Can aluminium rim brakes ever be as good as disc brakes in the wet?

DrG82 wrote:

Magic used to make ceramic coated rims, anyone know if they still do?

They do not.  I don't think they have for a while.  Maybe quite some time.

During last summer my front ceramic wheel (26inch) developed a bad judder on braking, tried getting it trued, made no difference.  It was about 15 years old.  Could not find a new replacement.  The internet quest started, a fair few second hand rims, all very expensive, various ages, and I knew that the rim would probably be good but what if the bearing surfaces were dead.  So you might be talking a couple of hundred quid for a rim of some age, and then a rebuild onto my old hub, because mountain bike hubs are all for disks these days, more expense.  My front was still rideable, not pleasant but doable.  The search went on, week after week, for a couple of months.  Different terms, tried googleing everything.  Pages and pages of ebay, here, internationally.

Then I found them.  Mislabelled disc rims on a small internet site, up north I think.  Phoned up to make sure, and they were perfect.  Two Mavic X717 ceramics.  The had had them for years, ordered for a wheel build that fell through.  £200.  And they wanted to give me £40 off.  Yes, YES.  Bought them, then nothing.  They were uncertain because they were not disc rims as labelled.  But I didn't want disc rims, I wanted these. Eventually sorted it.  Phew.   Even paid for courier.

Then I found a late NOS non disc XTR front hub on ebay.  £50.  BUY IT NOW.  BUY IT NOW.

So I then thought, maybe some new pads for my new rims, and I'm a big fan of swissstop, so I go to buy some, and this is the point of my story, apart from my excitement of reliving the frustration and joy of a quest completed, they were not just for ceramics, you could use them on carbide rims.

And you can buy new carbide rims, SJS sell them.  That easy.  But of course with internet if you're not asking the right question...

But I do love my Mavics.  Got the wheel built at my LBS.  Nice.  Ridden her a lot this summer, proper off road, like I've not done in years.  More that I had a chance to, and no judder.  Found a new XTR rear as well. £65, not quite the one I wanted, 970, fat pipe, and I've not had a good time with the freehubs on my XT fat pipes.  But a pair of NOS 960s are £300.  Will get that wheel built when I find my new job.

I hope you have enjoyed my little tale, got a bit carried away.  You lot are the only ones who could ever understand.

Oh, the braking power is incredible.  When they were brand new I managed to momentarily lock up the front zooming down park hill towards the cricket ground in Birmingham.  In the dry, on tarmac.  Never doing that again.  And they seem equally good in the wet.  And the Swissstops don't seem to be building up the glassy surface like the shimano pads.  I'm guessing the carbides are very similar.  But SJS are selling them as touring rims. 700c and 26".  Big and heavy I suppose, which is why I didn't mention them until DrG82 bought up ceramic rims.

Cannot compare them to discs mind.  Never ridden, the new bike will have them of course, but I've been saying that for over a decade.

dreamlx10 wrote:

Well said SuperPython59 Itota;;y agree with you, it won't be long before the disc brake police are on here to show you the error of your ways.

+1. I have discs on my MTB, Ultegra rims on my carbon road  bike, and nameless rim brakes Trek saw fit to put on my 3 year old alloy winter bike. As SuperP said, my Ultegra brakes give all the stopping power allowed by the grip of my 23c or 25c tyres. The unbranded things fitted to my winter bike are nowhere near Ultegra, but I very quickly adapt when I switch bikes. Do they make me slower?  In reality, not on the wet, muddy, and gritty roads I am currently riding on because grip levels are so low (otherwise I'd be on the nice bike). It's a fair bet I will get a road bike with discs one day, but only because the time will soon come when they are standard.

brooksby wrote:

I have to admit that I have never ridden a bike with disc brakes.

I like my old hybrid with its V-brakes, and I've finally got the hang of adjusting and fixing them so I'm loathe to move on and have to learn how to fettle a whole new brake system

In your case, I understand that disc brakes are a lot more powerful, so I'd imagine you need to bear that it mind: brake earlier, and maybe brake longer, to get the same effect (a bit like driving an old car after getting used to driving a shiny modern one with ABCS etc).

I realize this is an old post.
I love hybrid v brakes. I just cut straight across (perpendicular) a clear gap on a 2*3(6) lane motorway . Honk if you're horny... Lots of horny motorists.. However, on second gutter hop up, I went to skid and grabbed the brake. Brake/skid levers are left/right not right/left. Over the bars.
When wet ,rim brakes sound like grinding is occuring. When dry, they're fantastic.
I converted my other hybrid to dropbars and I just suck at getting performance out of mini Vs. She's going back to flat bars soon.

Do disc brakes require more maintenance ? Are cable discs hard on the stops with short throws such as dropbar levers ?
I'm pleased to know that the longer pull of flatbar levers work well with vbrakes. Maybe I'm ignorant, I can't seem to pull hard on drop bars.

part_robot wrote:

... feels more sporty which is what I want/need given the direction my cycling is taking me.

Haven't you just answered your own question?

I've no personal experience of discs on a road bike. Presumably you had rim brakes before the synapse, how were they for you? If the synapse doesn't feel right for you does it matter how good the brakes are?