Gone through all the range of brakes in bikes and the only thing I have found out is that if you get better brakes- you use them. Mountain bikes generally have "V" brakes or discs. V brakes were a big improvement over the previous centre pull calipers but they wear rims out. A set of wheels will only last me about 18 months or 2,000 miles before the rims get a bow in them. The Tandem was worse. It came fitted with V Brakes and the rims did not last 6 months and these were a heavy duty rim. The Tandem got disc brakes but at a very high cost. It does take good brakes to stop 400lbs from 40+ mph on a fast downhill.
To be honest- It does not matter what brakes you have as you ride to the capabilities of those brakes. Or the capabilities of the brakes denote how you ride.
What I have found though is the quality of all components on bikes. I know you can still buy the rubbish bits, but in general, Quality has gone up tremendously. For the same price or less.
__________________
How long was I in the army? Five foot seven.
Spike Milligan