic system I have on a mountain bike turns the bike into a skidding machine but the ability to skid the rear tire (or front
) isn't a measure of deceleration ability of the bike. It's just indicative of bad braking. A rolling wheel will stop a bike faster with more control than a skidding one.
You can surely put me in the 'disc don't offer any advantage crowd'. I'm proud to be there
