My take on  

They’re just brakes, I wish people would just ride their bikes and enjoy themselves

Love my rim brake bike, easier to maintain and a lot less weight on the bike, never had issues breaking in any weather.

Good Federico, I'm with you about the rim brakes, the simplicity of the maintenance is a plus that should not be underestimated.

Have both disc and rim brake bikes. Rim brake still my go to in summer. 9100 Dura Ace mechanical rim brake, SS Evo HM is sublime and comes in at 6.6kg in a size 60cm frame with pedals, cages, mounts etc. All my disc brake bikes including Dura Ace level, more expensive and not as good, but better suited to winter.

I just purchased a 2nd hand LOOK 765 RS rim brake ultegra spec nearly a grand from Cycle Exchange I swapped the wheels over and it weighed 7.2kg I love rim brakes I just don't rate disc brake for road unless I was descending climbs in the Alps. David Arthur has got to say those words to please the manufacturers it pays his wages. Great content Fredrico as usual I agree with you.

In wet weather I brake earlier, a couple of rapid squeeze release to clean the track. Works!

I agree with you 100%. I appreciate the benefits of disc brakes but there are pros and cons with everything. I have both rim and disc braked bikes and primarily use my old disc bike for winter commuting. My rim brake bike is used for everything else as I prefer riding it. It’s in great condition and I don’t plan on switching to a disc braked road bike anytime soon as the costs are ridiculous. I have been riding for over 30 years and have never worn out a rim nor have I had any braking issues. If it’s wet then use judgement and common sense and brake sooner and always ride within your abilities.

I've always loved rim brakes, mainly because of the simplicity of the maintenance. But as a 95 kg rider who lives in a hilly town (11% - 15% gradient), I always felt tense descending and it's not really confidence inspiring. I just had to switch to discs. Been riding discs both on my road bike and gravel for almost 3 years now, they have been amazing, no rubbing or whatnot.

Love that quote, "Rim brake lover, not a disc brake denier" Also, Time still makes performance road bikes compatible with Rim brakes, specifically the Scylon and the Alpe D'huez here in the U.S. You'll have to build it up yourself because it's only available as a frameset, but it's an option.

What's really a shame is that even though the market has flipped towards hydraulic disc brakes, there still has been little to no improvement of the common issues with disc brakes. There are hundreds upon hundreds of threads on forums over the years about discs rubbing against the caliper, discs being warped from factory, pistons getting stuck, pistons having uneven pressure, silly amount of clearance for the discs etc. It can't take a rocket scientist to figure out a solution for this, yet it's still there after years.

Good analysis Federico, thank you for the video. Agreed with everything you said, yours is a much more balanced comparison of pros and cons of rim/disk than the one in the other video.

There is no real argument for going with a 5k+ disc brake road bike over a well maintained high end, 2nd hand rim brake model imo. If you have to have only one, go for the rim brake everytime. I have both and live close to a national park, the rim brake bike has all my PRs and KOMs (strava), I take it out sometimes in torrential rain and have no issues with the braking (16%-= descents), but then I'm used to those brakes as used to race on these bikes when I was younger. I do like my disc brake bikes, but if you could only have ONE, I would go with a well maintained 2nd hand high end rim brake.

He just praises whatever new bike he tries 😅

It might be just poor maintenance or poor quality of the components but we don't have certain problems with cable operated rim brakes. Calipers rub on disks, disks squeal, calipers suddenly bite into the disk causing a crash plus all the issues with hydraulics on disk brakes which are hydraulically operated.

I'm still on rim brakes and alloy wheels and they suit my riding perfectly. But, the industry has been very successful in selling the entire package of disc brakes, carbon rims and fatter tires which only really work together.

The plane comparison, bang on 👍

I love my rimbrake bike and I love my discbrake bike. I love the latter of those because it allows me to ride safely in terrible weather as I am a "no matter the weather" rider. The only difference the weather makes on it is if the discs will start squeeling after a few miles. For all other cases, climbing, nice weather, fast rides, I pick my rimbraked bike. When a lot of climbing is involved I switch the carbon clinchers for a set of DA C24 climbing wheels and those work fine, also in the wet. I decended the Plance des Belles Filles on those in the wet and I'm still alive. Hydraulic (!) discbrakes are better at stopping, they're lots better in bad conditions, but they're also more expensive, heavier and more work to setup. When someone is honest about that: great. But I really hate the common thought that you 'must' have discbrakes in the wet, to be safe, to stop on the dry, when going down mountains. That's just not true. Rimbrakes are perfectly fine in many conditions, except for one clear area: performance on full carbon wheels in the wet.

Good rant, I felt the same. The video in question to me felt like he was holding back a bit on some of the performance benefits of rim brakes and wasn't fully disclosing them but then solely putting the emphasis on the poor breaking in wet conditions which we all know isn't great. I would have liked to have seen a video comparing his fancy Enve bike and CAAD12 with those delicious deep section Hunt rims , but instead doing a fair test IE a Strava segment using both bikes at lets say 250w and then comparing the speed differences. Anyways you have a good day, I'm off out on my rim brake bike whilst the conditions are dry 😂

I have a Canyon Ultimate SL7 rim brake, my first rim brake bike (also my first road bike). My choice of rim over disc was purely due to price as it was about $800 difference at the time, of course the disc brake version had some few other upgrades as well (stem/handlebar). My first day impression of the bike was the braking was really weak in the hood position and I thought that was it, it's the rim brake and the instant regret sets in...keep in mind I've never owned a drop bar bike before so I didn't know the hood vs drop position from a brake lever leverage standpoint. The doubt of my 105 rim brake being weak stuck in me for a while until one day, I got a chance to try my friend's BMC with Ultegra disc brake and to my surprise, it's not any better in both the hood and the drop position from a braking power standpoint(at least in dry). Couple years forward today after also picking up bike wrenching as a hobby working on bikes for myself and friends... I started to appreciate the simplicity of the rim brake... I never really have to touch them! On my friends' disc brake bikes... yes there is no maintenance as well if you don't care about noise... two things that I do very often for my friends...straightening up rotors and cleaning rotors/pads because they make noise and occasionally "self-centering" doesn't work well requiring additional adjustments at both the levers and 'tricks' at the calipers to make both levers feel consistent. I think the choice comes down your spectrum of riding and all around braking performance of each environment(dry, wet, dirt).. for example if you do mainly dry road riding then the simplicity of the maintenance and performance of rim brake combined would be perfect. If you do a lot of wet/dirt riding, then the potential performance degradation/longevity of your rim braking surface may be of concern and will outweigh the benefit of simplicity and you go disc in that case.

Thank your Federico for this video. I was one among many who found it hilarious that people who sell disc brake marketing jargon everyday all of a sudden act like "hey, rim brakes work". One, hyd disc brakes cost a bomb: an Ultegra rim brake is cheaper than even Tiagra hyd brakes provided you get a good deal. The argument of "better braking" in wet is real only if a) you are riding very old carbon rim brake wheelset and/or b) you are descending at very high speeds. Rim brakes were good enough for Pogacar in 2021; they will be good for all other regular riders for decades to come too. Also, People like Dave Arthur act like everyone runs around on carbon hoops. No, most people, even recreational road bike riders, spend money on getting good alloy wheelsets which last for years. An alloy wheelset with good hubs is far better than a basic carbon wheelset. As for tire clearance, simply opt for a Tektro R559, change pads to something like Koolstop and you can easily run upto 45 mm tires. The best value groupset would be the 105 R7000 in my opinion with Ultegra brakes for the best possible rim braking options.

After decades and decades, rim brakes have been great. I feel the same as you. Discs are fine, but from cost, convenience, weight, and availability, rim brakes are just better.

I had to do an emergency stop on my last ride because I drove way too fast where I couldn't see properly and someone else came my way. I would have crashed for sure, had I used... disc brakes. Locked up the rear wheel immediately and pulled hard on the front brake, easily came to a stop in time (carbon rims). With discs I would have went over the handlebars or slid out and probably hit a metal rail that was in my way, no question. Rims for me and my personal bikehandling skills, at least on my road bike. Slim tires + no mountain descents in the wet = rim brakes.

I just recently got rid of my rim brake bike. Braking was so bad in the wet, I was actually afraid to use it if there was any chance of it raining during my ride. As I am in the UK and we have had a really bad summer so far this year, I have hardly been able to use it at all. Have been using a Disc Brake bike that is actually meant for Winter use instead. As brakes as primarily designed to slow you down and stop you in a safe and controlled manner. I'm afraid it has to be Disc Brakes every time. Rim Brakes just don't work, especially on Carbon Wheels but even not brilliantly on Aluminium. I would have to agree 100% with David on this one. There's not much point having a lighter bike that you can't use if it rains. Maybe a lot of the people who comment here live in drier environments and don't have the same level of this problem but all I can say to that is, Lucky you.

I had a Magura HS 11 on my commuter bike for years. I thought it would be a good choice. The hydraulic rim brakes did break well and they lasted long but in hindsight I think cantilever brakes would have worked as well. Now I have the cantis from Rene Herse on my singlespeed/fixie and I don't feel a difference. When I wore down the braking pads on the Magura HS 11 bike I noticed that on the front brake the right pad had significant more wear than the left pad. During braking the forces are the same on both sides because of how the system works but during rolling the right pad always touched the rim slightly. The hydraulic system is basically a black box for home mechanics and most bike shops. But we can adjust bolts and springs. By the way: I used up one set of brake pads and needed to replace the second set soon when I passed the bike but the rims were still in good shape. It's not like you are running through a lot of rims on a rim brake bike - if you don't have sand or mud on the rims most of the times.

Stay strong dude🤟

All friends have electronic disc bikes. I’m the one only one with mechanical rim. They always try to convince me to get a new bike. But I’m the strongest rider in the group.

I have a Giant TCR disc brakes and a Canyon CF SL rim brake and I love them both. TBH I am using my Canyon more often in Club rides every weekends and daily commute because it feels so easy use and maintain in all conditions. I only ride my beautiful TCR for show off during sunny days . LOL!

In 2015, I had a new Specialized MTN bike with Shimano Deore disc brakes. It was a pain in the butt to get stuck piston unstuck. I changed to TRP Spyre mechanical disc brakes which have been more reliable. What I liked about disc brakes is how little effort was needed to stop the bike (one finger braking). With mechanical discs I use three fingers, but it's still easy to come to a stop.

It is a shame how little price seems to be talked about as part of the compairison is some circles when it might be the number one cosideration of most people buying bikes. I've stuck with rim brakes for this reason and been happy with them. I may be the ideal person for rim brakes though, being a very light rider, bike weight matters more to me and I stress the brakes less. Furthermore, in the rain I enjoy running more than cycling so I don't end up needing my brakes to work in the rain so often.

I wholeheartedly agree with you.

Agree, rim brakes are better 😊 lighter, better modulation and a good selection of Pads and rims. Never had I had a stopping issue, wet or dry 😅Chao from Oz 🇦🇺🤗

Actually the market has not decided. It's the sellers that removed the rims brakes and forced the disks on the consumers as they needed to make new sales. What does it cost to buy a 7.2kg disk brake bike ?

Good point, we’ll made 👍

Disc brakes require an overbuilt fork wich in turn results in a poorer ride quality. The fork legs need to be more stiff and the through-axles are less elegant. Classic steel forks take out the lower frequency bumps with almost no energy loss. The position of the axle can change up to a centimeter if hit hard.

People are in both camps. I even own a custom Bafang BBSHD 2000 watt mid drive Al Specialized Allez electric power roadbike with rim brakes and it stops fine. I have a 29'er with disc brakes and it stops well also and I prefer disc brakes on mtb's. But for road bikes, I prefer rim brakes. Biggest shame is the industry which always has...has gone for profit. Bike companies make more money upselling hydraulic disc brakes on all bikes. Disc versus rim brakes have 3 major considerations. 1. cost 2. weight 3. ease of maintenance. Rim wins all three...but...it I lived in the Alps and did a lot of long, high speed descents, I wold likely chose hydraulic disc brakes. However, I live in a flat part of America and don't need them on a road bike so I opt for 1-3 above. As to David Arthur, I find him to be caught in a 'politically correct' black hole of pandering to the bike industry who gives him bikes to test for youtube clicks and revenue and not pissing off the public that knows the bike industry will screw the customer for profit like they have for a decade with press fit. People don't need cable routing through the stem or electric shifting either.

David Arthur, the Johnathan Ross of cycling videos! He’s probably trying to acquire sponsorship from SRAM or Shimano for pushing Disc Brakes! He could be the next addition to the never bias sponsored GCN.🤔 We’ve had this debate before and no doubt will again, so in the end it doesn’t really matter as long whatever you ride with suits your needs.😌

You have to wonder why no one has made a wider brake surface on carbon wheels? You have 10mm wide brakes on a 50mm deep wheel. I would think it would have the added benefit of a longer life + much better stopping power.

HA! I love this guy 🤣👍 sometimes the obvious slips past me. Great freakn video!!!!!!!! Watched again. Subscribed

I rode around on alloy wheels since a kid until i finally got some aero carbon clinchers for racing 5yrs ago. And yes on steep windy descents in the rain they can be quite scary, so I save them for the flatter dry rides and races generally. In around 2015 or so, everyone started taking advantage of cheaper chinese carbon clinchers which looked cool and were affordable. Wasn't long before that , that 80/90% of people only rode alloy. So whenever people talk about rim vs discs, they seem to be comparing a carbon clincher they rode in the rain a few times, with a disc brake set up, which of course is huge. I live in NZ where it can rain a lot at times, and live in an area with narrow windy roads with lots of steep pinch climbs and some 2 to 3km 10% descents. When its pouring down I ride slow around steep sharp corners, and worry about my tyres slipping out from under me and losing traction. Never about the fact my brakes on my alloy rims won't slow me down. Because they've already slowed me down to my desired speed. So for someone like me who's a good descender (many top 10's on strava descents) and who knows everything about rim brakes, and how to use them, a disc brake bike is a complete waste of time and is of no benefit.

I have to agree with Arthur here. I had rim brakes on my last bike and switched to hydraulic disc brakes. The difference is night and day. Mental factor is also huge.

Rim brakes work fine but this debate is over in the market. I don't think any major manufacturer of performance road bikes even offers a rim brake bike these days. Also even if you find one, buying a rim brake bike seriously limits the wheel options available to you. Rim brakes on a carbon wheel has always been a questionable idea to me anyway. Lastly, I don't worry about a pound or two of bike weight.

I love rim brake bikes and wanted to use them as long as possible, had 6.6kg Argon18 Gallium Pro rim brake but after delaminating brake track on carbon wheel few times I switched to disc brake . Changing to alloy wheelset will solve the issue but what's the point of making the bike heavier for the climbs? For a very heavy rider over 95kg like myself, disc is the best bet. I never had an issue with braking capabily of rim brake bikes, melting down expensive carbon rims was the biggest issue, it's not so fun if this happens on your 1st day in Alps 😞

I am a Rim lover too brother, very disappointed how the industry has gone fully disc. I wish they kept both as an option

I agree with you on cost. But also there is a point of view that rim brakes represent cycling in its purest sense. The history of bike design being a simple, form meets function. The fact that you can fix 99.9% of tech problems on a ride with a simple multi tool. The pure beauty of a rim brake wheel design. The fact that you are on a bike design ridden by all the great cyclists in history bar none. ( modern cyclists seem a bit like the new breed of F1 drivers to me... more like boys playing video games. sorry if that upsets anyone! ). I have carbon, aluminium and steel road bikes, all with rim brakes. If I really wanted to I could go and drop a lot of money on the latest disc version... but I will never downgrade to disc brakes, as they represent a new breed of road cyclist to me, that I don't connect with. No disrespect to people who are in the 'latest technology camp' as we are all different and there is no right or wrong with this debate. It's much cooler to be in a minority tho IMO.... part of the reason I became a cyclist in the first place. :)

Exactly!!! Same I write it for him I write it here… If there is rim brakes in the market, people will buy it. They put it out not cos there is no demand, but cos they want to force people to use disc brakes. That’s all.

I agree wit you Federico on this objective views you have....take care

I never ride in the rain as it is bad for your bike, bottom bracket, bearings and all components ! I have 3 Rim brake bike and they have Dura Ace, and Sram Red, top of the line a few years ago !

A couple of major things you left out about the upside of disc brakes, Frederico. You save money on wheels considering the rims don't wear out and also carbon wheels on discs won't delaminate as with rim brakes on long descents.

Of course anyone jumping on a disc brake bike from a rim brake will be impressed. But a well serviced rim brake with fresh quality pads, such as Fibrax red, Swiss stop, or KOOL stop, is quite good enough. But don't judge rim brakes from a bike with old hard pads and sticky wires!

Rim vs Disc is the cycling worlds version of Pro-Choice vs Pro-Lifers

Agree with you, David needs to have a chat with Hambini to get destroyed.

Absolutely i love rim on my city bike . As newbie roadie ,i bought 23 trek emonda of course it had disc brakes lol ,🙄, not many new bikes with rim brakes . Im building my street racer with rim ,alu frsme Shimano 105 . Cheers ☕.

I have 4 bikes all Rim brake....notably an Elves falath pro kitted with...SRAM FORCE E-TAP-HYPER D67 RIMS-SELLE ITALIA KIT CARBONIO CARBON RAIL SADDLE-CO-EFFICEINT CYCLING CARBON HANDLE BARS IN 36MM ..........It weighs 7.4 kilo with asioma power peddles and it cost me all in £3500 approx and i would put it up against ANY specialized tarmac SL7 any day of the week...Disc brake bikes are good in certain conditions but are high maintenance and noisy.

No one thought there was a problem with rim brakes and the pros were perfectly happy with them. When discs are as problem free, as inexpensive, as reliable, and as lightweight as rim brakes come back me.

I wish “rant mode” could actually be toggled I’d turn my gf’s off 😂

I don't actively try to ride in the wet, I watch the weather and chose the route to avoid most chances of rain. So the better brake on wet conditions of disc brakes aren't much of a plus to me. Rim brakes are easy to maintain and the way I have them set up, they feel way better than the average hydraulic disk brakes and brake just as well, yes the disc brakes eek out on the rim brakes, but if a 5-10% difference in brake distance means crashing or not, the issue is on me, not on braking technology.

I recently bought my 1st disc-braked bike after over 50 years of riding on every variation of rim brakes. It’s confirmed what I suspected for a long, long time - for performance riding, rim brakes are on a sliding scale of adequate to scary useless compared to discs... Depending on your usage and riding, your experience may vary… 😎

I've said it before, for me rim brakes all the way. Living in NL with hardly any elevation the choice is even easier! In the current spectrum of bikes and choices, I consider a sub 8kg carbon bike for under 1700 (Euro / Pound etc) a sweet spot!!! Still so happy with my Canyon Ultimate CF SL 7, after almost 9500 km

Looks: rim Stopping power: disc Working fine: both

I ride both rim and disc, mechanical and electronic. They are both ok for me, but I do prefer how discs perform and feel and how they allow me to go faster.

Fair commentary. I dislike myself when rim brake proponents try to deny the safety factor. But cost is of course also an issue. Would never get another rim brake bike myself. But people should just ride what they like and are comfortable with. Got a quality Chinese aero frame with Ultegra di12 speed and good 60mm wheels for 5.5K USD. It will last me at least 10 if not 15 years. That’s maybe 475 USD/year for hours and hours of riding fun. Seems Ok to me. YMMV. Happy cycling!

I have both rim and disc brake roadbikes. Mostly ride on flats with short hills, never has the type of brakes been a factor when choosing which to ride. Rim brakes in rain has never been a problem even on carbon rims, stops just fine. If you want to scare the living daylight out of yourself try rim brakes and steel rims in the rain.

For me, tyre clearance is the most important factor. I run 32mm now on my summer road bike and 35mm on my winter bike and its a great set-up. This is usually only possible with Disks. Nothing against the Rim brake, but I would always go disc for this reason

It is a silly debate. It is like the infamous debate when apple removed the minijack... Thats was a feature not a limitation - not at all because the wanted to sell their new airpods - no no - not because of money.. This is the same. The bike manufactures can make a lot of money and the bike shops can expect more business for alle those who no longer are capable of maintaining their brakes.. It has nothing to do with performance.. I dont believe it - yes downhill for a GC rider, you do have slightly better brakeperformance, but are you to hard on the discbrakes - fading WILL occour.. never heard that on rimbrakes.. But if it was ONLY because of better performance, why do simple citybikes for old ladies have discbrakes now? Surely they do not ride their bikes that hard!!!

thanks to many Chinese brands, sub 7kg disc bikes are quite easy to build at a "sort of affordable" price..e.g. Winspace SLC 2.0 with Dura-Ace Di2 and Winspace wheels is roughly 6.6kg

Be grateful with what you have and just enjoy ride your bike. There will be other debate that never end in the future like hooked vs hookless wheels or 2x vs 1x drivetrain setup. 😅

I'm still riding an old carbon frame with rim brakes, I no longer compete and am very happy with it. The only thing that does concern me these days is that rim brakes on carbon wheels...... not ideal, grinding into your expensive wheels does cost a lot too. I will not upgrade any time soon but when I do, I noticed some upcoming chinese brand groupsets that might be interesting in price point and matured enough by the time I need it. Because prices have become ridiculous.

Agreed…BUT when the ENTIRE industry provides ONLY disc brakes…then it becomes a FRAME problem. You ride what you like b/c you like it…but not b/c it’s forced. Before i get flamed 🔥 I’m a maintenance manger for military jet fuel systems and have extensive experience in “cost v quality/performance”. I also live/ride in N.E. Italy 🇮🇹 and horses 🐎for courses, road bikes on 15-25min plus descents at 80kmh+….aluminum rims with rim brakes are what is “SME” recommended…CF rims for “flatish” rides and discs for city/trail/mtb rides. Any way comparing “Pagani’s/Lambos v Supras/M-coupes” is kinda misleading…. Ride strong 💪!! (replied to a previous post)

Wow a lot of response to this video!! In life nothing is perfect we have to take the good with the bad. I believe aluminum rims brakes are almost on par with disc brakes. Carbon rim brakes do have significant deficiency in wet conditions. The fact that these manufacturers are completely abandoning rim brakes is the mistake this industry is making. Hopefully some teams in the pro circuit come back to rim brakes as it seems they are the ones that drive what the markets sells us the consumer.

I want disc brakes specifically for bigger tires..30c to 34c...if you want to ride long distance you need comfort and as you get older the more you need it. 25c on an alloy bike is no good unless you have perfect roads.

I pointed out to him the HUNT wheels are the widest on the market and not suitable for that model of callipers. They don’t allow for modulation because the calipers won’t open up enough. And another point is with such a deep section wheelset it will require more braking force.

I agree that if you are just getting into bike racing, and you are going to do criteriums in the rain, it would be wise to get your first "race bike" with disc brakes. The same goes if you go on fast group rides in climates where it often rains, or live where there are actual mountains. For most other people who either ride by themselves, in nice weather, or with some friends at under 35kph, rim brakes work just fine. If you are going to race, and live in areas where it seldom rains, rim brakes will "almost" perform the same as discs. I raced for 32 years, and retired from it 6 years ago, using aluminum Tubs, and never had a problem UNTIL I had to do rainy races against people with disc brakes.

My bontrager dual pivot rim brakes on alu rims have much more feedback than my shimano tiagra hydo disc brakes. And they are quiet.

Disc brakes are better in wet as you say. On high mountain descents? Yep I'd say so. However, I primarily ride in dry and varied terrain in UK. It's hilly here where live so decent brakes needed but my Ultegra rims are good enough. Never have I thought I've needed discs. However, biggest issue for consumers which is us is the lack of options from manufacturers. These days vast majority only produce and stock disc brake bikes, it's increasingly difficult to get a rim brake bike should you want one. Another thing I have found is disc brakes are often noisy, squealing when under load and in hot weather the disc can warp slightly causing a rubbing/pinging sound when wheel turning. This is aside from cost and weight penalty. Personally until my current bike, a Canyon Endurace with rim brakes either falls apart or gets nicked etc I will stay with it. Plus maintenance way easier!

I ride MTB & Road, do all my own maintenance. For the road bike I just want dead simple-cables & rim brakes, don't want to have to bother with charging this, or bleeding that on two bikes. I wonder how many people are put off by the high prices and maintenance of these modern bikes?

I’ve spent way too much money on rim brake tech to just discard it for discs. I will eventually change over but it won’t be for a while.

Using modern action cams, GPS devices & RU-vid but ranting about a modern brake technology. Make my day. 😂

"To me the argument between disk and rim is still based on the price differences between the two systems" See I come from a completely different background than most people on RU-vid talking about the argument. I ride my bicycle every single day. Sun, rain, wind, snow, you name it. I ride it to work, to the shop, to the beach, to train, to explore, to have an adventure. So road, pavement, bad road, shit road, muddy road, forest, gravel, hard pack gravel, loose AF gravel, sand, multiday bikepacking in remote places + anything between. To me the argument was never the price or the performance like you guys mean it - light and efficient, top of the line RACING spec. To me the argument was always about performance - will it stop me from crashing in all the scenarios given above. So for my specific use case there is no argument, the only option is disk, and not the expensive "performance" kind. The kind that I can fix easily when I'm 80 miles away from the nearest village, let alone a cycle shop. It makes me think that a lot of channels and online talk about cycling is still only focused on road racing. And as much as everyone tries to say that cycling is all inclusive - it definitely doesn't look like it. And I've stopped watching David's channel (and many others) several months ago for that reason. To me "a cyclist" is someone who uses their bicycle as a mode of transportation, to commute, to get around from point A to point B, in any weather, and/or treats cycling as a hobby. Most cycling related channels on RU-vid are not for "cyclists", they are for "athletes", people who don't cycle for the sake of cycling, but cycle for the sake of training and being prepared for racing.

Thankfully there are still rim brakes getting made. When you combine them with a custom frame you will end up spending at least 5 K Euros. Not only does the frame set you back around 2 K but also all the components are retail price and you pay more for the work hours than with a mass produced bike.

I’m a rim lover - this comment wins the internet for today 😂

I still have Brand New in the boxes Campagnolo Centaur 10 speed groupset with rim brake calipers. One of these days I am going to get a custom frame builder to make me a steel frame for those parts. I would never spend $5000 or more for a carbon frame, they are not worth that much money. And as I'm getting older I don't care about being fast so much either. I have a custom made titanium frame that has Disc brakes and Di2 and I love it but truth be told it rides like any other bike I've ever owned. The only problem with it is the disc brakes require constant attention to work like they are suppose to. If this bike were to sit in my garage untouched over the Winter months then I wanted to take it out for a ride in the Spring the brakes would probably not work at all and service would be required first. Then there is that loud screeching squeal that turns the heads of everyone in the park, I hate that. Rim Brakes are better on road bike bikes, I cannot argue with that.

I have a Giant TCR adcvanced with rim brakes. I do not race, only ride for myself. I pace ride. I average about 35km on a good or bad day, every ride is 2 hours. speeds reaching up to 60kph when i sprint for 20 seconds. I do not go any faster because i do not need to, it is just to keep fit. I can say i have no such problem with stopping what so ever. Carbon wheels 55mm. ware is very minimal. I do not ride in the wet, if i do, it is no problem to stop if you have good tyres.

hi all i bought and quickly sold my disc brake road bike because of squeal rub and general faff back on my rim brakes and dont feel im at a disadvantage i slow down as quickly as anyone else in group rides without the noise of the disc brake guys as for downhill ive done loads of euro descents from the early 80s right through to recent years and ive never had a problem doing them on rims maybe experience counts more than than what type of brake you use DBs on road bikes are for noobs and people with more money than sense i like the comment about just getting out and ride as they are only brakes especially when they get used on about 3-5% of a road bike ride

Not only price but also increased maintenance time. And while I was able to do all checks and maintenance on rim brakes by myself, I don’t do anymore with discs. Yet again higher cost

Wouldn’t take any notice of anything DA says, he follows whatever pays the ££.

I purchased a new bike, my old one is 9 years old, so decided on a disc brake bike as a kind of future proof. However 95% of the time I don’t really find any performance difference Carbon rim brakes to disc brakes. The only time for me is continual steep downhills on disc brakes I no longer worry about ruining my carbon clinchers.

I have actually zero experience with modern rim brakes. But my hydraulic SRAM Force disc brakes stop my 105 kg like an anchor, they do not rub or make any other fuss, and they do not wear down my carbon rims. I would noch see any reason to back-garde, and I do not get David’s move to stirr up that stuff another time.

He's entitled to his opinion. But, that's all it is. I want real information such as provided by PT and luscher tech etc. I don't follow trends or cliques

One can still get new, top end performance bikes with rim brakes. Time sell frames that are rim. You can't argue with the quality of their manufacturing and, yes, the rim frames are cheaper

you should look up prices of cars in Singapore 😂

just bought two pairs of ee-brakes.... no reason to go disc.

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No problem with rim break and carbon wheels unless in rain

I have a similar setup to you I think. Prime wheels with Prime pads, and in the dry, if I anchor up I could end up over the bars, just as I would with hydraulic disc. So the performance is more than adequate. It’s ironic that the in the wet argument falls down because most folks with a £5+k bike won’t ride it in the wet anyway, nor over winter. I’ll be sticking with rim brakes until my frame dies. 👍

You point around price to weight ratio is so relatable to me - looking to get into cycling a bit more, trying to purchase a decent bike - but I am just priced out, any build with a total of less than 8 kg - is more than £6 k - almost unaffordable for the common people in current UK economic situation. I wished that some of these big brands, still sold atleast one option with rim brakes

A lot of David Arthur's videos are pure shilling for manufacturers and relitigating issues that are already very clearly understood (e.g., weight vs aero). You are right to mention price in relation to the likelihood of riding in sufficient rain in which vrim brakes are not safe. Because most of us buy our own bikes.

The market didn’t decide Fed. The manufacturers decided for the pro peloton and the riders no longer have a choice. Also pro’s can’t be honest of what they prefer. Maybe 10% of the pros would ride disc if they had the choice.

Don't even think it's the market that's made the choice. We've been told disc is superior (despite the riders intended application for the bike) and manufacturers have removed the choice of anything else. It's a disgrace. Luckily some are still producing rim, (at almost half the price of disc equivalent) and if they stop, I will resort to buying second hand only!

At 91 kgs, I definitely prefer discs for descents. They just feel more solid, and thru-axles have made proper disc alignment certain and problem-free. There were real alignment issues with the disc brake/QR hub setup of a few years ago.

I was sceptical about switching to disc brakes. I have a rim brake bike now with sram rival 11speed on it, i don't feel like the brakes are much more powerful then the tektro rim brakes on my old bike apart from in the wet. But the thing i've realised the longer i've lived with the bike is that i've started to see that with disc brakes its opening up progression in bike design and functionality. For example i'm planning on running 30 or even 32mm tires on it in the winter which I couldn't have done on a rim brake bike (not the one I have anyway). I have no anxiety about cooking my carbon rims on descents which was the biggest seller for me. The closer I look at the new bike designs since manufactures have abandoned rim brakes it seems like they wouldn't be possible if the bike needed to have rim brakes, for example the seat post hole on the Trek Madone, the angle of the frame where it meets the rear wheel on the cervelo S5 and also its handlebar and stem arrangement just wouldn't be possible with rim brake cables. I believe that the push for disc brakes is not because there is anything bad about rim brakes but more so bike design can progress and improve. The same with electronic groupsets, mechanical groupsets work fine but when you remove the need to run wire cables through a frame it removed constrictions in how the frame can be designed. Thats my logic on the subject at the current time. Its just a blessing and curse that we are riding during the transition period, I can understand if I had invested a lot of money into a rim brake frame and wheelsets how frustrated i'd feel when the industry abandoned it so quickly.