dream bike musings: disc or rim brakes

[wallymann]

if you were to drop big dollar on a custom carbon dream bike, would you go disc or rim brakes?

i'm a retro-grouch and my gut reaction is: rim brakes.

the dream bike is for my heart and "better modulation" doesnt really make my heart pitter-patter and disc brakes kinda hurt my eyes.

rim brake bikes just look better and the braking is fine for a flat-lander like me. hell, i'd probably opt for fully external cables, too!

what does the mob think and why?

[charliedid]

I'd go Direct Mount assuming we are talking about road bikes.

The Bontrager brakes I have are excellent.

[jtakeda]

What kind of bike?

[terry]

I can’t imagine I’ll ever try disc brakes. Maybe I’m old, or old school, but rim brakes for me forever.

[bicycletricycle]

For a fancy carbon road bike I would go rim brakes. If you plan on keeping it a long time the biggest downside at this point would probably be getting parts. For instance, the coolest newest wheels will all be disc only.

[weiwentg]

I'd go disc brakes, even if the bike weren't carbon. I have to be honest, I'm not wedded to the aesthetic of rim brakes over disc. I can see the functionality of discs, and I like that they enable wider rims to be aero. I also like that you can run carbon wheels as a daily driver if you like without having to deal with braking on carbon rims.

[merckx]

For god'sake get disc brakes. Record calipers and 700c discs.

[mtechnica]

At this point there’s no way I wouldn’t go with thru axles and hydraulic disc brakes. Both my my road only bikes have rim brakes and they’re fine. Good even. But buying a new bike, I wouldn’t buy a bike with a technology/standard that has one foot in the grave. If anything the only justification for buying a high end rim brake bike would be because you can get really good deals on them.

[lavi]

Depends.

What width rubber do you want to run? Run in the rain? Swap wheels sizes?

If it’s normal rubber (30 or lower) = rim brake.

Rain, lots? My pref is disc

Want 700 and 650= disc.

I would not choose disc over rim brake aside from rubber size and weather.

[tomato coupe]

Why in the world does it matter what the "mob" thinks? It's your custom build – get what you want.

[John H.]

I agree with others- get what is your dream bike.

That said, do you need custom geometry? If not, it seems like you could find the nicest carbon rim brake bike out there for less than a custom frame would cost.

But if custom carbon rim brake is what you want- Get one.

[johnniecakes]

I ordered a steel custom for delivery early next year, (hopefully January) and specified rim brakes. It's my bike and I specified what I wanted, you should do the same.

[veloduffer]

I have both disc and rim, but my new Mosaic and Madone were disc. On road bikes, sheer stopping power isn’t needed usually, as modulation is more important. And I prefer the rim brake as the aesthetic.

Disc gives me more wheel and tire options. Enjoying wider tires 30mm for the comfort.

Do you have other bikes for gravel or touring or mtb? If you’re not trying to have an all-rounder, then get the rim brakes that you want.


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[joevers]

I'm not the mob but I'm pretty anti custom carbon since you miss out on (to me) the biggest benefits of carbon which are tuning comfort and aerodynamics and really clean integration. Companies spend a ridiculously long time and a lot of money developing and testing carbon frames.

If I'm going custom I'm going metal, and if I'm starting from the ground up I'm going disc. You don't have to care about the modulation (though you probably will), the wheel options and tire clearance is worth it alone. Thru axle also seems to really stiffen up the rear triangle and the fork. There are certain builders I'd consider a rim brake frame from, but there's no good reason for it aside from this vision of a crit specific metal bike I have.

If you're going carbon I'd strongly suggest having a look at what's out there from some of the bigger brands. Something like the new Aethos from Specialized is big time dreamy being a really classic looking frame but with discs, clearance for 32's, and a really good warranty.

[Ken Robb]

When we worry about availability of compatible replacement parts like brake pads and rotors, rims and wheels which system presents the bigger risk of parts being unavailable? Can we still get parts for early disc systems? Have any axle standards become obsolete? I'm not in the market for a new bike so I haven't kept up with the latest technology.