randallr

This is my experience, also. But I am running Paul Components cantilever brakes.

DorkDisk

As a MTBer from the 90s, its funny to read all the old arguments.

I resisted discs for a long time (standard arguments about weight and complexity) but knew it was the future. Once all the standards were worked out (98ish?), it was a no brainer on a new bike.

Living in road-centric NYC, its funny how mechanics knew very little about discs when they hit the road scene.

Cantis, bleh. I still have one bike with them. Because they look cooler than Vs. I have a set of Avid Tri Aligns but don't use em because bleh.... I rode cantis when they were in their peak and as soon as Vs hit, I switched to them. Everyone who seriously rode off-road did. They were a huge change.

cs1

I have them on one bike. They are much easier to set up than Shimano. But the Shimano can be made to work well.

msu2001la

Agree with all of this. I was into MTB in the 90's as well, and still remember the first time I tried a set of XT linear pull v-brakes. What a huge improvement over cantilevers. The same can be said for discs. In the mid 00's, I went from a 26" rim brake to a 29" hydro disc brake MTB and it was a massive transformation.

When I got into CX racing in the early 2010's, I was disappointed to discover that disc brakes were only on the highest end models (at that time), so I settled for a canti brake CX bike. It worked fine (I still use that bike as a backup and on my indoor trainer), but it felt like a huge step back compared to my disc brake MTB.

msu2001la

Oh please. My comment was obviously made in jest. I do not think cantilever brakes are some kind of unsolvable conundrum, but they do require some knowledge and patience to set up properly. Pretending otherwise is downright silly.

What a dumb thing to argue about.

chaadster

For those who don't know about cantis:

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/canti-trad.html

and his additional page on canti "theory":

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cantilever-geometry.html

Or, you can loosen 2 bolts (with only one allen key!) and align a hydro disc caliper so the rotor doesn't rub and be done with brake adjustment altogether and forever.

Badger6

Discs are the easier to set up than just about all rim brakes, easier to maintain, and stop better (more predictably and reliably) than any rim brake. The technology is sufficiently mature that they don't just magically fail. This should be the end of the thread, but I am confident there will be several more pages of people to tell us the virtues of the only brake system they know, which coincidentally is not disc brakes, unless they started riding bicycles last year.

shelbyfv

I'm sorry this thread has devolved into another disc vs rim. There are a number of reasons someone might still be interested in a rim brake bike. Like Di2 vs mechanical, people aren't going to scrap stuff just because something better is available.

chaadster

Devolve? It didn’t devolve, it was crafted to be that from the inception. It was the OP which asked, “Why can't Shimano make a GRX with cantilever brakes?”

And scrapping stuff? The OP isn’t scrapping anything, as the other question in the OP was if there are any complete gravel bikes without disc brakes.

shelbyfv

You are correct. I did forget how it started out.

chaadster

No worries. I understand the frustration of rehashing the same discussions over and over again. We’ll probably see a friction vs. indexed shifting thread soon!

Badger6

Bring it...electronic is far superior to both. Again, for the same reasons of discs vs rimmers....ease of setup and virtually maintenance free. But, yeh, let's do it!

shelbyfv

There actually is a friction vs index happening now. https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...tensions.html;)

chaadster

Oh my!

unterhausen

I was going to post an anecdote about why I quit using friction, but decided against it.

I don't really think that rim brakes are that hard to adjust, but I really have to generate some patience when I work on them. New brake pads at the same time as new brake cables are the worst. I'm not sure why vee brakes are considered easier than cantilevers, they can be a real pain. I still have rim brake road bikes and probably will continue to have rim brake road bikes for some time. I am even working on a bike that's going to have cantilevers. Although after one particularly rainy 600km brevet, I really wanted a disc road bike. Haven't done anything about that yet though.

But as far as rim brake gravel bike goes, everyone needs a hobby, but fighting an industry trend that has now universally taken over is one I can do without.

dwmckee

At some point it is just time to turn and swim with the current. Some folks just want to swim up stream a little longer than others.