Originally Posted by
craigsj
A bike is limited in it's maximum braking by either the traction of the tire or by weight transfer that would otherwise cause an endo. If neither of these occur then the rider has inadequate brakes. An upright bicycle is limited in stopping deceleration to around 0.6g and increasing rotor size can't change that. All it does is reduce the effort required to make it happen (which, interestingly, the DIN tests you refer to measure).
The deceleration is more highly influenced by the rider position than by the type of brake. While the deceleration is limited to around 0.6g when in a 'normal' riding position, moving the rider back 4cm and down 4 cm can nearly double the deceleration.
I haven't had any issues stopping my v-brake touring bikes in the rain/mud nor had any rims wear out uber fast or blown any tubes from overheating when braking.
To be honest I would like to tell you disc brakes are the silver bullet to all cycling braking needs - especially mech discs because they are easier for most folks to work on at home and easier repair in the field, but so far that just hasn't been my experience.
My experiences are similar. Something that people forget, or don't know, is that the braking on a bicycle is limited not by the braking mechanism but by the tire/surface friction. Putting brakes that require less force to actuate doesn't result in better braking. They just result in reaching that limit of cohesion faster. On slick surfaces like ice and water, reaching the limit of cohesion isn't necessarily a good thing.
Like I said above, moving the center of mass on the bike/rider system has more influence on the deceleration of a bike. It's a lesson that most mountain bike riders have learned the hard way
Your Pugsley picture, by the way, shows that there are other ways to stop a bike
It's not like you are going to get that one to moving so fast that braking is an issue
