Originally Posted by
Simonix
Not sure why you would not want disc brakes on a gravel bike?
After years of multiple “sketchy” off road experiences on my MTBs with cantliever and then v brakes (especially in the wet and muddy weather), moving to discs was a revelation!
wouldn’t want to go back now.
Many people ride their gravel bikes on roads so sketchy off road experiences with rim brake MTBs have no bearing on how they ride.
I ride my gravel bike on gravel roads. They are roads that are just unpaved. Rim brakes stop me fine on these roads. To be clear, disc brakes also stop me fine on the same roads. I currently have hydraulic disc brakes but used rim brakes with 30 year old cantilever brakes for a long time which stopped me fine. Those cantilever brakes are still on that frame which is now set up for commuting and errands...and the brakes continue to stop me just fine.
I totally understand why you like hydraulic disc brakes for those sketchy MTB rides. Again though, recognize that MTB is different from gravel, even if some brands try to blur the lines. And its awesome to underbike and use your gravel bike on singletrack- I do it, but thats on relatively flat river bottom singletrack that is twisty so there are no sketchy incidents.
^None of this is me hating on disc brakes. I have them and they work fine. They havent been a revelation for gravel riding though.