A method of manufacturing pitch-based carbon-carbon composite useful as a brake disc, includes (a) providing annular carbon fiber brake disc preform; (b) heat-treating the carbon fiber preform; (c) infiltrating the carbon fiber preform with pitch feedstock by VPI or RTM processing; (d) carbonizing the pitch-infiltrated carbon fiber preform; (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) to achieve a density in the carbon fiber preform of approximately 1.5 g/cc to below 1.7 g/cc; and (f) densifying the preform by CVI/CVD processing to a density higher than 1.7 g/cc. Employing lower cost VPI and/or RTM processing in early pitch densification cycles and using more expensive CVI/CVD processing only in the last densification cycle provides C-C composites in which the pitch-based components resist pullout, resulting in a longer wearing composite.