bruce19

Yes. But, you could still be an old fossil.

Chandne

Yes, mainly for the trainer in the winter though. I just got a disc-brake bike and the BMC will be relegated to the trainer. The braking difference (and tire width difference) is just too much here in the mountains.

big john

I resemble that remark.

Harhir

My daily rider is about 23 years old. Rim brakes work fantastic. No need to change. These rim brakes actually work better than the mechanical disk brakes on my cargo bike.

The Chemist

Not me. I switched to discs last year and won't be going back. Their improved performance in the wet over rim brakes alone makes them worth it, but their easier adjustment and quicker removal of wheels that they allow are just added benefits.

Point

No need to replace what’s worked for years

Nyah

My rim brakes are strong enough to flip me over the front of the bicycle. On wet pavement, no less. It happened today and I have a bunch of pain to prove it. Well, you'll just have to take my word on that.

PeteHski

Maybe you need brakes with finer control over modulation?

Kapusta

Nah. Unintentionally going over the bars is a feature, not a bug.

Its like a toaster that works so well that it keeps burning your toast. Who would not want that?

smd4

Don’t say that. Disc brake people won’t understand that your brakes work well. They’ll just think you don’t know how to use them.

PeteHski

"Disc brake people". I love this term. Has it ever occurred to you that the vast majority of "Disc brake people" had decades of prior experience using rim brakes? So they can easily make their own comparisons.

This happens with electric vs gas car debates too. People actually talk about the advantages of their diesel/petrol car as if people who have recently moved on to EVs have never owned one. Yet they are quite happy to state why they think the newer tech is rubbish with little or no personal experience. It's pretty tragic when you think about it.

So if I've previously owned say a dozen or more rim-braked bikes and now prefer to ride a couple of disc-braked bikes - does that make me a "disc-brake person" with zero understanding of how rim-brakes work?

prj71

My cars have had disc brakes for years. So I must be disc brake people.

Rim brakes are the the equivalent of the old drum brakes that were on cars. Sure they worked, but they weren't the best at it.

smd4

I kinda like it myself.

Nyah

I'll agree that it was "user error". It does show that rim brakes are effective, though. Even though I flipped, I did manage to avoid slamming into the stopped-car in front of me.

PeteHski

Thanks for explaining. I've never ridden a bike with rim brakes so it's useful to know.

smd4

You should try a set, properly adjusted. Lighter than disc brakes, and except in the wet, just as effective.

elcruxio

Can I use carbon wheels on wet sandy tarmac roads? What if I do not in fact consist purely of saccharose and want to regularly ride in the wet? Are rim brakes just as effective then? With the carbon rims?

smd4

I don't really care what you do.

elcruxio

I'm going to take that as a no. So not nearly as effective except in narrow set of conditions?

smd4

Now, you know what happens when we "assume"...

elcruxio

We get to lie about things we wrote earlier?

smd4

Like I said...I don't care what you do.

PeteHski

I'm not sure if you are being serious. Hard to tell with your posts.

smd4

Same here.

Atlas Shrugged

As this entertaining thread is slowly circling down the drain a parting comment. For individuals in the market for a premium sporting bicycle, the number who desire a rim brake bike is virtually nonexistent. This forum, with its highly skewed demographic toward the elderly, does not represent what is happening within the sport or the consumer's wants. As the Luddites call from the sidelines that rim brakes are superior and that mass-produced Italian race bikes from the '70s and '80s provide an ethereal riding experience, the world has moved on.