On 2007-05-07, Tosspot wrote:

Eh? I thought (I'm no expert here) that hydraulic disk brakes actually
had *less* maintenance than their cable counterparts. No cable stretch,
no need to lube, no frayed ends. I'm assuming mineral oil of course.

Hydraulics may require less routine maintenance, especially as most
(all?) are self-adujusting, but they're not necessarily as
field-serviceable.

For instance, a friend of mine once had his front brake line come loose
where it attaches to the caliper. Fortunately there were warning signs --
the brake felt very spongy -- so we played with it a bit in the parking
lot before hitting the trail. After a few good hard stops all the fluid
squirted out onto the rotor with a *pop*. Fixing that required new brake
fluid, new pads (the old ones were ruined by the fluid), a bleed kit,
and a torch to bake the fluid off the rotor. All that meant a two-hour
round trip to the nearest bike shop, since we weren't carrying that kind
of equipment. The closest equivalent task on a mechanical setup is cable
replacement, which doesn't require anything that won't fit easily in a
seat pack.