I think what you are seeing is this forum has a lot of experienced riders. Myself, I've been riding seriously since 1991. That is a long time. I can appreciate what a disc brake offers for advantages (ultimately better braking, especially in the wet) but I am also able to see its drawbacks (complexity, weight). Even though I live in a wet climate, I can't see myself wanting more than one bike with discs. I'm only going to ride one bike on rainy days, but on the nice days I like choices My local terrain offers around 100m of elevation per 8km so I'm firmly in the rolling terrain category and braking on any rim surface has never ever been an issue. At the same time, I've ridden rim brakes all over Sonoma and Marin Country and lived to tell the tale. As to discs, I've already experienced the complexity factor, after just a few hundred km I had a DA 9120 lever start leaking fluid. It was replaced on warranty, but the wait was long and in the meantime I had to go source my own lever and get a shop to install because at that time I did not have the hose cutting tools and bleeding tools. This just won't happen on a rim brake bike! At the end of the day my best bikes are the ones I build and ride and maintain but require very little work other than routine things.Mep wrote: ↑Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:40 pmCould be just the crowd on this forum, but it seems like a good number of folks prefer rim brakes for general riding. I'm the same way and just bought a new aero bike to complement my 5kg climbing bike - guess what, it's on rim brakes too. It does scare me a little that major manufacturers are moving away from making rim brake bikes however.
As for the industry and big brands, without sounding like a conspiracist, they have a lot to gain by pushing the disc brakes. It's essentially a win-win-win as the user has to buy a new bike, then his existing wheels aren't compatible, so he buys new wheels to have a spare set, then he has to work on the brakes and he goes and buys a bunch of new tools. Even with one bike I've already bought a spare wheelset (begrudgingly) and a bunch of disc specific tools.
IMO, every rider needs to evaluate his/her situation honestly and decide whether or not they need disc brakes on a road bike. For gravel or CX, it's more clear-cut but for a road rider who rides in mostly dry weather I believe the case for rim brakes is still very strong.