Originally Posted by
knobster
Most of your braking is done with the front so it makes sense to have the best brake up where it'll do the most good. I wouldn't want a disc on the back as the back is more prone to skidding so less capable braking on the rear makes sense.
That's funny because the guy I quoted in the first post had exactly the opposite idea. And that makes more sense to me, if you were going to do it. The bad conditions where the disk brake supposedly works better are also the conditions where you would use the rear brake more. "Modulation" is something you do with your hand, in response to the brake feedback; you'd get used to it, whatever it is. And the rim brake has advantages at the front, as follows:
Originally Posted by
wphamilton
One of the objections to disc brakes on road bikes is that it's necessary to beef up the rear triangle and front fork due to the higher torsional stress.
The front wheel, too. My math says that the front hub under braking would get the same or more torque as a rider standing on the pedals in mountain bike granny gear, so it probably ought to be built as strong as the rear wheel. I'm not so sure about the rear triangle.
I'm not really buying the different front-to-rear argument either, there are plenty of larger or wider or heavier-duty rear parts that could be used at the front. Axles, bearings, same number of spokes.