Originally Posted by cyccommute

Your point might be valid if I were new to bicycling or if I didn't know anything about bicycle mechanics. However, I've been riding mountain bikes...as mountain bikes on terrain that they were designed for...since 1983. I know how to brake, I know the difference between grabby brakes and well modulated brakes and I know how to set up brakes.

Disc brakes have very little in the way of adjustment. The gap between the pads and the rotor are not adjustable. It is what it is. You can't 'set them up' to change the modulation...something you can do with rim brakes. The only way to control the modulation is in the application of the brake. And, since there is very little movement from completely off to completely on (on the order of a few millimeters), it takes a fine touch indeed for precise control. Too fine for the brakes to have 'superior modulation' if, by modulation, you mean a gradation of brake application.