Originally Posted by
oli.roemer
We have toured with the Panamericana, also in Africa.
Nice - you wouldn't have any pictures online would you? How long was your tour?
Originally Posted by
oli.roemer
for the hydraulic disc brakes: the disc brakes are so much more reliable than cantilever. the key question is really, why do you want to brake on a rim, that is at least as crucial as a brake. you weaken the part that you ride on, which also carries extreme loads and gets (at least on an unsuspendend bike) all the bumps. the question is, how often did you break a hydraulic hose? in mountain biking disc brakes are the standard now, just because they have so many advantages (e.g. brake power, espcecially in wet conditions; no rim wear)
I've never broken a hydraulic hose because I don't use hydraulic brakes. I also haven't had any issues with rim brakes. They work well and any problems are easily repairable most places in the world since they are ubiquitous. I agree disc brakes do have some advantages in muddy or winter conditions. I guess you have to decide how often that will be part of your tour. I do use and like disc brakes for some of my bikes, but I think that people give them more credit than they deserve and underrate rim brakes.
Originally Posted by
oli.roemer
Of course new advanced technology always bears a certain risk, but the rohloff hubs shows, where this can lead to - 5 years ago also everybody was afraid of failure and now a lot of people just love it.
Well your Rohloff issue is exactly my point. There was a tourist recently who had his Rohloff hub flange crack in Tibet. Where he had to wait for a spare to be shipped to him. There were donor MTBs with dérailleurs available, but if you are using a very specialized bike with an IGH and no dérailleur hanger you can't make any field repairs. You can only get to a spot that accepts FEDEX and wait.
Having owned several full suspension mountain bikes my experience with them is they are indeed wonderful and tame a rough trail in a way no fat tire/rigid bike can,
BUT it isn't a question of if they'll need to be fixed and parts replaced - just when.
Perhaps with FEDEX reaching more and more parts of the globe these days this isn't an issue any longer????