The debate about disc brake vs rim brakes is over. The ship sailed a few years ago and by now it’s almost impossible to buy a new bike with rim brakes. Almost every option in our list of the best road bikes features disc brakes and it’s even getting tough to upgrade existing rim brakes systems. This changeover happened largely because of consumer demand but it’s definitely a fact.
The reason for consumer demand, and quick adoption, is all about performance. Disc brake systems provide superior braking performance and they also make it so that you’ll never ruin a wheel after wearing through the rim. It doesn’t matter if it’s sunny or raining, the performance doesn’t change much and the advantages exist at all levels of the performance spectrum.
In fact, at the performance end, the advantages might even be bigger. Typically, when talking about the performance advantages of braking on a road bike it’s a discussion of stopping distance and lever feel. There is another way to think of performance though and that is the way it allows the designers behind the best road bike wheels to get creative. No longer constrained by the need to fit between the arms of a rim brake system, or deal with braking forces on the carbon, wheels can go in directions never thought possible a few years ago.
Despite all the advantages though, there is still room for improvement. The big-name groupset manufacturers all have excellent braking systems but they aren’t the final word on what is the best. We have taken our time doing a deep dive into what options exist to get the best performance available and now we are ready to talk about it. If you are looking to upgrade your road or gravel disc brake system, keep reading to see what we’ve found.
Cable actuated disc brake systems
It would be easy to think of this whole topic through the lens of hydraulic brake systems. If you want the best performance out of disc brakes, that’s where you will want to look. However, given that statement, there are still a lot of people who are very happy with cable-actuated disc brake systems. This is particularly true in the adventure gravel cycling segment where there are a lot of people who like sticking to cables for their perceived repairability in the backcountry. It’s also a big way that a brand can save money and you’ll find mechanical disc brakes are almost universal in our list…
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