Had I been on disc I could have moved up from 87th to as much as 75th
Posted By Ride On on 04/16/2015 09:31 PM Dale I think you might be misunderstanding me a little. Will disc brakes make you faster ? The answer seems to be yes. If you can wait longer before applying the brakes to get to the fastest safe speed to take a corner than you will be faster. That isn't the same thing as being safer. By your own statement you made it down in the wet ( ie you were safe ) but you weren't fast To me safer is measured by stopping distance in a panic stop. You aren't modulating the brakes you are applying them full force. We all know that skidding the tire ( wheel rotation stop) is not going to produce the shortest stopping distance. This is why cars have anti lock brakes. Do I think a person can stop a bike faster with disc brakes. No I don't. They will lock up the wheel and skid in a panic. A computer could use the full advantage of the disc brake and stop you sooner. A human will botch it up and skid. On wet roads even more so. I think OC is right. On your own a disc brake great. They give you better modulation. All this made me think in 30 yrs of riding and all the crashes I've had (10 to 15 ) none of them would have been avoided with better brakes so it's all kind of a mout point. Yes disc brakes will make you faster but I still stand by they won't make you any safer. In the wet you learn to apply rim brakes sooner , which makes you slower, but just as safe