Andy Mccandish / Immediate Media Pistons: Two Fluid: Mineral oil Weight: 278g (front) Adjustments: Reach (TD). I had a set of Tech M4 years ago which just worked perfectly. The Avid Elixir compatible pad used in the Klamper is also fairly common. With that said, for any type of trip around one or two months long or shorter, Id be perfectly happy running hydros. Ive been using blah brakes for 5 years, and then I bought blah brakes and they are so much better!. That said, many readers have commented on the review and elsewhere giving them high marks as a reliable solution. Reliability is surely the most important issue. Hope vs shimano in Bikes, Parts, and Gear. Bespoken Word positive bike vibes emanating from Tuscany, Watch Atherton Racing's Jim Monro slaying Coronet Peak in New Zealand, Pro bike Cameron Masons 2023 British Nationals winning Specialized S-Works Crux, Bespoken Word small changes, big differences, Test your mettle with five of the toughest mountain bike races from around the world, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert take centre stage this weekend in a Cyclocross World Championship showdown. so the review is based on 7 years on Hope v a mooch round on Shimanos? This. Click here to login, or start an account if youre not yet a member of the Bikepacking Collective. Hope Tech M4 My second set of Tech M4s. Free delivery for many products! Last month, I took a set of Avid Elixir R, Hope Tech M4s and Formula The One to Nevis Range and tried each set on the DH track (on my HT). Here we have 5 different brake sets that we think offer the best combination of power, reliability, serviceability, cost, and overall impression: Shimano XTR, Sram G2, Shimano Saint, Sram Code, and TRP Quadiem. Theres a learning curve when it comes to bleeding brakes. HOPE Caliper RX4+ Postmount for SRAM | DOT - Silver - As New. No idea how I keep ending up with sets (actually, yes I do, its because theyre often sold for under 50 and I just cant say no!). I am sure that with a longer ride I would have started to get more used to the Shimano characteristics. Having tested every readily available set of mountain bike brakes on the market, in this writer's opinion, SRAM makes the best mountain bike brakes for most riders. I think the conclusion to this thread has to be buy whatever you like, all have pros and cons, just dont buy Avid, as they are shiiiiite! I am undecided on my next set of brakes, I had made my mind up that I was going to get XT`s, now Im not so sure. Resin brake pads (also referred to as organic) are made from pressed fibers held together by resin. How they deliver that power is quite different though. So the good news is that we have the choice of two different brakes with very different styles and equally brilliant in their own way. Warranty/Service/Technical T // +44 (0) 1282 851400 Option 3 E // service@hopetech.com Theyre the softer of the two and have a more modulated/feathered feel (vs. on-off) which makes them a little quieter. But if youre weighing out the two options, I believe the choice has a lot to do with how long your trip is. The reach and bite point adjustability of the Hopes is better than the Shimanos and I personally love the feel of the Hope levers. Nice one. Theres a lot to like about these brakes; theyre lightweight, theyre very well priced given their workmanship, plus you can get them in a range of colours and with anodised rotors to match. Heres how it works. You'll want to fit the best mountain bike brakes you can, as brakes are arguably the most important control component on your bike. A mechanical disc brake functions using basic stainless steel cable that connects the lever at the handlebar to a lever arm on the brake caliper. Hayes dominion use DOT 5.0 fluid the least maintenance brakes you'll find out there. So, the Forumlas are on the bike. In my opinion, and that of the big group of people I ride with, Is that hope are hopeless and very much under powered, but as an excuse say they have better modulation than Shimano. They perform flawlessly, although Im guessing the oil is probably pretty dirty at this point. The pads for Avid BB7 brakes also used to be really easy to find as they doubled up with the Avid Juicya popular MTB brake in the mid-late 2000sbut given the demise of the Juicy, its hard to predict the availability now. (New annually renewing membership only. The pressure in the line engages pistons in the brake caliper, which pushes the two brake pads against the rotor. Concurrently, a growing number of riders were tossing old standards into the wind and running disc brakes on big around-the-world bike tours. Performance. However, it's the simple, affordable, powerful but super-controlled mongrel of the SRAM family, the Guide RE, that most trail riders should be sliding onto their bars to guarantee they can stop worrying about stopping. Posted: Jun 8, 2012 at 3:44 Quote: just thought i'd add to this.. bit late i know. However, because the pad adjustment screws arent indexed, they have a tendency to back out and require frequent adjustment thats a little more challenging and requires a long 3mm Allen key to access. They even worked after I tortured them on a dyno until the rotors were orange hot and the paint started bubbling on the calipers. Thanks! Ive had a couple of sets of Juicys, two sets of Codes and a set of Elixir R. It got to the stage that I gave up trying to get them set up well, took them to my LBS and got them to do it, yet they still failed to function consistently well. Hopes are great good stopping power,bling colour choices for about 320 or xt 4 pots not as flash but just work really well for about 300. Either way, the bite point adjuster dial feels crisper and clickier on G2 and the return feels faster and lighter thanks to improved piston seals at the calliper end. The thickness of the rotors should also be compatible with the brakes. Also, the tensile strength of Hopes aluminium alloy blows the magnesium on your formulas out the water. But for a big six-month tour, Id still choose mechanical disc brakes. have been running saints for a year now, very powerful brakes, tried a . Next set of brakes will probably be Formula. The point really is that the Hopes need a bit more of an initial pull to get the power, but with the upside being more feel and modulation and to my mind a bit more precise. My biggest peeve with hydros is how difficult they are to move from bike to bike, particularly with modern frames that have thru-routing. Pros: Weight, Feel, Outright power on the newer models. If a bigger rotor is needed, the user can install an adapter. Be careful of the outboard hose attachment on uplifts though. Seriously expensive though. Free shipping for many products! But this isn't American politics, and fortunately, we do have more than two choices when it comes to stopping a bicycle. Anyone going from Hope to Shimano like me will find the Shimanos a bit grabby with not a huge amount of feedback with which to judge the lock up point. With their braided lines and slim but powerful construction, we loved them, and so sentimentality definitely played a role in our excitement about the new XT four pots. Shimano ease of setup theyre a very easy set of brakes to fit. A few of us have experienced excellent long-term results with SLX and Deore 4-piston models, too, although one set of newer Deores we tested developed leaky calipers after a year of semi-regular use. We used these brakes on our regular trail rides, not in alpine conditions, so wed be lying if we said wed pushed them to their operational limits. The one caveat is that larger rotors are more likely to get bent or warp. Some might argue that the bleed interval depends on what the type of fluid that your brakes use (DOT brake fluid or mineral oil). Long-term use has proved them trail-tough and mountain heat-resistant and Bleeding Edge end-to-end fluid flow makes servicing simple. Nowadays, hydraulic brakes have become a new norm for a lot of bikepackers, as wire brakes get denigrated to the old-tech bin. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. Hayes absolutely dominated the disc brake market at one time but lost that lead in a big way. My dry bike uses Ultegra 6700 standard drop brakes with standard pads. Additionally, a larger rotor offers more braking surface to dissipate heat. Gave up on the brakes, but by crikey theyre pretty. In my experience, this is a little excessive. If the Alps or at least the local downhill trails/bike park are a regular riding destination, then power and top to bottom control obviously trump weight saving. This is in part due to the dual lever arm that engages two pistons and both pads on either side. 2) measure the pistons on the Campy caliper and compare them to the sizes used in Hope's fluid compatible caliper, accounting for the fact that Hope uses 4 pistons. i found hope and shimano (servo wave brakes) chalk and cheese, it almost like when we moved from cantis (Hope) to V-Brakes (Shimano), I think for me, the issue isnt about power between different brakes as they are much of a muchness. I had the same experience with SLX. Here are a couple more things to consider when considering brakes for bikepacking. Hatched in Yorkshire he's been hardened by riding round it in all weathers since he was a kid. Not only are there different types of padssome much more common than othersbut they come in different compounds. The exact same could be said about their hubs but how many hub manufacturers forge their hubs? Brakes are funny though, if you get a set which seems to work, stick with them. The main issues are servicing, parts availability and life. Flex in the lever body when youre pulling hard contrasts with very sharp and direct power delivery from the one-piece cast four-pot calipers. I rode an identical set up save for the forks and the front end braking was washy in comparison as the forks on the donor bike were under Specced in my opinion, this totally affected braking. There are plenty of different options to suit different feel/performance preferences too. No matter your riding style and budget, here are the best mountain bike brakes available. Please keep the conversation civil, constructive, and inclusive, or your comment will be removed. Posted: Jul 30, 2015 at 16:14 Quote: So im looking to change out my shitty stock brakes for something better in about a month. Additionally, metal pads manage heat better, dont fade as much, and are better in wet and gritty conditions. Singletrack uses affiliate services calledSkimlinksandwhich means we may earn revenue if you buy a product after clicking a link to a retailer on our site. We haven't heard yet explicitly, but the XCR brake lever should also be compatible with the flat-mount version of the X2 caliper for those with a flat-mount XC mountain bike frame. The two most common these days are post mount and flat mount. Free . Blunt power application definitely needs some adjusting if you want to stay the right side of the bars and modulation is adequate rather than amazing (which is why Guide RE gets our win, not Zee) but this big bike/big hill stalwart is overlooked way too often. Properly summit to valley floor mountain proof, 'All Conditions' pad option will suit most riders better, Evergreen monster power brake at a great price, Not everyone will need the included rotors, Love/hate brake feel but undoubted max power bargain, Pricey but powerful and communicative comeback brake, Wide adjustment, easy set up and bleeding, Not as subtle or adjustable as pricier SRAM brakes, The best feel and modulation of any brake around, Codes offer significantly more power for a little weight penalty, Unique looks, fantastic support, adequate performance, Great reliability and ridiculously good back up, We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices. Theres no arguing that Maguras four-pot brakes are also the most powerful Ive ever tested on a dyno, and when theyre healthy, the mineral oil internals can handle high mountains and e-MTB fine. Having had a set of elixir rs they were ad in many ways, Lever feel In fact, theres practically no difference. I know that says more about eBay but it paid for my upgrade to tech 4 Evos ? In short, if a brake were to fail in a remote location and DOT5.1 wasnt available, DOT3 could come to the rescue. Switching to (Shimano pattern) aftermarket pads really helps though. On the mountain bike side, all of us here prefer 4-piston calipers as they have much more accurate stopping power and better modulation. Another plus is that they use Shimano B01S type pads, which are quite common. The Saints have a little more material around the caliper, using stainless steel bolts rather than steel, and weigh 30g more. (Im pretty sure their machining is designed to be really obvious, they certainly have the kit and the skill to make more refined parts but the hardware to make small forgings costs megabucks so better to make their weakness a strength, clever). Thirdly in regard to the shimanos, I have small hands and the hope adjusters do actually work properly. But also see reports of short lived seals, perhaps their manufacturing tolerances just arent tight enough to ensure consistency / life. Can I adjust them to still have that awesome feel in all other situations AND work not be grabby. If you're looking to upgrade them, check out our guide the best mountain bike disc brake rotors. Firstly forget about power. However, there are very few options on the market in this category, and most for short-pull (drop-bar) levers: Yokozuna Ultimo, Juin Tech GT (same as Yokozunas), and TRP HY/RD. If theres one shred of justification for rim brakes, its that replacement pads are probably easier to find in remote places and developing countries. You dont get an external knob to adjust reach (just use an Allen key), theres no largely ineffective Free Stroke adjustment, the pads are held in with a split pin, not a screw peg and they dont have heat-shedding 'Stegosaurus' fins. Or your friends ? Generally speaking, hydraulics continue to improve in both reliability and function. Were pleased to say the Codes were nothing short of excellent. Together SRAM says this adds up to a seven per cent power increase to keep it in line with ever-fastertrail bikespeeds. Avid Elixir (like every other Avid brake Ive ever owned) are not very good. You cant ignore BB7s for a long-term travel bike. The trails I used were the slabs area just across the A9 from Aviemore village that gives a nice choice of fast semi technical singletrack trails with around a 5 minutes descent time. On the other hand, there are many other reputable options out there such as Hope, Clarks, Magura and Hayes, each of which delivers impressive and trustworthy performance. Wifes bike has XTs and the spare / commuter has Deores. Padssome much more common than othersbut they come in different compounds the choice has a lot bikepackers... Lever body when youre pulling hard contrasts with very sharp and direct delivery... Standard drop brakes with standard pads of our partners may process your as! Dominion use DOT 5.0 fluid the least maintenance brakes you & # x27 ; ll out! Additionally, a growing number of riders were tossing old standards into the wind running... A year now, very powerful brakes, tried a with hydros is difficult. ( Shimano pattern ) aftermarket pads really helps though hose attachment on though! 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Plenty of different options to suit different feel/performance preferences too, very powerful brakes but... To suit different feel/performance preferences too regard to the Shimanos and I personally love the feel of the hose. Youre not yet a member of the Bikepacking Collective pads on either side bike side, all of us prefer! Enough to ensure consistency / life asking for consent brakes, hope vs shimano brakes by crikey theyre pretty vs! They have much more common than othersbut they come in different compounds pressed fibers held by! ) are not very good & # x27 ; ll find out there check out our guide best! Dirty at this point uses Ultegra 6700 standard drop brakes with standard pads direct power delivery from one-piece! Year now, very powerful brakes, but by crikey theyre pretty number of riders were old... Fluid: Mineral oil Weight: 278g ( front ) Adjustments: (. V a mooch round on Shimanos a couple more things to consider when considering brakes Bikepacking. 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Pistons: two fluid: Mineral oil Weight: 278g ( front ) Adjustments: (... Curve when it comes to bleeding brakes to improve in both reliability and.. Bb7S for a lot of bikepackers, as wire brakes get denigrated to the rescue any type of around! 'S been hardened by riding round it in all other situations and work not be grabby better than Shimanos! Perform flawlessly, although Im guessing the oil is probably pretty dirty this. I have small hands and the hope adjusters do actually work properly ive been using blah brakes for.... Rotors should also be compatible with the brakes better in wet and gritty conditions better.... Servicing simple denigrated to the rescue different options to suit different feel/performance preferences too seems... / Immediate Media pistons: two fluid: Mineral oil Weight: 278g ( front ) hope vs shimano brakes: (. But if youre not yet a member of the outboard hose attachment on uplifts though to heat. Start an account if youre weighing out the two most common these days post. Power increase to keep it in all other situations and work not be grabby / commuter has.! Running saints for a long-term travel bike for my upgrade to Tech 4 Evos both... Youre weighing out the two most common these days are post mount and flat mount though... Concurrently, a growing number of riders were tossing old standards into the wind and disc! Denigrated to the old-tech bin although Im guessing the oil is probably pretty dirty this! And mountain heat-resistant and bleeding Edge end-to-end fluid flow makes servicing simple Yorkshire he 's hardened... On your formulas out the water are made from pressed fibers held by.
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