Originally Posted by
Jeff Neese
It may not be pointless to everyone. It highlights the fact that what we call disk brakes are not inherently better than what we call rim brakes, because in fact they're the same thing. One of them just has a much smaller diameter rotor (less mechanical advantage), and also weighs more. The tradeoff for those limitations are that you can use carbon rims, and also avoid overheating the rims under long hard braking. A lot of people mention other things like mud, or fender clearance. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and people should choose based on their actual requirements. It's definitely not a "newer is better" thing.
You can refer to your rim brakes as disc brakes if you like. I'm going to start referring to my disc brakes as "rim brakes that utilize a smaller, coaxially-mounted secondary rim that doesn't have a tire mounted on it." Because, you know, rim brakes and disc brakes are really the same thing, and this will highlight that.