I'm amazed at how worked up people continue to get over this.

I really don't see anyone other than Dave Mayer getting worked up over this.

It's nine pages long (and counting)... that's the work of more than just one poster.

Sure, but most aren't popping off about conspiracy theories.

Uh... okay?

What? That the disc brake guys have unlimited funds? They need to crawl to their shop with Gold Card in hand every time they need brake work?

Yep, that's what it's come down to. My early-adopter riding pals drive 30 minutes both to and from home to shop through impenetrable traffic gridlock to get disc pads replaced.

With rim brakes, if someone said that they need to go to a shop to get new pads installed (cost: $4 per pair) they'd be publicly ridiculed.

Today I'm riding a bike with Shimano 600 STI 8-speed. The shifting is flawless, better than any of the 11-speed systems I own.

Took 5 minutes to assemble a new 8-speed cassette from loose cogs at the local Co-op. Cost me $5. A decent new chain set me back $10. Or I could have bought semi-trucks full of this stuff online in minutes. So 8-speed stuff is not going away for as long as anyone on this forum will be alive.

As far as progress, adding another cog to the cassette every 7 years does not exactly count as progress. When the sorry bike industry develops a lightweight internally-geared hub with say 10 equal gear steps, then I'll gladly pull out the Gold Card.

LOLOLOLOL - now I know you're full of it! Replacing pads on hydro is literally a 3 minute job that takes nothing more than a screwdriver and a tire lever (or something similar to wedge the pistons back in). When it comes to replacing pads, disc is WAY easier than rim brakes.

I’m worked up, I just stew in silence. :notamused:

It’s pretty obvious that he’s afraid of disc brakes, but has no actual experience with them.

I’m still waiting to hear about the maintenance electronic shifting requires.

Oh man, I stumbled onto this thread too late. It took me about 20 minutes to replace (upgrade) my SM-RT800 rotors with some Dura-Ace level RT900 rotors that I scored a sweet deal on, and also to replace the resin pads. The resin pads cost me $40, and the rotors $100, and although the 800s were still very much within their lifespan (this was a "coolness" in looks purchase) but now I have some 800 rotors to fall back on once the 900s wear out, until I can purchase another set of 900s.

I did not realize I needed to have unlimited funds, a Gold Card, and to crawl to my shop.

Silly me thought all I needed was some hex keys, a couple of inexpensive bottom-bracket adapters to my torque wrench, gloves, shop towels, grease and isopropyl alcohol, an internet connection to watch a couple of YouTube and Parktool videos, and a can-do attitude. I had most of the tools already because I like working on my bikes, the only real outlay was the bottom bracket adapters, which together were $40.

Oh, while was doing this, I also flipped the front brake caliper mount to convert it from 140mm to 160mm for extra stopping power.

100 miles over 3 days of riding on the new brakes and they work great, totally quiet, and look awesome.

I was being sarcastic, I didn't know there were tools for that.

Tools for sarcasm? I prefer booze.

Last Wednesday I was going to ride my mtb and I checked the front pads because I knew they were getting thin. I had a new set handy so I jut put them in before the ride. It might have taken 3 minutes but probably less.

Now that's funny right there, I don't care who you are.

Exactly. Replacing pads, which is far and away the most frequent maintenance task with hydro discs, is so dead simple that no one with any experience would cite it as a deterrent.

Sure, when nothing goes wrong. There's not much in the way of nasty surprises a rim brake can throw at you, but on discs, occasionally a five minute job can take an hour.

I know, I know - you've reiterated this a dozen times. But while your experience is worth sharing, you also have to consider that your experience is atypical; by the nature of your position, you're going to see more problems than the typical user and you're going to see them at a higher rate (ie, not a random sampling). I've never run in to a nasty surprise when changing pads and I can't say that I've heard of any others; sure, reports of a stuck piston here or there, but that's not a complication of a routine pad change, that's a problem in and of itself (and one that should have been noted early on).

I rebuild my batteries every month or so.

Do you reckon there's much chance of anyone bringing anything fresh to the discussion on page nine (of the forty-third thread on the subject)?

;)

Just to keep this dumpster fire going, here's one man's view of how the global bike conglomerate forces reluctant pros to ride with murder discs that offer no benefits over angelic rim brakes:

https://www.velonews.com/2019/08/vue...-return_500204

It’ll be fun to rehash this in 10 years when some newb unearths this thread.

@WhyFi I gave it(electronic shifting maintenance) some thought.

The hardest thing about maintaining electronic shifting, is remembering where you left the charger.

After meeting you, I can't imagine you getting worked up by anything other than a motorist that endangered your life.

The funny thing is that I purchased one of those USB power bricks from Amazon, the one that lets you power 6 USB devices and has smart power to charge them at their appropriate amperage, and placed it near my two Di2 bikes. So I can charge their Di2 and also the four Bontrager LED lights.

Who'd have thought 20 years ago that such a thing would ever happen...