grant130•10d agoProlific Poster

I laughed at disk brakes on road bikes back in 2014. Now I feel dumb.

I remember when the first disc brake road bikes showed up at my shop in Portland. I thought they were a gimmick, just extra weight and hassle for road riders who barely ever touched their brakes. A few guys I rode with swore by them, but I stuck with my rim brakes for years. Then last summer I got caught in a downpour on a long descent near Mt. Hood. My rim brakes were basically useless, I had to drag my feet to slow down. A buddy on a disc brake bike cruised past me with zero drama. That ride convinced me. Now I own two disc brake bikes and I'll never go back. Anyone else have a strong opinion change about disc brakes or something similar?

3 comments

3 Comments

colemiller10d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy Jake was the biggest rim brake purist I knew, swore they stopped fine if you set them up right. He finally tried my disc brake bike on our loop in the gorge and nearly went over the bars from how hard they grabbed wet. Ended up building up a disc brake frameset that winter and sold all his old brake levers on eBay.

sethp2610d agoTop Commenter

The first time I rode my buddy's disc brake bike in a downpour I almost ate it because I was still doing that rim brake squeeze-and-pause thing. Totally changed my mind on the whole debate, those things grab hard wet.

betty1449d ago

Squeaky wet rim brakes will make a believer out of anyone real quick. Disc brakes just work when it matters most.