Which bike for commuting?

[froze]

Well, in my experience, a set of Swiss stops or Kool stops are more expensive than a set of disc pads, and the maintenance on each is relatively minimal....

With the right pads, both "types" work pretty much equally well. The grip of the tyre on the road is the limiting factor in braking.

Whatever your experience is, is your experience.

In my experience, and from bike mechanics I spoke to at shops about this subject, maintenance cost on disk brakes is significantly higher over the long haul.

The rim pads I mentioned can last at least 50,000 miles unless you're doing a lot of mountain riding then they might go 30,000. All my rims I ever had using rim brakes lasted over 75,000 miles even with mountain riding.

On disk brakes resin pads will last on average between 500 to 800 miles, that's an average, I talked to some people who live in wet areas of the country were only getting 200 miles, others on flat grassland areas and never rode in the rain could see 1,000; these type of pads average $30. Sintered pads do last longer, about 1,000 to 1,250 miles, but cost more. Of course you can get cheap $15 pads, but they are known not to last as long as better pads.

Rotors will last between 3,000 to 10,000 miles, they tend to last on the longer side with resin pads, use sintered pads and rotor life is shortened to the lower side of the miles given above. The average price for a rotor is $45 each.

That cost to maintain doesn't even include hydraulic fluid costs and maintenance. Which is why on my touring bike I opted for mechanical disk brakes.

As you can see, I'm not anti-disk brake, it depends on the application. For a road bike, or commuter bike, it isn't necessary to have disk brakes, I commuted on nothing but rim brakes for over 50 years and never wished they would create disk brakes. However, on the touring bike, due to the heavy loads I carry, more varied weather, more varied road conditions, I felt disk brakes might be better. I had an older touring bike with cantilever rim brakes, and never felt they were inadequate, but they did take significantly more hand pressure to apply then either the rim brakes on my road bikes (to bring the loaded bike to a stop), or the mechanical disk brakes on the newer touring bike.

I suppose if the poster is going to be riding in mostly rainy conditions than disk brakes might be a tad better, but be prepared for the additional maintenance, and costs. He could save some headaches by going to mechanical disk brakes, they work great as I can attest to.

Please don't think I'm arguing with you, that is not my intent, my intent is to throw more light on the subject, but your experience is your experience like I said earlier, my intent is not to take that from you because I can't.

 

[Dadam]

My experience with disc brakes FWIW
My Giant hybrid has cheapish Tektro hydraulics. I used it for commuting in all weathers for 4 years, involving a long steep hill. A lot of rainy commutes, or general drizzle with lots of gunk on the road. Winter with salt and grit all over the roads. I changed the factory resin pads at about 1500 miles, and they probably still had a bit of life left in them. The fluid has never been touched and braking is fine. They probably don't have quite the bite they did have but more than adequate. Rotors seem fine. I replaced the pads with Shimano ones, £8.99 a set.
Orbea Gain e-road bike: Shimano Tiagra hydraulics, about 1300 miles including some very hilly areas, lots of braking in steep, twisty descents. Still fine. I have 3 other bikes with hydro discs but not enough miles on them to be a consideration yet.

 

[Gunk]

The current Triban 520 is disc braked and the asking price is £900

When did ally bikes with 105 become nearly a grand, bonkers!

 

[freiston]

Personally I've never had issues with rim brakes once set up with a bit of care - the first thing to fail in my braking is always tyre/riding surface adhesion - not the braking mechanism. I haven't used side or centre-pull caliper brakes for almost 30 years but have used mostly cantilevers and V brakes. Since last December, I've also got cable disc brakes. I ride from a saddlebag up to fully loaded cycle-camping (up to 30kg).

I find V brakes a much more "positive" experience than cantilevers - both in set-up and modulation but I have to say (and it was a bitter pill to swallow considering how I've extolled the virtues of rim-braking in the past), that the cable discs beat the V brakes. Stopping distance is probably similar - not scientific and I could be wrong; modulation is much better - I can stop fast without skidding and with little effort in "squeezing" the levers. I have every confidence in stopping abruptly on my V brake equipped utility bike but I can skid it more easily than the disc braked bike - it just feels "easier" to stop abruptly with the discs (though it's not hard with either). The cantilever bike can feel a bit close for comfort at times but it has never let me down. All the above counts for all weather conditions (except ice - haven't enough "data" to compare)

A big difference for me though is the anxiety of using rim brakes in mucky conditions and hearing the grinding of the rims amidst the sound of the grit and grime at the interface, wearing away at my rims. All brakes require some maintenance and how much of an issue that is is debatable but I'd rather replace a rotor than a rim and things have changed a lot, especially the market, since I bought my rim-braked bikes - I would need a reason to go for rim brakes nowadays rather than a reason not to go for discs.

But this is properly another debate and not really the place in a What New Bike thread when the OP has already said that they want discs.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Hydraulic discs will stop a bike better in the wet weather as opposed to rim brakes even with Kool Stops. I know this as I have both.
OP Look at Boardman bikes or Trek for a Hybrid, I'm sure you will get something suitable.

 

[freiston]

Hydraulic discs will stop a bike better in the wet weather as opposed to rim brakes even with Kool Stops. I know this as I have both.
OP Look at Boardman bikes or Trek for a Hybrid, I'm sure you will get something suitable.

I "know" that in my experience, the difference is too close to call between (V brake) rims and discs even in the wet - they're both good - even with Clarks MTB V Brake Blocks costing £5.99 for a pair metal shoes with two blocks and two spares. My cantilever bike has Koolstop Dura dual compound blocks and they are noticeably better than the Tektro blocks that were supplied with the brakes.