Windows95

Do y'all like cantilever brakes or v-brakes more? What do y'all think of disc brakes compared to rim brakes on a city bike? Share your opinion on your favorite type of brakes and why that's so.

dedhed

Good

Atlas Shrugged

Dont forget the vaunted drum brake. The unsung hero of the city bike scene.

Steve B.

I use a disc brake bike extensively as a road bike as well as owning a rim braked road bike. I live in a very flat area and pretty much never ride in the rain unless caught out. The braking performance on the disc equipped bike is no better than the rim brake equipped bike. Changing disc pads is easier then changing rim pads, which I pretty much have never needed to do.

Russ Roth

Just flat out like disc brakes the best, particularly hydraulic. Dual pivot rim brakes work great on road bikes and city bikes and I generally don't have an issue with them but like any rim brake they can get fairly messy after wet rides not to mention stopping is reduced in wet. V-brakes are great in general, great stopping power, nearly as easy to set up as dual pivot road brakes, but also messy in the wet and if you mountain bike in mud a lot your pads can wear quick as can your rims. Over the decades, particularly when I commuted primarily by bike, I wore through a number of sets of rims.
Disc pads in my experience last a lot longer, I've just ordered my first set of replacement pads for my MTB that I bought in 2018, I've been through 3 sets of tires in that time, and have to buy a new rear again, I've had to rebuild the wheels when the stock spokes started fatiguing after 4 years, but the brakes just keep trucking along. I bled the brakes last year after tearing a hose off on a tree which means the brakes went just over 5 years without touching the brakes. Pretty impressive track record. Cross bike has hydraulic disc, cross was an much a part of wearing through rims as commuting if not more so, now 3 years on the cross bike and not only is stopping top notch, but the rims are pristine, the rotors have lots of life and nothing grinds when stopping in the mud. All three kids have hydraulic brakes and stopping is so much easier, especially for a 7 or 8 year old who suddenly discover they dropped into a gnarly downhill and they need to scrub some speed. Hydraulic disc all the way.

cyccommute 

I have all of them on various bikes. A number of my bikes don’t have the capacity to use discs…probably the majority…so I have to use rim brakes. One of my bikes that I use for city riding in the winter can’t fit fenders if I try to use linear brakes.



All of the brakes I use are perfectly adequate for any condition I’ve used them in. I started mountain biking on cantilever equipped bikes and have ridden many of the same trails with cantilever, linear, and disc brakes. None of the brakes really performed badly nor much better than any other. I’ve also spent 40 years commuting on the same bikes even during winter time and have never had a point where I worry about stopping.

rsbob 

I prefer, and this may make me sound like a snob…. Ones that stop the bike.

Let the debate begin again and again and again….

Desert Ryder

I have all different types. Chainstay U-brake, canti's, V-brakes, Hyd Disc, and cable disc.
They all function well. Set up is key.
Of all those listed, for myself and my riding, I probably enjoy the cable disc for modulation, feel, stopping power, and ease of maintenance.

jgwilliams

Got to say that disc brakes are a game-changer for me. I do live in a pretty hilly area, though, which certainly colours my opinion. Rim brakes are great in the dry but, living where I do, I used to go through them very quickly, and it seemed like I was always having to adjust them. In the wet, though, it's a different story. Since the advent of alloy rims they have worked adequately, although I found that a little anticipation is still required. But they spread black muck everywhere and were always picking up little bits of grit which made a nasty graunching sound and, presumably, increased the wear on the rims. Since getting my new road bike with disc brakes I find I just don't have to think about them anymore. My only minor complaint is that they make a bit of a racket when they're wet which, for some reason, doesn't happen with my mountain bike.

Yan 

Between cantilevers and Vs, I prefer Vs. No cable hanger and straddle cable to worry about. Mechanical advantage doesn't decrease as pads wear.

Jeff Neese

Cantilevers if the frame is fitted for them. I have removed more than one set of V-brakes to install cantis. I like the stopping power, modulation, and the fact that once set up properly, they stay that way.

Dual-pivot sidepulls for road bikes. Same reasons.

indyfabz

Kai Winters

Vans...easiest brakes to replace and maintain...

shelbyfv

??? Are you planning to buy a bike with the type that gets the most votes?

wolfchild

A very contentious topic.

tcs

Spoon.

Iride01 

Having a favorite type of brakes just seems strange to me. I'll be happy with whatever brakes come on the bike that I choose to ride for the other more important reasons one uses to decide on a bike.

Perhaps I just don't use brakes enough when I ride.

wheelreason

My "favorite" brakes are any that work when I squeeze the lever...

pdlamb

Caliper, cantilever, disc -- I've got them all, and they all work well.

Since they all work well, I tend to prefer cantis with big thick rubber pads. Why? Because they last longer, maybe twice as long as my resin disc pads. Once a year I tinker with the canti adjustment for five minutes or so, and I'm good for another year.

Some of the advocates for disc brakes make me think it's a political party, or a religious sect. Perhaps if I lived and commuted in Seattle, over numerous steep hills and constant drizzle for eight months, I'd see the benefit. But since I don't live and commute there, I don't see it. I get more than five years' riding out of my rims with rim brakes, so I don't need the discs.

CAT7RDR

My first coaster brakes on my Stingray.
There.

Reflector Guy

Same here, every word of it. Of my two Bianchis, I think my Infinito would be just about perfect if it had the rim brakes that my Via Nirone has.

Fahrenheit531 

1st-gen Dura Ace sidepulls.

indyfabz

Sounds like a boring life.

Rick

My 1990 Burly Bongo has the Magura HS66 rim brakes on it. They are the best brakes I have ever owned. Toolless pad replacement and very good performance in the rain.

wolfchild

Sounds reasonable but that's still not good enough for some people.