Originally Posted by
chas58
Good call. Really, cable disk brakes are not any better than good rim brakes. Caliper brakes with good pads are very effective.
Hydraulics makes a big difference on either type - but probably not an expense you want on a bike that you are not absolutely in love with.
As a mountain biker of at least 4 decades of experience, I don’t agree with either of your points. I’ve done thousands of rugged mountain bike miles using cantilever, linear, mechanical, and hydraulic brakes. Properly adjusted...and there’s the rub...any one of those brake is sufficient to stop a bicycle even on steep, fast downhills...even with extra weight of a touring load (on- and off-road).
The only brake I
don’t want on a steep, fast downhill is the hydraulic ones because they are just too touchy. Cars, trucks, and even motorcycles can’t have brakes that are too powerful. Bicycles can. We have limits as to how much brake power we can use. Go past that limit and you aren’t riding, you are falling with the bicycle chasing you down the hill.
As to adjustment, 99% of the brakes that I’ve seen...and I see around 1500 bikes per year at my local co-op (about 13,000 over the last 10 years)...are poorly adjusted. Most of them are adjusted so that the lever is half way to the bar before the brake pad makes contact with the rim (or disc). I know that St. Brown said that the mechanical advantage is better with the lever closer to the bars but I disagree. The mechanical advantage may be better but the brakes feel mushy and ineffective. It
feels like the brakes won’t stop you.
Hydraulics have to run closer to the rotor so there is a better lever feel which is why people say they are so much better. Mechanical discs also have to run closer to the rotor or the bike doesn’t feel like it is going to stop. Rim brakes would feel better and people would have more confidence in them if they were adjusted closer to the rim.