Originally Posted by
mack_turtle
not sure if serious.
I barely used my brakes at all during the race and my mechanical discs work fine. dirt drops would require that I had a ridiculously tall stem on top of the already huge spacer stack that I have on my bike. I have Cowbells now, which have a decent amount of flair to them. I ride this bike on most of the singletrack that I usually reserve for mountain biking, so handling is not the problem. getting bucked off the bike by washboards and sand traps is, in addition to the sheer mileage of the course.
I've got years of riding CX/gravel and rigid MTB. The width of a dirt drop really helps. The grip in the drops is unimpeachable. Hydraulic brakes have much finer control. Brake lightly to control bucking and bouncing. The drop of a Woodchipper or Cowchipper is no deeper than a Cowbell. The hoods are suicide on washboard unless you slow way way down.