I've had cars pull out in front of me, giving me less than a second to stop. A rear brake in that scenario would just skid, and I'd be in a world of hurt. For t

I've had cars pull out in front of me, giving me less than a second to stop. A rear brake in that scenario would just skid, and I'd be in a world of hurt. For that matter anything but a pair of high-end brakes would have put me in serious jeopardy. I agree rim brakes are terrible and typically very hard to set up properly. Also they're really bad in the rain, and especially when the rims can freeze. Personally I'm a disc brake guy, either hydraulic or mechanical. My road bike's mechanical disc's have only needed an adjustment every few years, and the odd set of pads. I've been a mountain biker for decades, so a preference for disc brakes is understandable. A distant second to that would be a very nice set of V brakes, with the aforementioned problems.