Originally Posted by
elcruxio
In my personal experience discs are easier to deal with than rim brakes. Avid BB7's are almost set and forget. Occasionally adjust the pad adjusters and swap pads when necessary. With my current rear brake (avid shorty ultimate) swapping pads is a nightmare and takes usually from 2 to 5 hours to do properly. There is a pretty big design flaw in these brakes that makes using kool stop pads very difficult... Also they have spontaneously started squealing like no disc brake can even achieve and in the process much of the power is gone. Weird that.
Totally agree. Disc brakes do have to be dialed in a lot more accurately than rim brakes, but once you understand how to properly center them and move the pads in, it's way less work. I have adjusted so many crappy rim brakes that are impossible to get centered and the pads never seem to spring back to a state where they're both the same distance from the rim. I have Avid BB7s as well, and they're a dream to adjust in comparison. I do have some squealing right now that I can't quite get rid of, but whatever. They perform way better than any rim brakes I have ever had, especially in the rain. The only way I'd go back is if I picked up a super light or vintage road bike.
That said, I have some disc brakes on my (2011?) Cannondale mountain bike that are a huge pain to adjust (Promax.) It depends what you get.