Now that I have both brake types I can say the disc's are better and on a tour designed bike don't interfere with bags and racks. That said I am not so sure I would want disc on my tour bike. I run Avid shorty 6's and they are great. They are made better by the addition of Kool-Stop salmon pads. The discs seem a bit touchy in the wet. I am accustomed to the rim brakes so that may be the issue but the disc bite hard and keep on bitting thats for sure. Best to see what works on your bike. Long unsupported tours with disc brakes would require extra pads and maybe just maybe a disc truing fork. The discs can be bent if you are not careful handling the rim during removal.