Was I WRONG About Rim Brakes?

rim breaks are yesterdays news

Nothing's wrong with rim brakes!! I don't ride in the rain either.. Carbon bikes and wheels are too stiff as well..

“If you brake, you lose.” - Mario Cippolini

I started racing at club level in the mid-Atlantic, US 40 years ago. I have done hundreds of races in all weather conditions and have never experienced any of the braking issues that people talk about. I currently have a ~dozen rim brake bikes, 5 with carbon braking surface, and have never encountered any of the problems that are so often described. I have never worn out the brake track on a set of rims. I can modulate speed in the wet or dry, with the primary limiter being tire contact patch friction.

I recognize that others may have a different experience and may honestly prefer disc brake road bikes…but it is ironic to me that DA concludes that the improved braking performance of his disc brakes is worth the weight penalty, but then he comes back with a video a month later on weight weenie hacks to reduce the weight of his disc brake bike!

Whats next hand breaks hahaha

Rim brakes are great in dry but in the wet you really need stopping power and good modulation and I can only get that with disc brakes. the other thing is that you can survive wheel buckles and all sorts of misalignments with discs that you can't with rims
However I am going to say each to their own if you like rim brakes there are still bikes out there for you.....

agree on this analysis

The biggest disadvantage is when you broke a spoke and need to loose the brake cable so no-brake. Happens to me 3 times, had to call someone to pick me up in the middle of the route. Then you have less power brake and with rain is almost none. Disk brakes when you try them is another level

On carbon rims. Rim brake. No thanks.

Disk brake courses a lot of problems. Most of my pats are force into disc brake bike and after awhile they all complained about the same one issue and it’s annoying as hell. You will know when you know.

I like rim brakes, my question is why people want to spend so much money in carbon rims when the weight is very similar to aluminum rims, disc hydraulic brakes are very heavy and they always need adjustment, contaminate etc etc

On a road bike one needs to pedal fast instead of braking. Otherwise he finishes late. 🤷‍♂

Love that red patina!

I ride a 2016 carbon road bike with rim brakes, aluminum wheels, mechanichal shifting, external cable routing, threaded bottom bracket cups. It cost me less than 1500 euros, weighs less than 7 kg with pedals and cages, rides fine, stops fine, maintenance is low, easy and cheap. You are free to spend big bucks on a modern heavy disc brake road bike with integrated proprietary headset, internal cable routing, pressfit bottome bracket and all the other new gimmicks...

I just bought me a disk brake bike, i wanted to wait with buying nice wheels, but... should i go for it now, now they still get made. or can i wait 2-3 more years before i upgrade? greets

Rim brakes with KoolStop pads is what I prefer. There's never a good reason to increase the complexity of a simple, elegant, efficient system.

Did you try direct mount rim brake?

Well the rim is just a large disc rotor.

I think rim brakes are great with alloy wheels but they SUCK on carbon rims especially on steep downhill descents

Thanks for your honest opinion. I know you are not a fan of down slope top tube, I don't like it either, here is one idea for a future video: compare the advantages of the down slope with the horizontal top tubes, I think there are practical reasons why most new bikes are with a down slope.

I think the case for the road disc brakes is made by the carbon wheels, you can't have high performance carbon wheels with good performance braking using a rim brake, also, the carbon wheels are not a small thing, 10-30W/pair advantage from wheels is huge

Having had the opposite — never used discs on a road bike until recently. The consistent performance of discs is by far an away their best attribute. Braking performance on a hot day on short descents/road junctions is fine but as you say. Long descents require some pre-braking to knock off speed before committing to the actual braking point. Not so with discs. Really enjoying them.

I think the other aspect to consider if that with rim brakes you'll also have to replace your rim over time which is far more expensive than a disc rotor!

But braking with rim brakes and aluminium wheels in wet is just as good as dry. Voting with oir walet wasn't the case here the move came from the manufactures.

How are the disc brakes performing in wet once you find out they've been contaminated, which on the the road happens more ofthen then when ridig on trails?

Once I upgraded my rim pads to Koolstop triple compound I never missed brake rotors....

My problem with disk breaks is all about maintenance. Rim breaks sirlt there, and you don't even remember they exist. And, I use carbon wheels with metal rims.

If rim brakes were so good, the pro's would still be using them, Period!!! ask any world class winning rider if they could swap, and I bet you they would not, can't see the jumbo boys riding rims any time soon. It's a bit like drum brakes on cars, who would want to go back? discs=less risk and allows more innovation in wheel technology.

I have high-spec'd bikes in rim and disc brakes. I use Swiss Stop pads for the rim brake bikes. Honestly, I cannot notice any improvement in braking performance in most weather conditions with disc brakes - the only ones that are hair raising are rim brakes with my carbon wheels (WTOs)- bloody worrying in general.

I’ve got Hunt Carbon wheels combined with rim brakes. No issues at all in my experience. Don’t ride when it’s wet very often mind you.

Been using rim brakes since the early 70's, with pretty much no problems at all but then of course I was living in Sunny California, 40 plus years on I'm still able to service my CAMPAGNOLO SR brake calipers because spares can still be found. My biggest problem with bike gear, one summer, freewheels were exploding on me, I'd hear a cracking noise then ding! ding! ding! that was the ball bearings hitting the spokes, then BANG! Everything all went to hell! My boss with a bicycle distributor, said what in the hell are you doing riding up walls, I said no, I was launching across an intersection when the green light was about to go red, I broke 3 freewheels that summer. My bicycle was with a steel track frame that was converted to road, it was a screamer.

My rim brake on my Campagnolo Boro WTO is very good, however in the wet the braking performance isn’t great. I’ll be purchasing my first disc brake bike soon. Finger’s crossed.

Just capitalism making buyers unload more of their money. Are road disc needed? No. The 'marketing' by manufacturers steer the buyers. Both disc and rim brakes work, pro and con for each. But, the manufacturer's need a new widget for revenue.

Rim breaks forever!

After two disc brake bikes I recently went back to rim brakes. I'll never go back to discs.

Disc brakes on road bikes are dangerous....

I had actually no idea that disk brakes were so predominate with road bikes. I kind of have my own little riding world where I almost never have chats with other road bike riders, and rarely see them also. They aren't as popular where I live as other types of bikes. Good point about the more affordable or value bikes. Caliper rim breaks came standard on the State Bicycle model I bought this year, and since I had those on the old 10-speed I had when I was a teenager in the 1970s, it was a continuation and a reacquainting for me. The bike has been super and the brakes (with more planning ahead) have been super for me also. I can't see getting a set for a road bike unless they came standard on another bike. I have them on my Marine hybrid with it's 35C front and 38C rear tires so I'm understanding of the nature and the differences.

So the answer is carbon wheel with aluminum brake tract 😂 end of discussion

I am not a fanatic, but a friend of reliability. In my opinion, they almost brake equally well, but discs are more expensive, heavier, more complex in maintenance. And then you buy a carbon bike to reduce weight. If you want to use carbon wheels, then disc ist better and also for all-in-one bikes, like gravel bikes. Ebikes are a different story.
The only problem I have is, that the maximum tire clearance with rim brakes seems to be 28 mm and I really want to test 32 or 35 mm on a marathon/endurance bike. Because I have never had one, I chose to buy a gravel bike with 40 mm instead and will later switch to 35 or 32 ... mm. Rose bikes is dismissing it's Pro Sl with rimbrakes and replaces it with the Reveal, for which you cannot pick a rim brake version. That's unfortunate for entry level rider or younger people.
Are there good rim brakes with larger tire clearance?

I prefer rim brake, my 105 brake works just fine in a good quality aluminium wheel
I might try the disc in a few years when I change bike
its really unfair how all new bikes are on disc though
disc is more expensive and weight more, the option of rim brake has to be maintained

Disc front, caliper rear- suits me.

Let's be honest, many people simp for whatever the industry wants -- without being paid to do so.

Expensive carbon wheels and rim brakes don't mix, if you want to ride on carbon wheels you are likely to need an expensive disc bike to match; however for most cyclists who are not competing in the grand tours, carbon wheels are simply an expensive exuberance which require an expensive disc bike - dual pivot rim brakes with alloy wheels ("maxtal") are probably just as effective and safer as they won't lock up and the wheel won't suddenly fail and de-laminate when sprinting or descending.
With rim brakes you don't need a team car with mechanic following you in-case you have a puncture or suffer a disc lock up related to overheating - ease of maintenance makes the dual pivot rim brakes superior every time, try sorting out a puncture in the rain on a disc bike on your own at night - in this scenario I would much rather have rim & alloys.

One of the issues with rim brakes is that innovation for them is either extremely sluggish or non-existent, yet there is still room for improvement with today's technology and thinking. I wonder how far you can actually take this braking system these days if there was some more R&D put into making them really good. Like what about double pads on each side for extra stopping surface, maybe line the rims with grooves for better friction points for the pad to bite on to.

For me rim brakes work pretty good

I got a set of carbon rims 3 years ago, using it in combination with my rim brakes and latex inner tubes. No problems whatsoever, although I ride mostly in the dry and flat roads (Netherlands). The braking performance is more than enough and the braking surface (strip) on the rims is still flawless.

BRAVE MAN!!! Thank you for your insights for sure you are going to receive many bullets!

You need specific brake pads for carbon wheels to get a good brake performance. Campagnolo red brake pads are one of the famous. Cheers

Try Elitewheels with UD brake surface and their brown brake pads. The braking is similar to my previous aluminium wheels. I use 105 dual pivot brakes

I recently switched to disc brakes, and I must admit, they are finicky and somewhat difficult to manage as compared to rim brakes. I experienced my first horrendous brake squeal event after the first cleaning, and it was a bit of a deal to get them to stop. What I learned to prevent / address it added about 15 minutes to my cleaning routine. I've had a disc actually rattle off the wheel (bad e-bike OEM assembly) and I've had several bent discs. Lastly, the disc pads and calipers are sensitive and require frequent work. Working them with my e-bike is a real chore. Overall, and unlike rim brakes, the disc ones seem to have a number of additional maintenance and pristine cleanliness issues. As I said, just started, so I could be wrong, but I like the reliability and ease of rim brakes. They've always worked for me, and I am not worried about massive braking power as I do not go crazy fast at all.

Just Ride Bikes, says it all. I have been riding my Cannondale CAAD3 road bike since I bought it in 1997. Now the bike is approaching 30 years. The bike and its SRAM brakes are still great after all these years. I wish I could say the same for myself.

I love the Ultegra brakes on my 1998 Klein Quantum Race. That said, I would never switch to carbon wheels on that bike because I am sure the wear on the rim and braking quality will not be good. Will I switch to disc brakes eventually? At 63, I think the Klein is it and I don't see changing the fork or adapting the existing frame so That I could use discs. An equivalent, Ultegra equipped modern bike is 2-3 times the cost I paid for the Klein, which I can afford, but why? If it isn't broken, why fix it. That said, If I was in my 20's or early 30's, I would probably invest in the most modern technology.

Rim brakes for me I have to think ahead of the road, disc brakes just brake.