- Rim brakes are cheaper. The price of carbon-frame road bikes has dramatically increased because of disc brakes and inflation.
- rim brakes are easier to maintain. Disc brake DIY maintenance required equipment and expertise beyond most riders.
- rim brakes are more than adequate for the riding the average avid cyclist does.
- A rim brake bike that has been sitting in the garage needs little TLC and service to get back in service, in contrast to a much more expensive and time-consuming effort to get a hydraulic disc back in service.
- rim brakes create torque at beefier parts of the frame (where they are mounted) than at the end of the fork and end of the chain-stays and seat-stays
There is no question a quality disc brake is better at braking than its rim brake counterpart. But generally it was a solution in search of a problem and makes cycling even more out of reach for most consumers despite the industry lamenting for decades that ridership was flat despite a growing population.
Good news, you're now thoroughly educated in all the manners that rim brakes are better than discs.
Seriously. If you're bikepacking long distances or in remote areas and you're running rim brakes because they're repairable on-trail or with basic tools and every shop has parts, that's reasonable.
