fietsbob

my bike with studded tires , an old MTB has wheels with drum brake hubs..
it is a 3rd choice..
1) they retrofit on a rim brake frame without brazing on new mounts.
[ I built these wheels, 25+ years ago ]

2) They modulate smoothly , My disc brake bike is far too easy to stop too abruptly.. Not something I would consider good, on black ice..

3) big brake shoes won't need replacing .. if at all , during your lifetime..

maybe downside, A) heavier, B) only 1 company left making them ..

and, C) as mature technology, & very rarely on any new bike ,

so no 'latest/greatest, ever' revues ..







....

SClaraPokeman

If you have a frame that accommodate > 28mm tires (and plan on using that capability) then I say disks are a good idea. Also, if you are determined to use carbon wheels.

I'm a big rider and have stopped on steep slopes thousands of times just fine with calipers. About the only advantage I see from disks is that I wouldn't worry the same way about overheating my rims (and potentially blowing up a tire) descending a long technical road on a hot day.

However, disks IMO need a fair amount of maintenance. I remember from TV sports events of my youth ads for Wilkerson steel razor blades which would show two finely honed swords being drawn against each other at the commercial's conclusion. For decades I hadn't thought about this aural memory until I began hearing my disk's brake pads rubbing against the rotors--same metallic clang. Unfortunately one can't open up the calipers a little wider like on a rim brake to make the sound go away. It's the most frequent adjustment I have to make on a stand with my disks.

I like my disk bike--the brakes are very good. However, I like my calipers fine also. I wouldn't pay extra for disks on a road bike where I'm going to use 28mm and narrower tires.

Point

Trevtassie

I have, big man here with full touring rig, bike and gear over 110lbs. Going down a very steep mountain sealed road with random patches of gravel that meant you couldn't pulse brake or go fast enough for air flow to be effective. I've also been riding with a dude who had one fail on his MTB, luckily it was the back. Funny thing was he was talking not 5 minutes before about how superior disc brakes are.
Here's the point: discs do have a failure mode to zero or minimal braking from heat build up, in circumstances which can be achieved in the real world. Braking techniques in steep terrain while heavily loaded need to be modified to take this into account. To say otherwise is to deny basic physics. Rim brakes can cause blow outs in extreme circumstances from heat build up but cases of the brake failing to stop are much rarer than with disc brakes.

zze86

Rim brakes please.

Although I do have hydro discs on one of my bikes, discs merely present another hassle that I would rather not deal with. Dishing of the front wheel, more dishing or the rear wheel, bleeding of lines, another thingy to align correctly...bleh. I'm a year round commuter and see rain, snow, ice, salt what have you and rim brakes are perfectly adequate.

If you're in need of that instantaneous bite for emergency braking that hydro discs offer in rain, snow, ice etc I'd say you're already going too fast for conditions anyways and are asking for some hurting either way.

Maelochs

Well ... i think we have made it clear to the OP that no matter what he chooses ... someone here is going to tell him he's doing it wrong.

Troul 

No right or wrong. Preference determines choice.

rydabent

Yup I remember newspapers. But-------------I no longer subscribe because of the price of the local paper.

rydabent

Saw blades**********? Killed people********************?? Where is the proof in those statements.

Maelochs

Just the other day i saw on the news where a disc attacked and killed a mother and an infant in a stroller ... diced them into tiny pieces ... but the disc tried to escape on a bike with rim brakes, and a single drop of blood hit the wheel, so the disc couldn't stop and crashed fatally.

rydabent

Well there you go.

rydabent

I am on a recumbent trike and it has disc brakes.

Maelochs

Justice is served.

Leebo

YRMV. I'm a big fan of Avid BB7 mt setups, run them on 4 bikes. 180 mm rotor front, 160 rear, sintered pads. Never had an issue, ever. But that's me. Pulsing and alternating brakes works. Sure stuff breaks. Hydro hoses I guess? Mt biker here. They just work great, standard issue for say the last 6 years or so, mt bikes over say 1 K don't have the ability to run rim, and plus and fat bikes run disc always. Cheers, pedal on.

DrIsotope

Tell that to anyone who's ever had the end of a handlebar pulled out of their leg after a crash.

Also, the things with the teeth are the sharpest things on a bicycle.

rydabent

How about the teeth on the big ring on the bottom bracket. BTW disc brakes now have a rounded edge.

KraneXL

That was my first thought as well. You could also get impaled on one of the tubes "if the conditions are right."

zze86

I can't wait to hear the discussion once carbon rotors for bikes becomes in vogue.

"I used to get brake fade with my disc brakes but not with these new carbon rotors!"
"Spinning, assploding, saw blades of death!"

indyfabz

And puncture wounds can hurt like hell. I got one from a chainring. Thing got infected and was quite painful. Also speared myself with the end of a frayed cable that had lost its cap. That hurt as well.

fietsbob

the old Phil Wood Disc brakes used a disc of friction material ,
and the pads were steel.

Jbarcs

Full disclosure: I do not like disc brakes. If you will be your own mechanic you will find them far fussier than rim brakes and that fussiness can be a major irritant.

Okay, with that said... I would opt for the disc brake bike. We all have to accept that they are the future.

Most bikes with rim brakes (calipers) will let you ride up to a 28mm tire most of the time. But what if the next ride would be better done with 32 or 35 or even 40 mm tires? Do you get a second bike? The disc brake bike will usually accommodate the bigger tire. If you have plenty of space to store a large collection of bikes then go ahead and buy the caliper fitted bike. But if you want to try to meet multiple needs with the fewest number of bikes then go for the disc equipped bike and learn to master the fiddling that they require.

jefnvk

Do we really? They're the in thing right now, will they really hold up though? Especially so, when entry level bikes come with low end examples that don't stay adjusted, and people transitioning from far better at the price point V or caliper brakes start to associate them with poor stopping performance (as my wife has already decided with hers)?

OldFartCyclist

Well, this is my 2 bits: If I didn't have a bike now and was in the market for my first good rider, I would most likely go for the disc brake feature. However, I have a couple of very high quality bikes and have invested in a number of wheelsets (4 spares sets including 1 for the Kinetic trainer I use in bad winter weather, ready to go and mounted with a trainer tire. Works with either bike!) This factor alone just about eliminates a new bike with a disc from contention. Unless you go absolute top end and dollar indifferent, the new bike will have a wheelset that is not up to snuff for me. My wheels and the flexibility of changing wheelset depending on the ride planned is worth more than the disc brake feature and another investment in high end wheels. I have a superlight climbing set and 2 sets of Mavic Exaliths that give me braking very comparable to the discs setups I've ridden even in the rain or wet. I've never had a problem with overheating tires on long descents and I've ridden down a few. I have topnotch DA 9100 rim brakes on both my bikes and try to ride with a bit of intelligence and foresight. My brakes have never failed me on the steepest downhills or the most sudden emergency where discs would have made a difference.

I'm not anti disc or pro rim. Unless I'm shopping in the $10,000-$12,000 range, from my own experience, I would be putting myself at a disadvantage in a number of ways.

Jbarcs

I'm not interested in a huge debate... just trying to advise the OP based on my experience. My rationale for my comments regarding the future was based largely on my experience searching for a canti bossed cx frame to build up for my son. Not an easy task anymore. How many folks are making canti cx or gravel or adventure bikes in 2018? No need arguing about the effectiveness or likability of one vs. the other. It's just happening whether we like it or not.

Alexxx1

I do like BB7s because of simplicity and most bike shops stock pads for them...Getting brake pads for hydraulic brakes can be a problem because there are just too many different models out there and most bike shops don't stock every type of disc brake pad on the market.