2024+ Rim brake vs Disc brake catch-all

[bcroslin]

Originally Posted by 54ny77

On a group ride the other day, coming to stop cant tell ya how many folks had that annoying rattle/squeak from discs, all fancy bikes.

I'm riding a borrowed rim brake Moots and I noticed this same thing on a group ride last weekend. Sounded like the symphony tuning up before a show. With that said, not having tire clearance for more than 25's stinks.

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

Rim brakes on everything but the MTBs up in here. Rim brakes have just worked for me forever (30+yrs riding), zero "upgrade" is felt in disc for road, for me at least (hilly NY/CT roads). Rim brake road bikes the way of the Dodo? May be sooner rather than later but '24 Colnago C68 frames have a rim brake option as does Time's higher end frames. I'm also still on Campy mechanical, cable 10S/11S, and often lugged steel (w/ modern Ti and carbon), so what do I know? Ride what 'ya like.

[redir]

Disk for cyclocross and MTB allow you to charge the corner and slow down fast to make it through but if you are doing that on a road bike you are riding wrong. They are marginally better in the rain though and allow you to continue with a bent rim. Call me crazy but if I pull my front rim brake tight I'll flip over the bars just like I would on a disk brake bike. I've ridden both on the road here in the mountains of VA and occasionally in CO and I personally see no real difference except for the annoying sound as mentioned.

[dmitrik4]

I’ve hammered my rim brake bike down plenty of Cascades and Olympics descents in all kinds of weather, paved and forest/logging roads with no trouble. They work great and clear the 42/38mm tire combo just fine. But rim brakes are getting less common for sure, just like manual transmissions, carburetors, and flip phones. Mechanical shifting will probably be next.

My disc bikes can make noises that are just as annoying, esp if they get wet. Different, but still annoying.

[Mark McM]

Just for a bit of perspective -

The Paceline Forum does not represent the majority of cyclists. The vast majority of bikes being built and sold in the world today do not have disc brakes. Most have some form of rim brake or coaster brake. This is certainly true of the bicycles being made and sold in much of the developing world, and even the "bicycle shaped objects" sold in discount stores in the US; but even the bicycle specialty brands (Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, etc.) still sell many rim brake bikes. Remember that the bread and butter of many bike shops are city and cruiser/hybrid bikes in the $500 - $700 range.

[deluz]

And so has the consumer.
The performance of bikes today is the best they have ever been IMHO.
Of course nothing wrong with riding and old (or new) school rim brake bike.
I say Vive la différence

[AngryScientist]

People have been buying the latest and greatest that the big bike brands have pushed out for decades. Nothing new.

[glepore]

Originally Posted by RoosterCogset

I think the point of the OP was that of course you'd get a disc brake complete, because that's pretty much all you can buy now.

I've never bought a "new" bike other than a custom I bartered with Don Ferris for. In like 2002-3.
Nor a "new" car since 1984.
Depreciation is as stupid as gambling.

But I don't think the next used bike I buy is rim brake. I have 7 or so. But just as reference, a new Madone with DA is 15k or thereabouts. A one year old one in my size is 6-8k, a two year old one is 3.5k. So there's that.

[PsiSquared]

I've ridden both and I chose disc brakes for my custom build. I find the modulation more consistent and to my liking, and that makes it more likely that I can maximize braking. The same goes for the discs being about 26cm above the pavement: when it's wet the disc brakes will slow me quicker. I get all that with less effort than what is required for rim brakes.

I also dig that the rim is no longer a wear item and that I can run tires that inflate to 32mm in width on 25mm internal width rims.

I couldn't less about the minimal weight difference and for me the cost difference between a new Chorus group with disc brakes and a Chorus group with rim brakes. wasn't enough to hesitate. I loved my Chorus rim brakes, and I used a lot of excellent rim brakes before that. I've found the discs to be just better.

I think this is an improvement in tech, and I don't think was necessarily the result of the industry "pushing" disc brakes on cyclists. I remember in the 00's people on cycling BBSs wanting disc brakes, and in that transition period when both brake types were on bikes on shop floors, people were buying disc brakes.

In the end, whether someone prefers disc brakes or rim brakes is a subjective thing. The same goes for whether someone sees this as an advancement or not. One thing is true, the industry wouldn't pump out more models with disc brakes if people weren't buying them.

[Andy340]

Disc brakes may reduce market size long term for the industry - wider tire clearance allows me to run different wheels for road vs gravel so I only use one bike now (replaced 2 bikes: rim brake road & disc brake gravel). I don’t really notice/appreciate nuances of ‘pure’ road bike vs gravel bike I use now but others might.
Having one bike also negates need to replicate fit and touch points across multiple bikes which is another big plus (or minus for industry).

[username]

Originally Posted by glepore

I've never bought a "new" bike other than a custom.

But I don't think the next used bike I buy is rim brake. I have 7 or so. But just as reference, a new Madone with DA is 15k or thereabouts. A one year old one in my size is 6-8k, a two year old one is 3.5k. So there's that.

My buddy just bought a year-old Aethos in nearly new condition for 30% of the original price. It's a REALLY nice bike with, you guessed it, disc brakes and electronic shifting. Both of which are great, by the way.

Prepare for a complete lack of revelatory content: the thing I like best about electronic shifting is the precision and the ease. I shift much more frequently on rigs that have electronic shifting, and I never miss a shift or find myself between gears. As for disc brakes, I think they're much more of a mixed bag. They do stop better and with less effort, especially in the wet. That's a real improvement. And they allow for fatter tires, another real improvement. But they're often noisy, heavy, and, in my view, ugly.

In the end, as someone said above, I like simple bikes. I'm going to keep looking for that elusive Peg Respo in 55. It'll turn up eventually. In the meantime, I'm digging my Kirk and my Peg (even though it's not a Respo).

[MikeD]

If the pros rode rim braked bikes, there would be a lot more new rim brake bikes being offered. Most riders try to emulate the pros. Plus, the industry purposely phased out rim brakes and pushed disc as a way to sell more bikes and make you think that rim brakes were obsolete.

[reuben]

I must have missed a few threads. Is there some controversy regarding rim and disc brakes?

[bigbill]

Mountain and gravel benefit from disc brakes. My disc brake road bike exists because it clears 32s, unlike my remaining road bikes which are rim brake and limited to certain 28s. On dry roads, I've never felt like I couldn't quickly stop on a descent with rim brakes. On wet, I know I have to brake earlier.

[PsiSquared]

Originally Posted by MikeD

If the pros rode rim braked bikes, there would be a lot more new rim brake bikes being offered. Most riders try to emulate the pros. Plus, the industry purposely phased out rim brakes and pushed disc as a way to sell more bikes and make you think that rim brakes were obsolete.

I don't buy the industry conspiracy angle. If people weren't buying bikes with disc brakes, the industry wouldn't have continued selling them. Let's not forget there were several years when both rim brake bikes and disc brake bikes were on shop floors. But that's my opinion. Short of actual evidence of anything, we won't have anything more than opinions.