Went on a lumpy North downs road loop on Sunday, and anecdotally, lots of the weight weenie going past on the climbs were using rim brakes.
Previous time I was there was on an ultegra rim braked road bike. This time on an ultegra disc braked bike. The extra confidence that the discs provide was just great.
Classic cars are popular for nostalgic reasons though. You don’t get in a restored 205gti and think “yeah! I want all my new cars to have flaky trim, rubbish brakes and to catch randomly on fire” 🤣🤣
Shock horror, as a mtb’er at heart- I think road discs look better too 😱
I don't know how any keen cyclist can defend rim brakes over discs, unless you live in Norfolk? If you want to do any mildly aggressive braking, then there's just no competition - the bite, the modulation, the power.
I still have a rim brake Canyon Ultimate which I take out from time to time, it's light and agile and corners wonderfully; but descending the steep narrow lanes of the Chilterns is a genuinely terrifying experience, and that's in the dry!
I'm intrigued what faff you do with discs? All the pairs I've had, bar the occasional bleed, have been completely faff free.
Canti's particularly, and vee's to some degree, needed constant adjustment for pad alignment and cable stretch and other such things. No way I'd go back to them.
I've got dual pivot callipers brakes on my best road bike, but if I could fit discs to it I would.
unless you live in Norfolk?
Suffolk 😂
I don’t know how any keen cyclist can defend rim brakes over discs, unless you live in Norfolk? If you want to do any mildly aggressive braking, then there’s just no competition – the bite, the modulation, the power.
I still have a rim brake Canyon Ultimate which I take out from time to time, it’s light and agile and corners wonderfully; but descending the steep narrow lanes of the Chilterns is a genuinely terrifying experience, and that’s in the dry!
I agree. Add a bit of 'timber' into the physics mix and it's hard to recommend rim over disc if there was an option to have discs. I have one rim brake bike left - my summer road bike. I can't justify/afford to change it but if/when the time comes it will defiantly be replaced by a disc alternative.
unless you live in Norfolk?
*Cough* Scottish borders.
Classic cars are popular for nostalgic reasons though.
That, and a different ride quality or driving experience due to the lack of things that make a modern car easier to drive/safer/more comfortable? I suppose you can have the worst of both worlds in bikes or cars. To make it work you want a few things pulling in the same direction.
To make it work you want a few things pulling in the same direction.
Except rim brakes...
Rim brakes can work ok, but disk brakes work better, more of the time, IME. That's all really.
If you're sloppy with maintenance (waves) then whichever you use, you can still wear out a set of pads half way through a big hilly ride on a tandem and spend the rest of the day praying that the other brake will hold up. Having done that with rim and disk brakes I preferred the latter. Even though the rim brakes were a pretty good Magura hydraulic model.
Disks mean your rims don't wear out and explode at a moment of maximum inconvenience. They also don't melt your tyres on a big descent. But more importantly, they don't dramatically lose performance in wet and dirty conditions.
I’m intrigued what faff you do with discs? All the pairs I’ve had, bar the occasional bleed, have been completely faff free.
Disks start to suck if they don't get a lot of use ime - say you do a lot of flattish road miles and just aren't pulling the brakes much, ie the opposite of mountain biking. Or you park it up for a few weeks whilst you're riding something else.
If I ever bought a pure road bike it would have to be disk, because obv you'd want to take it up and down the hills, and not be afraid of rain. But I'd fully expect a load of faff unless I was riding it day in day out.
Just bought a rim brake TT frame as it goes - prob last chance to do this as a new purchase from a big brand. The idea of disks on a bike that sees minimal brake action sounds really unappealing for me.
Except rim brakes…
Ha.. yeah. Opposing forces there.
OT as it's rim calipers not the vees in the OP, but this bike style is an example. You can't really build a good skinny steel fork for a disc brake and a slim steel lugged frame often goes well with a fork like this. The bike will ride quite differently to a stiffer modern bike with a carbon fork that would usually have discs now. Whippier, springy.
You might say that the ride feel of the trad road bike isn't your thing, or that it's not worth compromising the brake performance for. Or you could have the skinny steel frame with a carbon fork and discs. That's fair enough and the skinny trad road bike is a bit niche now.
I've had great times on a pure road set up with discs, descending the mountain roads in Taiwan was a revelation with the first Shimano hydro discs on a Pinnacle sample road bike. That would be a 3rd road bike type for me, fitting in between the trad rim brake roadie and a gravel-rando roadie that's bigger tyred and more confident on rough lanes.
There's a reason major manufacturers stopped producing V-Brakes and Cantis... they are shite. If you want rim brakes, use a good calliper.
