Originally Posted by
elcruxio
I think the tiring by braking is more of an MTB issue where the difference between brakes means fun/hating it. But I can imagine some roads in e.g. Norway might be such that a brake requiring less energy is the ticket. Sharp steep serpentine is where I would not want rim brakes.
And I get your point that rim brakes give enough modulation but that's just it. It's just enough but it's still just an cable actuated rim brake. A bad disc brake will give worse feel than a rim brake but even the new shimano deore will blow any rim brake out of the water in terms of feel. I've heard good things about the new magura's also and they should be on par with shimano.
Also, weight is higher but is potentially weight away from the rim which would be a good thing right.
Aerodynamics is worse as of yet. I'm expecting to see some funky designs when discs get more traction.
Maintenance is less. Much less if you're lucky. Switching pads once in a while and that's it.
With rim brakes you have to get new cables and housings every season and that is a hassle. Swapping a brake hose and bleeding is IMO a lot easier than internally routed brake cables. Also brake pad change is a hassle with rim brakes due to alignment.
Disk brakes apparently work quite well for mountain bikers. I'm not a mountain biker, so can't say myself. I've switched back and forth between disks and cantilevers on for my 'cross riding and decided the cantilevers were better in nearly every way. I live and ride in the mountains, and have never noticed hand fatigue as an issue - and I don't have particularly strong hands.
As for modulation, "enough" is enough, IMO. With good cantilevers or calipers I can achieve exactly the amount of braking I want without difficulty, right up to the point that the wheel locks. I suppose "more than enough" is theoretically nice, but I'm certainly not going make all those other trade-offs to get it.
WRT maintenance, I don't see a need to replace cables every year on my road bikes. Properly maintained (and used in the dry, clean environment that characterizes most of my road riding) every 3-5 years works fine for me. And as I have been using rim brakes for decades, the maintenance is very easy for me - especially compared to hydraulic disk brakes, which still make me fumble.
At this point, it seems to me that the argument is that disk brakes will achieve wide acceptance among road riders once all of their downsides are addressed. So sure, "Once disk brakes are lighter, more aerodynamic, easier to adjust and maintain, and less expensive, road riders will start using them" draws no argument from me. For now, though, I'll stick with what works...