This has to be the most overrated part in Bicycle History. To me they are a complete waste of weight, money, & upkeep. 'Unless" you like riding in the snow, mud, or similar terrain that effects wheel and rim contact.. AND please do not say wet or raining conditions, linear pull brakes, caliper, and V brakes will stop just as well. Disc brakes tend to squeal just as often, and have there own set of troubles. So what's all the fuss over, that money would have been better spent, on components that really improve your bikes performance. Wheels, tires, drivetrain, saddle, etc.. When I see a road bike with them, I think how cool they look, and then remember what a complete waste they are.

I disagree, mostly because when I take my commuter bike from the house to outside, in the winter, the whole bike is instantly covered in condensation, which instantly freezes on everything, including the rims/braking surface ... which is why its an FG. Rubber brake pads are worthless ...

Road bikes with them will be interesting to say the least ... my Coda with disc AND the 23's I just put on, sure is ... I had to devleop an ABS finger ... thats just in turn on dry pavement... havent had them in the rain yet, should be interesting ...
... and on my hybrid, I dont see the speeds, that I see on my road bike.

Side note, on CX bikes and in CX racing... disc brakes are legal, going on year 2, now ... no european team suse them .

Making a generalized statement like 'disc brakes' is like painting all hybrids with the same brush or claiming all tires are created equal. Don't know what single experience you want to base that opinion on but my experience is pretty much like any other component - some are better than others and the ones I use myself I'm just fine with.

I also use single and double pivot road brakes, cantis and V-brakes and none of them give me a problem. Being a trained mechanic and knowing which ones are worth buying in the first place may have something to do with that.

i ride both rim and disc and i no longer ride the rain or snow. i find the disc 1 or 2 finger braking superior to the rim at the bottom of a very steep downhill with an acute turn and sand at the bottom. plus i put the front brake on the right ala motorcycle and i find the disc brake simailar to the feel of my motorcycle brakes. no cross training in an emergency stop required. i notice the superior braking not extra weight.

I ride every day and I know for a fact that I wear rubber brake pads at a rediculous rate during rainy season. They make a freekin' mess of the rims and frame, with black crap everywhere.

a rim brake is just a big disk

It was just a rant.. sorry guys

I just happen to agree somewhat but I got great deals with both of my bikes with disc brakes & weight don't matter to me. I do like the ease of taking wheels off & the Alfines hubs are made for disc....also I do think they look cool. I'm not crazy about that mine are hydraulic and may eventually go to BB7s...I know now not to turn the bikes upside down. They also don't squeal at the moment.

No it's not. Discs are virtually two dimensional and are used solely for braking and nothing else.

My first winter commuting I glanced off the side of a car because my V brakes packed with snow(car's fault,cut me off). Shortly afterwards I got a disc bike and my bad weather commuters have had discs ever since. My first polo bike had V brakes(same bike as above) and my front wheel got ran over by another rider. Had to ride home without a front brake because the wheel tacoed. My other polo bikes all had discs. I've gone through a set of rim brake pads in a month,my disc pads last much,much longer. My disc wheels are cleaner and there's zero rim wear. My rims don't have to be perfectly true for maximum braking. Disc pads are much easier to change(unless you've got cartridge pads) and easier to set up(distance to rotor only,no height,yaw,or toe-in).

Does everyone need discs? No. Are they right for every application? No. But there are def times when they are far superior to other systems.

Everybody poo-poo'd the idea of disc brakes on cars and motorcycles, not so very long ago................ technology marches on!

all that and a lot less like to shriek, especially when wet. nice post.

i have one bike, so it needs to do a lot of stuff, sometimes in snow. the only racing i do is with buses & cabs (and maybe the occasional single speed hipster ). i will always use disc brakes.

Agreed... I rode discs for several years and really enjoyed them, but I now have v-brakes on my new bike. I am fine with v's but never realized until now, just how much crud is produced by the rubber pads. My wheels look like crap unless I clean them often.

I may or may not go back to discs at some point... but I will decide when that time comes, the bikes that interest me and my riding style should it change.

I still enjoy the bike, its still stops... I ride on.

I have a mountain bike with shimano hydraulic disks. they love to pick up grit from wet slush and after even a little of that, they sound like fingernails on a chalkboard. yes, they stop well, have good control, etc, but then so do my v-brakes.