Originally Posted by
LV2TNDM
So this only confirmed my bad impression of the Maguras. They SHOULD be incredibly powerful, but have never been. I started with the standard black pads and upgraded to their green pads - same issues.
That said, the advantage of ZERO squishy feel is still there. My road tandem has XT cantilevers and the rear has always been squishy. Not so bad as to be an issue, but annoying nonetheless. Hydraulic eliminates this problem by design.
My Maguras are from '97, so I can only hope and assume they've improved the power issue. Or perhaps not, given they aren't really designing for the tandem market and probably exclusively the observed trials market at this point (also a tiny market segment).
I hope that helps.
PS In 23 1/2 years, I have never had a SINGLE maintenance issue with the Maguras. Only brake pad changes and pad adjustments.
I find this interesting since Magura does still make these brakes and I was considering a pair. I'd often heard that they had a problem with being too powerful and could crush a rim. I've only ever seen them a handful of times and one of those was due to a very well worn rim being crushed but I suspect that was close enough that a good canti or V might have done the same. Guessing with the number of years you have on yours that the quality of the bleed isn't it so I'll chalk this up to experience trumping past rumors. Good to know they're safe even if I'd be better off with disc.