On 2017-10-13 11:36, wrote:
On Friday, October 13, 2017 at 10:15:10 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-10-13 08:50, wrote:

[...]


... Extra weight, extra rolling resistance, extra cost, far too
much power the way it was and there is little rain in California
to worry about the slight delay in action between a rim and disk
brake.


In the winter it rains a lot up here in the Sierra foothills. There
is also a lot of standing water and creek crossings after which I
experience that dreaded 1-2sec "free fall" with rim brakes. Plus
dirt where I reach in and while getting some tepid brake response
there is a goose bump generating sandpaper noise.

So yes, if I ever need a new road bike I have two non-negotiable
requirements. Number one is disk brakes and number two is that the
frame must accept cyclocross-width tires. And must tolerate a
serious rack.

Perhaps going balls-to-the-walls on an MTB with a heavy load you can
detect a braking delay but as I said before - even coming out of
creek crossings I never have problems with rim brakes. The ONLY
difference is surface area of the brake shoes.


Getting older I don't ride aggressivley anymore. Maybe because the more
I ride the more I see and hear about nasty crashes and their aftermath.

Creek crossings usually mean uphill at the other end but they also mean
the rims can be muddy. My Wednesday ride was on a very typical
singletrack of that kind. Up and down all the time and with a creek at
the bottoms. On my old rim brake MTB that would have meant going down
the slopes after the uphill section with sandpapering brakes. There are
no bike wash stations on the trails. It's a horrid sound because our
soil contains a lot of decomposed granite. After about 1000mi the rims
of that old MTB look pretty much shot.

The white knuckle moment with the rim brakes on my old MTB happened
while up on the flat section of a hill. Curvy trail along the rim. Went
through a large puddle, towards a sharp turn, hit the brakes, no brakes!

Pad size doesn't matter much except that wider pads last longer. So if
my brake calipers are through I'll look for ones that have wider pads or
maybe even double pads. The pads will cost more but then I hopefully
don't have to replace them every 800-1000mi.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/