Originally Posted by
FirstSarnt
I've had mountain bikes with v-brakes and with discs and have discs on my commuter/tourer, and there's no comparison for me. Hydraulic discs stop me much more quickly, stay dry and effective when I cross waterways, and the pads are far easier to change than bolt-on brake pads. They also don't wear out the walls of expensive rims, none of which are cheap to replace. I've heard that mechanical ones are better for touring in case something breaks while you're out in the boonies, but in thousands of miles on hydraulic discs I've yet to have a system leak or become otherwise non-functional. Like clipless pedals (SPD on my mountain and touring bikes, Look Keo on my road bike) I swear by them.
Actually, standard pedals are more efficient than clipless pedals.
Also, dual pivots stop just as effectively as hydraulics in dry conditions.
I can see people preferring hydraulics if they do a lot of wet weather riding.
For dry weather conditions, hydraulics offer no advantage in stopping power, but exact penalties in weight, cost, and aerodynamics. Not to mention you need to buy a new frame and/or bike if you currently have a bike with rim brakes. That's a rather expensive upgrade. That's $2.5K minimum vs. an $80 upgrade to a pair of ultegra 6800 dual pivots.