Originally Posted by
headwind15
I agree with what Happy Feet wrote. There is (unfortunately) this buzz that hydraulic brakes are unreliable? There is this double standard. Hydraulic brakes used in cars date back about a hundred years, yet (some) cyclists think the technology is too
'new and unproven for their bike?
it's not that they's unreliable or unproven, but rather not-as-servicable.
do the hydraulic lines in your car run outside the body exposed?
do you load your car atop tractors, underneath buses, shoved in rail freight cars unnerneath sacks of spuds?
if a line gets snagged in the middle of nowheres, do you have the tools and supplies to repair it?
your mechanical brakes should work just as well for touring, and be easily repairable in the field.
if not, odds are you can pick up a cheap chinese caliper thingie at a village market in laos for $5.