I've read some reviews about this bike or that bike and some of the responses about the brakes got me wondering. What do people expect out of their bikes brake system? Do people want a quick controlled stop or do they want to have the brakes lock up and get sent over the bars onto the ground tumbling like Evel Knievel? what makes a good/better/best braking system? Pads? Pads and rims? Geometry of the mechanism?

First mistake - reading 'reviews'. They are just written by journalists trying not to lose advertising by failing to promote how wonderful the latest wiz bang is compared to last years. Nearly all of it is bull**** in the real world.

Brakes need only stop you to the limits of your tyres with the ability to control how hard you are braking ... and that was achieved years ago.

In general, I'm unimpressed with cycling brakes.
They all seem to be uniformly weak.
In the real world, motor vehicles have brakes sized to accommodate the weight.
In the cycling world, we are stuck in the one-size-fits-all mentality.

That said, I have bikes with road calipers, linear-pull (v-brakes), and cantilevers, and the best improvement I've made on all of them is KoolStop salmon pads.

A dual-pivot caliper with KS Salmons on the front is all I need on a naked bike on normal streets regardless of weather. On a route with steep hills, dumb traffic, a fully loaded bike, and being dumb enough to be riding as fast as traffic, the biggest disc and a nice hydraulic system is kinda necessary.

Rim and pad surface, caliper and handle geometry and to a lesser degree the quality of your cables and housings.

Bicycle rim brakes have been able to modulate speed adequately for decades, particularly on a SS/FG. Any modern system is perfectly fine if set-up correctly.
True wheels, properly lubed cables and good quality brake pads are all that are required on the road.
If one is locking up either wheel, which is possible w/ a 60's caliper set-up, improve your riding technique and traffic/road hazard scanning.

On a FG in hilly territory a rear brake fitted, as well as a front, can be feathered on steep down hills to avoid hamster-in-wheel RPMs. The brake lever is useful for leverage when standing on the up-hills. Finding levers that have a comfortable shape is important for rides longer than around the block.

With good technique any properly set-up brakes modulate speed without any drama.

-Bandera

I bought a Cyclocross bike with Di2 and hydraulic Shimano brakes this summer. Spent a couple of weeks cycling very hilly courses on the French Riviera with 28 mm 4 Season tires. I just loved the extra confidence and sense of control the hydraulic brakes gave me compared to rim brakes. Both rim and disc brakes will lock up your wheels but hydraulic brakes have much better modulation. (and the 28 mm sligthly wider tires probably helped as well compared to my regular roadbike.).

the brakes on my Medici are campy record titanium duel pivot. they were the compromise I made to being period correct. Very smooth and they come in very strong and very predictable. So, I guess the answer is I like strong but predictable. I don't like going over the bars.

For riding in city traffic, I like to know that my front brake is capable of locking the front wheel....not that I'd ever want it to, but the knowledge that it has the power to make a very quick (modulated, controlled) stop when someone cuts me off is comforting. Also, counter to many peoples' experiences with drum brakes, I've found SA's 90mm front drum quite capable of inspiring this kind of confidence, plus it's very smooth and quiet (most of the time, anyway...I've actually had the occasional experience where it feels a little grabby)

With experience you will figure what you like or how how much you care to have. I have a friend that has been riding for 40 years and doesn't care about his brakes as long as they operate smoothly and slow the bike. I like everything g about how disc brakes feel, if only they could be bit more quiet.

I think my brakes should be able to send me over the bars, and I should have the sense to not make them do that.

So, anything made since the Wright brothers then ... provided you're sober

How on earth can you say all bikes are "uniformly weak" but then go on to talk about how you've got bikes with calipers, as well as ones with V-Brakes?

If your v-brakes and levers are made out of metal instead of walmart-tier plastic they're massively more powerful than calipers are and can lock the wheels at any speed. I think you probably just set them up wrong.

My braking needs are pretty modest: just to attenuate speed on the flats, and hold my speed in check on descents. Pretty much any braking system involving aluminum rims and Kool-Stop pads will do the job for me.

Yeah, that last part is tricky sometimes.

I've been on bikes that wouldn't have sent me over the bars no matter what, even with new pads. Having good quality pads is important.