Just me, but I think that in general folks get way too hung up on "the best". On all but really cheap bikes all of the components typically work reasonably well and once you get to the mid price level they typically are excellent. For brakes in particular it seems to me as if most of the brakes on the market work great given proper adjustment and decent pads. That was not always the case, but I have to go all the way back to the steel rim and really wimpy flexible long reach brake days to remember really inadequate brakes.

I guess I can see disk brakes for folks who actually wear out rims frequently, but I suspect that most folks are like me in that rims probably last them a very long time. I did wear out a rim recently, but it probably had over 100,000 miles on it and most likely a lot more. Also it is pretty easy to lace on a new rim to an already built wheel. Last time I did it I think it took about 20 minutes.

Oh and BTW I like cantis just fine, but have been touring on dual pivot 1990-ish 105 road brakes lately and have found them quite adequate on my recent southern tier which did include a few mountain passes. Granted that was with a light gear load, but I am not a lightweight myself so the load probably was as much as some folks who pack a lot heavier than I do.