Originally Posted by
cyccommute
There is nothing that limits a rim brake from being set up close to the rim. Again, if the rim wobbles, that’s something that can, and should, be fixed. I’ve run my brakes so that the wheel is locked at about half travel of the lever which is similar to how hub mounted discs have to be set up. I currently have bikes with hub mounted discs, dual pivot rim brakes, mixed front disc/rear linear and cantilevers...Oh! The humanity! The cantilevers are actually on the bike that requires the most braking power...a loaded touring bike. I’ve even ridden that one down New Found Gap in North Carolina in a driving rain at around 50mph. I had no problem slowing nor stopping.
Cantis - my Mooney went down Alba Road above Santa Cruz its first winter in a driving Pacific Storm. Sheets of water running across the road. (Alba Road is a paved 1/2 Mt Washington in NH. Same grade. Similar corners. No ability to build speed and use wind resistance for braking because you won't make the next corner, especially in the wet.) Mooney came with the old Mafacs (well 1979 new, but unchanged since the '50s) and standard Mafac pads. What was notable about the braking was that I had all the power I could use with that wet road using just one finger per brake the first half, then two for the rest as the cold and wet took its toll. Never remotely scary. Thought at the bottom - "good brakes! Keepers!
10 years later I swapped out those cantilevers for the Shimanos that came on a used Miyata 610. Nicer to work on, Same geometry, same stopping power. They are still on the Mooney and I have no desire to change them. (I am getting older and have run into tired hands, even needing a stop for them on miles of gravel descent, but the stop was needed anyway to refocus or I was going to crash again. Brakes had zero to do with the first - hard - crash. Picking a poor line and ending up in a two foot deep rut can lead to issues.)
One thing I have done with most of my brakes (all but the old centerpulls and sidepulls) is to go with V-brake levers - specifically to reduce the power so when I do a mountain descent and come up fast on a turn I see I won't make, I can shut down my speed fast and not lockup or have anything exciting happen. First time was sorta by accident. I was setting up my new, custom mountain road fix gear and picked up some used levers with huge hoods that my hands would love. Quickly noticed the very fast but low powered braking and also that my hands were truly happy uphill so I left them on. Rode the setup to McKenzie Pass, then back down to Sisters, OR. Came to an unexpected sharp turn at real speed and knew right away my pedals weren't making it! Fully adrenalized brake grab! And nothing happened except I made the corner at a leisurely 20 mph. Sold!
The centerpull bikes are on the bikes that get regular rain rides. Mafacs and road levers have a lot of stopping power to clean wet rims, so they stay. (Those bikes also see winter, city and low light use and might get meddled with when locked up. Keeping something as important as braking as simply, reliable and easy to fix as old school brakes makes for piece of mind. (And there's little a 5 year old can do to them, no fun hoses to pull. Not much I have to remember - like "don't squeeze that brake - no wheel!")
Yes, the next new (non-custom) bike I buy will be disc. But that may not happen in this lifetime. We'll see.
Ben