Originally Posted by 50PlusCycling

My first bike with a disk brake was a Schwinn Stingray, which was made before many people on this forum were born. But that didn’t mean it was good. I don’t mind seeing innovation creating solutions to problems, but lots of innovations are solutions to problems which don’t really exist. The science of marketing is convincing people to buy things they don’t really need and can’t really afford.

Rim brakes are popular with retro-grouches because they are simple, effective, lightweight, easy to maintain and adjust, don’t require bleeding, and the pads are very long lasting. They are inexpensive, easy to install and set up, and, depending on the levers you use, you can precisely adjust the modulation.

I have a couple of bikes with hydraulic disk brakes. I like how the brakes work, great stopping power and modulation, great in the rain, and they look cool (an important point to some people). However, installing and bleeding is a messy and often annoying job, and for bike newbs who aren’t handy with a wrench, and don’t have a bleeding kit, they are much harder to maintain than a mechanical rim brake system. Mechanical disk brakes aren’t much different than rim brakes when it comes to maintenance, but I don’t much like the “feel” of mechanical disk brakes.

Most people won’t ride a particular bike anywhere near as long as it takes rim brakes to wear out a rim. I’ve got a road bike which is running old-school (thin) Mavic Helium wheels, I’ve put more than 100k on this bike, and haven’t worn down the rims yet.