puma1552

Get the Emirates paint scheme so I can live vicariously through you, good sir.

eja_ bottecchia

I snatched this water bottle by the side of the road, during the 2017 Tour of California.

I’ve got the bottle, now all I need is the bike.

dddd

Wow, that was timely!

Wondering if these levers can be used with any of the older hydro sti levers?

(I would expect not, unless they knew they had these in the pipeline)

noodle soup

I would expect them to be compatible with other Shimano hydraulic systems, but hooking them up might be a PITA if you don't know how to cut hoses + bleed your brakes.

Oldbikeride

I recall it took about 15 years for the majority of people to start using seatbelts after they became standard.

OrionKhan

There was also the motivation of not getting a ticket.

ToiletSiphon

My argument for disc brakes would mostly be the consistent wheel alignment provided by the thru axle. I had a previous rim brakes bike which developed some play at the dropouts, which resulted in wheel alignment issues. No more of that with thru axles.

If they could actually make rim brakes bike WITH thru axles, I'd be delighted.

Bandera

So, you had a frame-set that the dropouts worked loose from the stays and/or fork blades causing "play"?
That wouldn't have anything to do with the flavor of wheel retention device being used.

-Bandera

Commutess

I think cost is a component here. When disc brakes get so cheap, most everyone will just use them. Rim brakes will always be around since there are a lot of frames that don't aren't setup for disc, and there is a desire to keep the vintage of the frame.

oldbear63

Well; today when I got my disc brake road bike down I found the brakes were bottoming out. I pulled out the hydraulic kit and bled the brakes, getting fluid everywhere. When I finished the brakes were up to their proper level but the pads were contaminated and squealed as the bike comes to a stop. I took my mountain descent fast and tried to burn off some of the fluid which seems to have worked, but I now may need new pads.

Adjusting hydraulic brakes is a pain. My old rim brake bike is a pound lighter and the brakes are more reliable and easier to adjust.

I probably wouldn't buy another hydraulic disc brake bike.

WhyFi

Wow. Don't blame the brakes - this is totally a mess of your own making.

Dr.Lou

A this moment in time I share the same view, who knows what I’ll think in the future.

noodle soup

+1

Every YouTube brake bleed video I've seen, advises you to remove the pads when bleeding.

FlashBazbo

This thread is a microcosm of the entire Internet. (Well, except for the lack of porn.) I'm in awe.

WhyFi

I'm wondering if he bled with the wheels still on, too, otherwise he'd have to either find the transport spacer or pry the pistons back open afterwards. Regardless, a bleed block, with wheels off and pads out, is the right way to do it.

On top of all that, when he says that he got his bike down, I'm wondering if it was hanging and just got a bubble or two in the line that could have been remedied with a little pumping of the brakes while tapping on the lines with a screwdriver handle or something.

Agent Cooper

In answer to the original question, no.

I have rims now and they work fine. I have no pressing need or desire to switch to discs.

I have no argument against discs. I have zero experience with them, but by most accounts they seem to work well and people seem to like them. Nobody would buy them if that wasn't true.

If I stay with rim brakes it will be because they are simpler and less expensive to maintain. I like cheap and easy. :-)

carlos danger

I bought another rim brake frame...

NomarsGirl

Me too. And I'm really sad I won't be able to replace my car with a newer model with manual transmission. They stopped making the Beetle with stick shift a couple of years ago and they are stopping production altogether this year.

Silvestru

Even by 2030... rim brakes baby!

Psimet2001 

Must have been NOS.

In other news I had my first client who forgot to mention they were wheels for a disc brake road bike - not rim brake. He seemed confused as to why I would ever think any new road bike would have been rim brake.

Before now road disc users were a bit like crossfit members or vegans/vegetarians : they told you about it in the first sentence or two. Now it appears there are those that just think it's the new norm.

kissTheApex

Like many others mentioned, the choice has been made for us as it seems . I’m getting back on the road after a couple of years of hiatus and thought I’d build a new bike. Many of the new frames I’d like to build upon doesn’t even have a rim brake option.

I can lock the rim brakes, and I don’t think having disc brakes lock up earlier would do me any good. I understand the point about brake fade, but I don’t do any technical descents, and even when I have a steep downhill to cross, I keep my speed under check, as I’m scared s-itless that my only contact patch with road is two 1/8”-1/4” wide by (perhaps) 1”-2” Long strips of rubber.

noodle soup

That's not really the point of disc brakes.

With hydraulic disc brakes you can modulate the braking power better, with very little effort on the lever.

Discs also eliminate rim wear. Some rims cost $1000 each, and some wheelsets are over $6000

https://road.cc/content/review/22033...-c-disc-wheels

GuitarBob

I imagine that @oldbear63 knew that he was responsible for screwing the pooch. I imagine his point was that it's a good bit harder to royally screw up when adjusting rim brakes than hydraulic disc brakes. It's not rocket surgery, but it does require more experience to fully service hydraulic brakes.

WhyFi

I'd disagree with that. My first experience with hydraulic brakes was installing them on my own bike. Shimano's instructions are pretty clear and I didn't make a quarter of the mess or difficulty that that guy had.

GuitarBob

To be clear, you're disagreeing because you consider hydraulic disc and mechanical rim brakes the same so far as servicing? If I have that right, then yes, we disagree.

As I said above, I don't consider maintaining hydraulics as especially difficult, but I do see it as a fair more of a pain then rim brakes.