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I've had cheap hydros, and I feel your pain! If you can't pony up to Deore-ish quality, you might as well get decent mechs. The constant and messy screwing around is just not worth the extra performance. Mechs are every bit as powerful, they are just not quite as responsive.
Drums / rollerbrake: safer under sustained loads than rim brakes and weather-proof (good things!) but not of interest to sportos.