Road bike: Disc vs Rim Brakes

[Iliya]

Hello Agreeables. It's been a while since I used the forum and so it seems it's not used much as of lately but I will try anyway.

I am buying a new commuter bike (which I hope to use for winter CRs too) and I am have narrowed my choice to two options:

1) Tifosi CK7 with Shimano 105 11s and rim brakes @ £1,000

2) Trek Checkpoint AL4 with Tiagra 10S and hydraulic disc brakes and integrated cables @1,140

Price difference isn't huge if disc brakes are that much better but frame and groupset wise Tifosi is more attractive option to me. Never ridden road bike with disc brakes.

What are people's thoughts?

Thanks
Iliya

[Amy]

Iliya, I'm afraid everyone (well nearly everyone) is on faceache.

Personally speaking, I prefer normal rim brakes because:

1) I understand the gains from the slightly quicker braking is marginal - ok so maybe useful in commuting...
and
2) they need a heck of a lot of adjustment and you need to get them just right. A friend from my cycling hols has disc brakes and on the first holiday, he rode into a cattle grip and broke the front one - not easy to get repairs or replacements in the middle of nowhere - and then on second holiday, they kept giving him problems all the way round despite fiddling with them.

I'm sure there are those who will sing their praises but the main thing is to consider, do you really need them and do you want to possibly spend extra on having them.

[Dombo]

Hi Iliya, as Amy says, most of us or on FB so you'll get more replies there. However my tuppence worth - i have road bikes with standard rim brakes, a station bike with V-brakes and a mountain bike with discs.
Discs will stop you quicker, no question, and are less affected by rain, mud etc so ideal for the sort of mountain biking where you need to stop or slow down on a steep muddy trail.
On the road less so. There are few occasions where you really need to slam on the brakes - look ahead as you would in a car and anticipate hazards. This is especially important when commuting and surrounded by muppets in cars, buses etc who aren't paying attention. The odd time someone has grabbed a fistful of rim brakes on the CR, we've had a pile up; discs which are way more powerful will only make that worse. Discs also tend to make you take more risks - coming down a steep wet road on my mountain bike I will go faster than on my road bike and brake later.
I have descended Tourmalet, Bwlch in Wales and our steeper Surrey Hills on rim brakes, often in the wet. Brake earlier and adjust your speed to the conditions. Same laws of physics apply on a bike as in a car - be able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear ON YOUR SIDE OF THE ROAD, and if the vanishing point of the bend is getting closer, you're going too fast.
Finally, as Amy says, rim brakes are easier to maintain and fix by the side of the road if you ever need to.

[Iliya]

Thank you for taking time to reply Amy and Dombo. Useful comments. Rim brakes it is then.