I didn’t realize this, but GCN tells me that Tadej Pogacar at least partially won the Tour de France this year on rim brakes…or maybe I realized it and forgot it, which seems to be a trend these days. Whatever, he just won his 2nd Monument of the season on them again. I am not convinced we have seen the end of these things, but the disk lobby is strong, persistent and has a lot of incentive to have everyone riding them. It’s nice to spot a few holdouts while they are allowed to do so.
The Vicious Cycle 
I still have rim brakes on both road bikes (and so shall it be for the foreseeable future). Discs are the cats pajamas but there’s nothing wrong with rim brakes, either. And they’re lighter.
Nothing wrong with mine either. I think we’ll be forced to get disks at one point, so might as well enjoy what we have while we have it.
I know that’s right.
This is like the Betamax vs VHS format war in the late 70’s. For some reason the debate becomes religious for many people that want to hang on to what was. I saw the same debate when clipless pedals first came out. The ship has sailed and it’s irrelevant what reasons people present, rim brakes bikes will end up in the bin, along with strap pedals and Betamax recorders. Time to move on.
Or religious for many people who are the proponents of disks. I’ve had a few clients try and convert me, so I know of what I speak. You’re probably right about the ship sailing, but I don’t have your confidence in the inevitability of it happening.
It’ll definitely happen at the top end of the market for sure. It’s pretty hard to buy a high end rim brake bike these days, not a lot of choice left.
Bicycles had reached a pinnacle of development, there was little reason to “upgrade”, Manufacturers cannot have that, so we find that rim brakes are binned and Disc become the “must have” format … its that simple.. its all about getting us to spend our hard earned money. There is clearly no performance adv or the chasing grp would have caught TP on the descent today…. once we all have disc bikes, it will be “anti lock” but that require a new frame lol!
There’ll always be something else to spend money on, I’m sure you’re right about that. Can’t wait for the ABS 😉
I have no dog in this fight. But the obvious question here, Gerry, is WHY does he prefer rim brakes?
I’m going to ask him next time we’re out for a ride.
🤣
All my road bikes are rim brake, but there’s no debating the higher performance of hydraulic discs over rim brakes on carbon surfaces, especially in the wet! Good for us who have to deal with traffic on open roads. Not so big a deal in pro racing I guess. Any new bike I get in the future will be disc, mostly because I recon that’s all that’ll be on offer…
The braking is a big pull, but for me it’s exceedingly rare that I ever ride in the wet. Like you, though, the next bike (or maybe the one after that!) will probably has disks on them.
Yes it’s quite rare I ride in the wet or down 10+ mile descents these days. I’m happy enough with rim brakes. If I had to move back to the UK maybe I’d feel differently!
Correlation does not imply causation. One of the best cyclists in the world won a couple of races. Why not ask ourselves if the seat was the reason? Or the gloves he was wearing? I’m certain that winning those races was great advertising for rim brakes in general and Colnago in particular, but I don’t think it does much in the way of helping us understand the significance of rim brakes in performance.
I wonder if he won on tubular, tubeless or tubed tyres? 😁
That’s all true. However, I’m not suggesting rim brakes are superior, of course. I’m just a little irritated that they seem to be going the way of the dodo for no legitimate reason. I’m sure I’ll get over it one day.