Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

I always wonder why disc brakes are so popular on town bikes. Obviously on a cargo bike you've got a lot of weight, but on a town bike you're not gonna be carrying more than your weight + maybe 10kg.

I run disc brake on my heavy duty bike, the best thing about them is that like hubs brake, they're very reliable with ample stopping power, unlike hubs brake, it's quite powerful, even without heavy load, it's nice to able to modulated the brakes very easily with disc brake than hubs.

Considering that disc brakes need servicing/replacement parts relatively often, and that they're quite fragile (discs bent doing the bike rack shuffle), you'd think that more town bikes would have hub brakes - as well as being impervious to weather, they're robust and almost maintenance free.

The downside is exactly as you said - need pads replacing more often than usual (I need to replaced mine, and it's 3 months overdue!), it take me only 3-4 months for the disc pads to wear out, everything else is fine, even the disc itself (more due to the sheer size of my tyres that prevent it from getting bend on bike rack).

Hubs brakes are excellent if you want a brakes that you don't want to worry about in the future, regardless of the weather (another plus for the hubs - very easy to control your braking in the rain), but it's never going to be as powerful and precise as a disc brake, which is the deal killer for me, and there's not much you can adjust.

Disc are more idea in London where we commute a much longer distance than says, the people of Amsterdam, of whom cycle on average 2 miles a day in comparison to London's 5 miles each way, also the culture difference (London's TT commute and the 'Dam merry go round).

I also remember reading about oversize hub brakes that had stopping power comparable to disc brakes. Heavier, for sure, but with some development (remember that disc brakes have already had a head-start in development) I imagine the weight could be shaved down a little, too.

Quite right, there are possiblities that hubs brakes would've been as powerful and precise as disc brake, hell there's already hydraulic drum brakes designed for those Long John bicycles, I've a feeling it's easier to explore more possiblities of the disc brake than hubs brakes in the future.