Originally Posted by
HillRider
Disc brakes and radial tires on cars have demonstrably superior performance compared to drums and bias ply. Vastly better fade resistance for the brakes and much better road holding and wear life for the tires. The performance superiority of disc brakes on bikes is far less apparent or this thread would have ended pages ago.
The performance superiority of disc brakes on bicycles is much less apparent because you aren't replacing a drum brake with a disc. You are replacing a disc brake with a 622mm rotor with a disc brake with a 160mm, 180mm or 203mm rotor. You are also replacing a rubber pad with a different pad material (sintered metal embedded in a phenolic resin matrix or a phenolic resin matrix).
Originally Posted by
Retro Grouch
Well then you'll have to define "modulation" for me because I don't understand what it means. I'd say "mushy" would be the polar opposite of "better modulation".
I also know how to fix it, by the way, but that's another thread.
Therein lies the problem. The definition of "modulation". In my experience, mechanical discs act and feel just like a rim brake. Same lever pull and same amount of strength required. But I've always run my rim brakes much closer to the rim than I see on most bikes. Most rim brake bikes I see are actually set up to be "mushy" with a long lever travel before the brake actually hits the rim. If you don't set up Avid BB7 properly (
here's the proper set up, Rooster09), the brake will act just like a bad rim brake.
Also in my experience, hydraulic brakes have the opposite problem. They don't modulate well either because they are very touchy. A little bit of lever input results in complete lock of the brakes. I've talked to other people who've experienced similar problems with them.
Originally Posted by
Null66
My road bb7's with sti's AND interrupters work marvelously. 2 fingered braking no matter how fast. They are quiet. Took a bit to learn how to dial them in, but that was mosty me.
I usually two finger brake my STI cantilever from the hoods...and that's with the small finger and ring finger. I ride all of my road equipped bikes (fast road bike, cyclocross/commuter and loaded touring bike) that way and most of my braking is from the hoods. I've braked with 2 fingers levers on mountain bikes since the mid90s. That's not a real measure of braking power or ability.