Originally Posted by
cyccommute
It’s also something that I’ve never experienced. As stated above, I have a bike that has a disc and a rim brake. I can’t tell the difference in performance between them.
I actually do know what modulation is but I wanted to hear what other people’s definitions is. Lots and lots of people go throwing around “superior modulation” because they read it in ad copy but really don’t know what it is. I know it is subjective but, frankly, rim brakes do not perform in an on/off manner. No one with a rim brake actually experiences zero braking and suddenly find themselves in a nose wheelie because the bike suddenly decided to stop the front wheel. Again, the only time I’ve experienced that was with the “superior modulating” hydraulic brakes I had. My daughter had the same brake and noticed exactly the same thing.
And, as I said above, I have a fleet of bikes with cantilevers, linear brakes and discs. I don’t ride nor brake any differently depending on which bike I happen to be riding. I squeeze the levers of the cantilever brakes a little and the bike slows down. I squeeze the lever of the disc brake a little and the bike slows down. I squeeze either one a lot and the bike stops. I honestly don’t notice which bikes I’m using.
Of course you know what modulation is. And of course you were going to disagree with the reality that it is subjective. You clearly werent going to like any serious response that identified it as subjective as you want your experience to be what has merit in this conversation(and really any conversation where subjectivity is involved).
I also really dont care too much about the brake system I use- I get along fine with caliper rim, vbrake, hydraulic disc, and was fine for years and years on cantis too. But that doesnt mean others who notice differences and place value on those differences are categorically wrong or their valuation is worthless.
Maybe their other setups have all been terrible and if they only had a great mechanic like you, their experiences with other brake setups would have been much better. Yeah, how about you go with that? It paints you as awesome and excuses their preferences. Perfect- issue solved.