Originally Posted by fat_bike_nut
Okay, then
I think discs are not needed if you live in a mostly dry area. Superfluous and a waste of money that could be spent on upgrading other components on your bike like the drive-train. I stated in another thread that I see their uses in rain, mud, and out-of-true rims. I do not see their uses in plain dry road conditions.
I have test-ridden a bike with disc brakes (Trek SU200) and have seen absolutely no difference in stopping power between that and the cantilevers on my aunt's 1993 Schwinn mountain bike. I've had V-brakes that were stronger than the disc brakes on that Trek.
Seeing as how the SoCal environment is rarely ever wet (or at least Central Orange County where we get rain like 3 days out of 365), discs are not needed down here on the streets.
Getting pretty far off the road bike topic now... and the subjectiveness of need has already been discussed. Sorry to further derail the topic, just disappointed to see an informative thread get hijacked by people with little to no interest in the subject.