so i have hope braided hoses on my mono minis anyway but as i’m going to upgrade another pair of brakes to goodridge hoses as the ones on it are too short i was just wondering should i sort the Hopes as well? Or should i just bleed them? they are a bit old ie 2006 but if i’m honest i’m really looking for somebody to tell me no its not worth the hassle or money, get a pair of new brakes 😀

flash hoses look pretty, but there’s no real evidence to prove they make much difference to braking power. If you’re brakes are bled and working correctly, the best (and cheaper) solution is to go to bigger rotors.

No, braided hoses won’t give more power as such. Maybe a bit more for a given lever pressure, but that’s it.

To be fair old Mono Minis aren’t blessed with much power when new…..

If you need more power, I’d suggest newer brakes TBH 🙂

bigger rotors or new brakes is probably the way to go.

wwaswas +1

Braided hoses might make a difference on motorcycle brakes, but there just ‘prettiness’ on mtb’s.

Bigger rotors and -if you are using sintered – kevlar/organic mix pads

what others have said. I have 08 Mono Mini’s with braided hoses on my FS and new XT’s with standard hoses on the HT – if switching between the 2 the Hope’s are much less powerful, although I find they are fine once I get used to them – usually first few minutes of a ride.

dont really want to go bigger with my rotors so new brakes it is then yeeehaaa!! 😆

tell me no its not worth the hassle or money, get a pair of new brakes

It’s not worth the hassle or money, get a new pair of brakes.

I went from Mono Minis to Tech X2’s with braided hoses and floating rotors. Definite increase in power, but it’s not huge. If you go larger rotors you’ll spend £30 on new mounts anyway, and the front will be more prone to getting bent

as per CaptW above – Hope brakes aren’t reported to be the most powerful around for a given rotor size so it may be worth looking at other manufacturers if that’s the purpose of replacing what you have now.

Just out of interest – would braided hoses help to dissipate the heat quicker? Boiling fluid from the hot pistons, would a metal braid help transfer the heat….

Not bothered like, just a thought if anyone has any knowledge.

haggis – Mono minis, whilst not as powerful as some of the current offering, are still pretty powerful if set up right. certainly worth a bleed. If you are replacing, I think Merlin have best deals on SLX at 40% ish off, with XT’s 20 % or something off too, plus an exta 10% off if you sign up for their VIP newsletter

I put a braided hose on one of my brakes after getting a hole in the original hose – made no difference that I could notice.

I have however just replaced my old Hopes with some Formula The Ones – only installed the back one so far but crikey it’s powerful!

Set up properly they should be fine. Hopes have less initial bite than others but all mine will lock either wheel easily with moderate single finger pressure.

agree with TJ, however brakes have come on a bit in last few yrs – My 08 mono minis are way better than my 06 XT’s, but my 2010 XT’s (and 2010 SLX’s on the rigid bike) are a lot more poweful than the Hope’s, although some of it is down to the servowave action which gives a more ‘bitey’ feel on the Shimano’s

(and remember come winter and minus 10 etc, the Hope’s will keep on going when the Shimano’s get problems with the seals…..IMO only of course !)

Steel-braided hose will improve the feel of the brake as it will not expand under pressure to the extent that nylon-braid will. This is particularly noticeable on the rear brake which has a longer hose length. The power of the brake isn’t increased, per se, but the efficiency of the (non-expanding) system means that it’s easier to achieve it.

It will alter the feel – and will make no difference to the amount of power – the same pressure on the lever equals the same pressure in the calliper. The lever travel will be less for the same pressure but its a tiny effect

…Best way to add power to your disc brakes?…

clean them.

(and the pads)

i’ll give them a bleed and a clean and see how i get on with them. pretty sure i have them set up dod on though. i probably just being a bit of a consumer as i saw some nice Formula R1s the other week 🙄

I used braided hoses, just a lot heavier, no real difference.

Cleaning and lubing the pistons however, gave them a ‘bite’ that they had long since lost.

The only way it’ll make a difference is if the old hoses are like baloons. Which they won’t be. Just the same as motorbikes, people change the hoses and obviously have to change the fluid and rebleed, and often change pads too while they’re at it, then they find a performance difference and think “Wow, these hoses are awesome” 😆