terrymorse 

Reluctance to switch over to a new technology, because what you are using now works fine.

Lots of new tech claims to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. I blame the tech bro echo chamber.

Troul 

a real purist will use the heel of the skateboard type shoe to stop.

FBinNY 

Answer is yes. It's not about whether one is "better" than the other, but about fitness for the specific purpose. Each has advantages and drawbacks, so its about weighing them based on your needs.

Keep in mind that rim brakes served well for well over a century, though there were also hub brakes just as long with each having it's place. The need for disc brakes came about mainly because of mtn bikes where the drawbacks of rim brakes became problematic.

In favor of disc brakes, excellent wet weather service & elimination of rim wear. Disc brakes also open the door to CF rims so that's a subtle plus. The drawbacks are greater complexity, initial & maintenance costs, and weight.

In favor of rim brakes, simplicity & reliability, low initial and maintenance cost, lower weight. The drawback is mainly poor wet service, along with rim wear issues.

For road use with narrow tires, the balance makes rim brakes the smarter choice, since the drawbacks are non issues for most, possibly excluding all weather commuters.

I'm a life long road rider, both sport and utility, and cannot see a need for discs. I've adapted to the poorer wet braking, which is manageable, especially because traction is also reduced. As for rim wear, it's never been an issue in almost 250k miles, though it might become one if there were enough urban miles in that mix. OTOH rim life in NYC area is lower anyway owing to potholes.

If it weren't for the marketing efforts, and the thinking of mountain riders starting to buy road bikes, I believe that high end road bikes would still be rim braked, and wouldn't be surprised by some return to rim brakes on sport/competition bikes.




In favor

shelbyfv

I was actually "in the business" way back when this happened. I can tell you that nobody with any expertise or experience thought it would work. Obviously it didn't and now we have the abandoned demented wandering the country. We've actually had a few cause trouble here on BF over the years.

speyfitter

Sorry I didn’t mean to offend the boomers in here.

Ghazmh

I wonder if anyone will come out with a road hydraulic rim caliper to allow us with rim brake road bike to use the latest groupsets like Shimano Dura Ace 12 speed which is disappointingly only hydraulic and di2.

PeteHski

Brake rotors only need to get much bigger if power, tyre grip levels or weight significantly increase. None of these things are going to happen on bicycles and certainly not to the extent of requiring 600 mm rotor diameters. Do you see any rim-braked motorbikes out there?

Troul 

If the modern rotor was designed to have the vented rotor, it might actually facilitate a longer material life & reduce the diameter sizes needed... So what if it increases the weight some, we all don't live a corner block to corner block in racing lives.

JohnDThompson 

Actually, you need a frame and fork designed to handle disc brake loads, and hubs capable of mounting a brake rotor.

No. Machined brake tracks are a relatively modern feature. Unmachined brake tracks were universal until only a couple decades ago.

N.B. there are/were dedicated rims for track use that do not have a sidewall that could function as a brake track, but those were the exception, not the rule.

terrymorse 

SRAM makes (made) a hydraulic rim brake.

cyccommute 

It amazing how someone comes in spoiling for a fight and is surprised to find one.

PeteHski

Isn’t that the definition of reluctance to change? I’m happy with what I’ve already got and so I’m reluctant to change it.

Wildwood 

As an occasional retrogrouch, I will move beyond the disc brake discussion, and say Technically that I cannot foresee:
1a. Using 13 cogs on a cassette,
1b. Neither a 10 cog nor one with 52 teeth.
2. I like tubes on my road bikes.
3. I prefer external cable routing
4. Custom, handmade frames are priceless
5. 40+mm road tires are for sissies (and maybe some self supported tourers).
6. If you can clear your handlebars, your mind will follow


I ride vintage & modern, downtube shifting/Ergo10/Di2, CF/Ti/Steel frames, tubular/clincher - just make the frame 60cm please, and the weather pleasant.


1959 or 2020 - or anything in between, doesn’t really matter to me, just give it nice tires and wheels.

79pmooney

Care to come and show me how to mount discs on my wheels? (I know how to re-rim a disc wheel to work with rim brakes.)

rsbob 

For me it depends on what is more valuable, a bike that stops quickly, or one that climbs well. (Yeah, I know, one could save your life.). I have two carbon bikes with different setups. The Orbea has Ultegra rim brakes and aluminum rims with tubed GP5Ks. Even with Ultegra pads stopping is typical of rim brakes which is to say it’s meh. However, the Orbea is lighter with the rim brakes and man can that bike accelerate and climb. The Bianchi has aero carbon rims, is tubeless and Ultegra discs. The bike can stop on a dime but is slow to accelerate and is not ideal for climbing.

I spend far more time climbing than braking and that is where the scale tips. Sure I love a fast braking bike, but on a long climb, the lighter rim braked bike wins. If I could own a light disc braked bike, then it would be an ideal combination. I know they exist at stratospheric prices, so will have to weight 😆 until the prices come down. Call me a Luddite or Boomer or Retro Grouch but I know what works for me.

redshift1

Well it was tried....Buell I think.

Atlas Shrugged

Actually just sell both of the bikes and pick up a Specialized Aethos and get the best of both worlds.

rsbob 

Excellent recommendation. Thanks

SoSmellyAir

Damn, I missed the original, incorrectly spelled version of the title; what was it?

tomato coupe

The question was about the wheel set, not the frame.

I didn't state that machined brake tracks were required.

0/2

tomato coupe

Whoosh.

terrymorse 

Well, it’s at least the most common reason why someone doesn’t feel the need to upgrade. It’s not the consumer’s fault if the new thing has an unconvincing value proposition.

Our city will pay us to dump our gas-fired water heater and replace it with a heat pump heater. But the power was out for a full day last week, and our old water heater continued to work. A heat pump heater would have been useless without electricity. Not a compelling value proposition.

3alarmer 

...you've really never heard the phrase, "a solution looking for a problem" ? I'd have guessed it commonly used in your field.

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.

georges1

Yet from 1983 until 2004/2006 when the disc brakes went mandatory on the mountain bikes, none really bothered about disc brakes on mountain bikes. XTR , TRP Vbrakes, and Avid Extreme Arch were the most performing Vbrakes ever made alongwith the XT 780 T Vbrakes. There was a time when you could order a MTB with v brake mounts and disc brake mounts, after 2006 it was not more possible.