this seems like a bad answer to a question no one is really asking. Ok, canti’s on my cross bike stink, but the v brakes on my MTB stop just fine although my next MTB will have discs. But I have never complained about the stopping power of my road brakes. I don’t deal with long mountain descents so pads last a few years and my braking surface on my road wheels have never been worn out. I just see the high heat resulting in a dangerous situation.

too bad someone had to get hurt to bring it about. there’s lots of issues there i hadn’t thought about. it’ll be interesting to see how/if they develop.

I use disc on my commuter bike – mostly because I learned that in the winter I need disc for riding in the snow and ice. This bike also serves as the one to tow my 4 yr old around in the trailer or on the trail behind, so the extra stopping power of disc is welcomed there.

Strangely enough I’m just not interested in disc on my road bike, and I can’t tell you why. I guess the standard brakes there work just fine They worked well on the long descents of the Angeles Mountains (when I lived there) and they work just as well on the steep, but usually wet and also much shorter hills around here.

Good write up, not every blogger would sacrifice their life and limb for the greater good!
As an aside, I can’t see disc-for-road penetrating the racing market easily.
And as if carrying both 10 and 11 speed rears isn’t enough, the neutral support would have fits if that expanded to discs too.
And there isn’t a chance on a quick wheel change!

is of course a smart thing to do, even in the car. But when riding in a group, it may not work out terribly well.

On longer descents I tend to find that the brakes actually become grippier, but less smooth. Why could that be? It always gets me worried.

I’d heard a few mumbles about disc brakes but now I get it.

Never liked them on any type of bike.

in rbr (from message no. 7 down)

I’m still reading, but I wonder if the crux of it is that some riders are simply underprovisioned on their brakes (i.e., rolling with single piston 160s when the weight really demands something more).

I ride with big honking disc brakes on my MTB in the Shenandoah Mountains (and so would you, Peter, if you rode with me). The transition from my V-brakes to them was one of the best things that ever happened to my MTBing. I am absolutely convinced of the benefits of disc brakes over rim brakes in the right application.

I’m not entirely sure that discs really outperform normal road calipers, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they did cantis. I’ve definitely suffered pucker-inducing fade on long mountain descents with my Dura-Ace road brakes, but I had plenty of warning ahead of time. So that sort of felt like it was just me getting what I deserved, after ignoring the signs. Cantis, on the other hand, make me feel like I’m rolling around in some ridiculously underspec’d car. Then again, I’m rolling with 88kg.

If I end up in the market for a year-round touring/commuting bike, I’ll probably go with discs. But for my A road bike? It’ll be a very very very long time before I think about anything with discs.