hydraulic disc brakes v cable disc brakes

[RickH]

Nice idea for a bike when you have to balance the brakes front/back.
But probably not useful for me on a trike where I normally want to keep my front brakes roughly equal.
While it is possible to use independent front brakes to help you turn.
The only time I really need to use a single front brake is so small that it's probably not worth it.

Also with single lever on a gentle downhill slope I can pull on the front brakes, rest my thigh against the lever to keep the brakes on and my speed steady.
That frees up my hand to wave at traffic/indicate and/or use my back brake.
If the lever was split then that trick would be a lot more iffy due to the possibility of a single lever slipping and suddenly getting hit by brake steer.

Luck ............

I was thinking more that you could use one lever on the back brake & the other for both fronts as you do now.

[llayercake]

Hi,

In 2011 I did Lowestoft to St David's Head via an extremely convoluted route. The bike, a Carrera Subway 2, had cable disc brakes and was loaded with front and rear panniers, saddlebag and handlebar bag.
Braking fully loaded, in wet or dry conditions, was fine. No near misses.
The ride was a shake down session for an impending European tour.

Being a bit of a fashion victim I convinced myself that I needed a steel framed bike jic it broke on the European tour and it could then be mended blah blah etc etc.

I bought and toured on a Marin Muirwoods, nice bike but a totally unnecessary expense. It also had cable operated disc brakes which performed fine up and down various Spanish mountains between Santander and Valencia.

In 2015 after having read of a 'round the worlder' who used a carbon framed bike, I'd lost the obsession with steel and did Valencia to Perpignan on an Orbea MTB which had hydraulic disc brakes. Similar loading and weight of luggage, they performed well and needed no maintenance.

Car and motorcycle drivers do round the world trips with vehicles constructed from a variety of material and usually with some form of hydraulic system involved. I wouldn't worry excessively about stuff breaking. I've had more bikes stolen than broken tbh (including the Subway 2).

More useful is knowledge of how to repair and maintain whatever your chosen steed turns out to be. That and a basic toolkit.

[Tigerbiten]

I was thinking more that you could use one lever on the back brake & the other for both fronts as you do now.

Wouldn't work for two reasons.

1:- There's not enough weight on the back wheel of my bent trike to make that wheel good for normal braking.
So my back brake works ok for a parking/drag brake, just not a stopping brake.
2:- On the trike you need to have an easily locked "ON" brake to stop the trike rolling away when parked.
It is possible to use a velcro strap to hold a brake lever on but that's not easy with only one hand.
I use a friction lever and a BB7 disk on the back which makes it easy.
Plus this second system makes the trike road legal.

Luck ............

[rareposter]

I'm surprised no-one mentioned the cable actuated hydraulic disk brakes. I don't own any, but from what I've read, they seem to be "best of both worlds".
If I'd be onto getting a new bike/build, that's what I'd lean towards.

They're not, they're the worst of both worlds. You get all the problems with cables (stretch, dirt ingress) while having none of the power of discs.

A friend did TransCon or some similarly insane "unsupported race" a while ago and used cable discs because of the perceived maintencance (ie, it's easier to fix cable discs). She ended up on a mountain pass in freezing conditions attempting to sort frozen cables. Hydros would have been fine.

I've used hydros on MTBs for over 20 years, never once had any issues with them and that includes XC and endurance racing, trailquests and riding everywhere from the Alps/Pyrenees to Utah and Colorado.
Road hydro are the same thing, it's the same proven technology. On a modern frame with internal routing, you shouldn't snag anything. Fluids are irrelevant - most brakes need bleeding once a year at most and frankly, it's easier to just take it to a shop. The "turning it upside down" thing is also irrelevant although it seems to be a popular internet myth. If a brake is bled properly there won't be any air in it so the bike can be upside down, back to front and inside out for all the braking system cares - its a sealed unit.

They're literally fit and forget.