Originally Posted by
79pmooney
One reason to go longer reach in back is it makes the rear brake less effective and therefore less likely to lock the rear wheel in a hard stop.
I think we can safely assume you know exactly what you mean, but um well, this could be misinterpreted by someone who doesn't.
It really depends on what you (the generic you) mean by longer reach. The operative measurement is the distance from the caliper arm pivots to where the pad hits the rim. If you keep the same wheel and replace the brakes with a "long reach" version that has the same yoke so that the pivots are in the same place, then you get a longer arm that can hold the pad lower but the actual position of the pads must still be the same as before in order to hit the rim properly. All you get is a centimeter of unused arm hanging below the pad.
In order to lengthen the distance from pivots to rim you must either switch to a smaller diameter rim (27" to 700c) with longer reach brakes if necessary, or switch to a caliper with different geometry.
Of course all this may be obvious so just forget I mentioned it.
Personally, I'd rather have more braking power instead of less, even for the rear wheel. But that's just me.