i'll go along with that if power is the only consideration. but on the trail, you also want something that is easy to adjust, and won't be tempermental. i've been having issues with my rear maguras pushing away from the rim lately, which effectively increases the distance i have to pull the lever (on thursday it was all the way to the grip), and the distance the pads travel to the rim. i have the shorter stabilizer studs, but they don't do much good. and the longer studs would put the caliper too close to my tire. i think i'm going to switch to avids soon.

the other issue that i've run into, is that if you're running a manitou fork, the stabilizers posts for the brakes don't have anything to rest against (due to the backwards arch). you don't want them against the stanchions because they'll rub and mar and scratch it. i think even a fork with a normal arch you'd have issues with the calipers being too close to the tire.

my front brakes are only supported by the V-studs and the brake arch, which makes me a little nervous. so...again, i think i'm going to go with avid V-brakes up front.

i don't want to get rid of my maguras, but V's will be much easier to work with, and will probably reduce the weight of my bike by about a pound.