If it helps, I had alloy wheels when riding the Colorado mountains. I will also add that possibly due to technique, my disc -equipped friends run out of brakes before the end of a technical descent. We have steep roads in Greece, never had a problem, even when flirting with 80kph/50mph.
I rode a rented Colnago with discs to Stelvio. LOTS of braking power, but very binary (on /off) performance. Frankly, I missed the modulation of my rim brakes during the fast descent from Lagi di Cancano. And because it was a misty rain, I did have to pump the brakes , to dry the discs before they worked normal.
Rim brake calipers: I felt a noticeable difference swapping calipers from Ultegra 6800s to 8000s. Much stiffer. I was able to set up the levers closet for someone who wanted a shorter reach.
The 8000s and later(and corresponding 105s and Dura-Aces) have a steel bridge between the pivots and beefy arms. I think the performance is well worth the slight weight increase.
Hmmm. I had no issues at all with Campy Skeleton brakes. When I was running them, I never had any moment when they felt lacking. I didn’t feel like they were lacking anything compared to Shimano or SRAM rim brakes at the time.
As for disc brakes, my Campy disc brakes are my favorite brakes of all time. Their modulation suits my tastes and reminds me of the modulation of disc brakes on motorcycles I’ve raced. There’s no step function like behavior, i.e. no binary-eque feeling at all.
IMHO, if someone is running out of brakes on a descent, it’s almost always due to technique, specifically dragging the brakes. That applies to be both rim brakes and disc brakes. There’s a long history of people melting rim brake pads or glazing disc brake pads on long or steep descents. I think there was gran fondo in California (maybe it was Levi Leipheimers’s) that warned riders, especially those with CF rims, about the heavy braking required for one particular descent.
As for riding in the rain both disc and rim brakes will need to clear water before they achieve max power. I do think rim brake tracks can take more time clear since they’re much closer to the road and will likely see more water (and possibly contaminants) splashed onto them.
Worst brakes ever? Zero Gravity 0G-05. Those were horrible.
Ciamillo NG-GSLs weren’t too bad to use, but an absolute PITA to set and keep centered…
I agree that Campagnolo disc brakes are much more progressive than Shimanos. I just need much more power from Ekars when underbiking gravel than from 105s on the road, even steep downhills in the Alps or Pyrénées.
Totally nonscientific but in my long experience kool-stop salmon pads on alloy rims with good direct mount calipers worked just fine in the rain, if you were willing to burn through a set of rims every winter.
I have a totally different experience; quite cheap brake pads work way better on alu rims than even Black Prince on my (Fulcrum) carbon rims in the rain and even on the dry for absolute stopping power. You might be an instructor but that’s a false claim.
I tried the cheap pad option, along with the Shimano “factory” break pad option. Minimal modulation and almost binary braking. Very little feel of what is happening. With a good brake pad, it is possible to instigate understeer, as too much of the traction goes towards braking (not enough left over for turning, the “Circle of Friction” is one reference about this. https://www.researchgate.net/post/What-is-Circle-of-Friction)
Yes, discs do get wet. Rain droplet size and density of rain volume is different, depending on one’s locale. Misty rain will wet the discs and thus need drying them out. Especially when one brakes sparingly and does not keep dragging the brakes.
Finally, you are absolutely correct about hot discs not needing to dry out. Rims getting hot from rim brakes? Yes, happened to friends with poor braking technique, to the point of blowing up a tube (again, due to dragging the brakes). Have I tried disc brakes myself? Certainly, ever since 2004, hydraulic discs on my daily commuter.
I live in Belgium and have biked in quite a lot of different countries in the rain, never had a problem braking with disc same with my friends with discs (with different levels of descending ability)
Of course they get wet but not to the point that you have to “let them dry” (unlike with carbon rims even on flat terrain)
