I use Magura hydraulic rim brakes on my everyday bike, a 29er. I have disc and roller brakes on other bikes, and agree with you, the Magura rim brakes are the best. I found discs and rollers very on-off, lacking in nuance, and therefore deliberately chose the weakest of the Magura hydraulic rim brakes, back when the HS11 had a bigger chamber than the HS33 (today they have the same chamber, the only difference being in the appearance), and thus a lower pressure multiplication so that you get a decent spread of retardation. You need to squeeze a bit harder for a panic stop but I rarely make those and anyway have strong hands. I don't see the point of a vehicle, any vehicle, which outside racing applications demands your attention all the time if you want to avoid a faceplant.

Love the Magura rim brakes for another reason: I developed my bike, already ex-factory a hedonist's bike, to have absolutely the minimum demands for maintenance, and the Maguras fit in nicely with this concept -- in fifteen years I've never had them open and just changed blocks every few years. The bike gets fifteen minutes of maintenance every year for the Rohloff oil change and a squirt of grease into the EXT klickbox, and a quick wipe-down of dust.

May your next bike-shed have infinite capacity.

I currently have 2 bikes with Magura rim brakes, a couple with cantilever and the rest with V brakes (11 bikes currently in the shed)

I’ve worn out rims on V-brakes and on Magura, both of which work better than cantilever in my opinion.

As previously mentioned, and IMHO once the Magura are set up, they are super low maintenance, a breeze to adjust and are the best of the rim-bunch in stopping power if you don’t have disc brakes.

If you already have and enjoy 26 in wheels and the bikes they are on cannot be readily converted to discs or take larger tires in larger diameter rim sizes (as it the case with my own Nomad Mk2, my tandem and my Enduro-Allroad/bikepacking bike), one option is to carry a folding spare.
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Some trips I carry a spare tire, some I do not. 

But I will always be carrying a spare for 26 inch wheels, as bike shops are not likely to have what I want.

Usually my spare has not been a "replacement" tire that is as good as the ones on my wheels, instead it has usually been a lighter weight, possibly narrower tire that can get me to a bike shop or to a place where I can order a tire if necessary. 

My last tour, used Schwalbe 700c 37mm tires, front was an XR (discontinued years ago) and rear a Mondial.  But my spare was a very light weight folding cyclocross 33mm wide tire.  Something that would at least give me several hundred miles, but likely not thousands.

But if I was going to be in some far off place, I would be more inclined to carry a replacement quality tire.

When planning a trip, I will think about the worst possible place to have a mechanical issue.  And I plan my tools and spares accordingly.  Thus, the spare tire might not have to be a long distance tire, or it might need to be.

If you already have and enjoy 26 in wheels and the bikes they are on cannot be readily converted to discs or take larger tires in larger diameter rim sizes (as it the case with my own Nomad Mk2, my tandem and my Enduro-Allroad/bikepacking bike), one option is to carry a folding spare.

I do that, swapping it between these bikes when I use them for extended tours where finding a spare (of any kind) might be iffy. It would buy time till an ordered replacement could arrive or a shop found that had better quality stock.

My folding 26 x 2.0 Schwalbe Dureme spare rides in a thin dry sack at the bottom of one of my panniers. When loaded for expeditions (i.e. self-supported for 3 weeks away from resupply), the added weight is a small percentage if what I already carry and has been well worth it for my peace of mind. So far it has not been needed, a state that will probably end now I've mentioned it!

Best, Dan.

Quote from: martinf on October 31, 2024, 07:04:40 AM

With 38x21, my lowest gear is just under 13 inches.

That corresponds to about 5.5 kph at 90 rpm.

If I am very tired I may drop pedalling rate to 60 rpm, which is 3.7 kph, about my lower limit for keeping balance.

That works on the loaded bike. With no front panniers, the front wheel lifts on very steep climbs.

Exactly, this happens on my bike also. That plus the "keeping balance at slow speeds" issue mentioned by Mickeg means that below a certain gear ratio, there's no point reducing further. We just have to figure out what that point is for each of us.

Yup.