Originally Posted by
mihlbach
While I don't personally feel like discs on my weenie carbon bike are all that necessary (not a lot of massive descents on Long Island), its worth noting that the potential applications of good road disc brakes extend beyond well beyond weenie race bikes. I really wish I had discs on my long haul trucker, for instance, and they would be nice on my winter/beater/commuter road bike that gets exposed to a lot of slop.
I converted my Kona Jake The Snake to front disc. Should be a similarly easy conversion for your LHT and commuter/beater, requiring new front fork and a set of brakes. I went with Avid BB7s. Then of course a disc hub for the front, but I built my wheels for the JTS with a disc hub long before, in anticipation of the upgrade.
One concern could be the difference in power/modulation between front and rear brakes...I can tell you this has not been an issue for me. We as cyclists are already accustomed to there being a difference in the way front and rear brakes perform; having disc in the front makes that gap a little bigger but really it was barely noticeable. Plus I have been told it is almost impossible to lock up a front disc and do an endo.
You ought to go for the upgrade...you'll love it. My JTS stops on a freaking dime now, BTW. I scare people now because I roll up to stops at nearly full speed and stop so quickly.