i do 70km/h.
i have front brakes only cus i couldnt be bothered whacking a new cable on the rear.
cantilevers work fine. there is an art in setting them to operate effectively. arm angle, strapping cable length and included angle, approach angle of shoes/pads, and toe-in angle. the leading tip of the pad should hit the rim 1mm or 1/16 before the rear! and not run off the rim either into the tyre or into the spokes... then tweaking the side screws so the whole assembly works symmetrically.
i do back sidepull/caliper brakes up with some coasters after having a cable snap just before a hairpin. overtook that motorbike! weeeee! had to jump off at 50! left a dent in the guardrail the bike hit that hard
i would have taken that corner if the motorbike hadnt been there
magura hydralics crush standard rims
discs on pushbikes are just bling. bling bling bling. yet to see a pushbikes disc start glowing like my motorbikes does after a good ride.
on a car...they can be slotted(internally, not just crossdrilled), for heat. the large surface area with small contact area makes for a big heat sink. they are lightweight(ha ha...not really). they are maintenance free when adjusted correctly. they(usually) are easy to service and maintain. they dont get waterlogged so easily. they stay relatively clean. mechanically they are simple.
a drum brake...large contact area, with minimum surface area, and bad ventilation. hard to adjust, annoying to maintain, and they catch/hold water,oil and road grit and brake dust. useless if you have to use them for extended periods. look at the size of the hub and the vents used in the 70's-80's! they also have a habit of locking on at times.
they are still common on a lot of cars, at the rear, because one, the handbrake is a lock, not a stopping device. heats no issue. nor is wear. and at the rear, they take 40% braking load, they dont get as hot as the front brakes.
(funniest label ive ever seen on a car? "WARNING!!! THIS VEHICLE IS FITTED WITH GIRLING HYDRALIC BRAKES". a bentley. thats the best way to describe some british engineering...WARNING!!!!)
if you are stuck with having to use caliper brakes...find some bulldogs or similar. the type used on freestyle bmx. they are one finger flippers when ADJUSTED CORRECTLY, just like v-brakes can do. the ones that sorta look like vbrakes in many regards, with twin pivots and a cross pulling cable, they are the bomb
spend the money, and do not get stingy on brakes! if you ride like a girl
personally, im more worried about chains coming off and locking up wheels at speed than having to stop. spent my whole life practising how to stop
got it down to an art, i does
im with gremlin. ride to the conditions, remain alert and prepared, and you barely NEED brakes.
and no. i CANNOT ride one of these bmx bikes with no brakes. that feels WRONG.