If you watched the Tour de France you would have seen that all of the pro bikes now have disc brakes and you might think the question “rim vs disc brakes” is obsolete.

I think as time goes by, you might be right but at the moment there are still plenty of used but also some new bikes you you can buy with rim brakes.

So should you still consider rim brakes at all?

The answer like so often is: It depends!

In our case it really depends on the style of bike you’re planning to purchase, so lets do a run down:

Mountain Biking

Mountain bikes where the first to be shipped with disc brakes and now pretty much any decent MTB has them. Because of the conditions you encounter when mountain bike riding, especially mud, disc brakes are a must! The only other issue here is should they have hydraulic or mechanical activation. This will be answered in another post soon.

Gravel Biking

The conditions are are not quite as rough as encountered when mountain bike riding but they’re similar, so disc brakes are certainly what you want for gravel riding as well.

Road Riding

If the conditions are dry then there’s very little difference between rim and disc brakes on tar roads, however in the wet a disc brake will work quicker then a rim brake and if you’re riding in buch, the quicker you can pull up when the person in front of you hits the anchors, the better. However even in wet conditions the delay between the rim and disc isn’t that big. If indeed you participate in road racing events where you spend time in a peleton, then you want to go with disc brakes, budget allowing.

Triathlon (TT)

Since most triathlon events in Australia are not draft legal, meaning you have to stay 10m away from any other competitor it really makes no difference if you have rim or disc brakes. The only time you can feel a difference between rim and disc brakes is in the wet. When using your rim brake in wet conditions there is a small delay between when you pull the lever and the brake starting to bite but for me this has not been enough reason to have to have disc brakes on my triathlon bike to date.

And to close of this discussion here are the main pros and cons:

Rim Pros:

Simpler, lighter, cheaper to manufacture, quicker wheel changes and better Areo dynamics.

Rim Cons:

Poor performance in the wet, will wear out rims, more flex and not as consistent brake behaviour

Disc Pros:

Great break power in all conditions, not prone to overheat on long down hills and more powerful braking

Disc Cons

heavier, not as aero dynamic, more expensive to make, more complex to maintain and wheel changes take longer