Had Hope M4s but want to try somthing different & fancy Formula R1s but have heard all the storys – hard to bleed early corrosion ect.Is this all in the past or should I stick with Hopes?

It’s a personal thing. I love my hope brakes. Recently went from e4 to v2.

Haven’t tried Formulas but the new Race Evo M4 are really really really good. So much feel it’s like having ABS!

Stick with the Hopes, especially if you haven’t had the Evo’s. Work brilliantly, dead easy to bleed, parts available, extra bling available, fantastic service if you need it. What’s not to like? Interesting that Avid and Shimano are both coming out with 4 pot brakes, so Hope M4 ahead of the game.

Question of taste, this, they do deliver their power fairly differently. (btw wouldn’t The Ones be a better comparison to M4s?)

You can get excellent brakes for a fair bit less, too- tbh I wouldn’t pay RRP for either of these two

I’ve had tech v2’s and r1’s. Hopes are long gone as didn’t like the feel of them. Def a personal preference though.

My r1’s are great for me and the 2nd best brake I’ve used. Top spot goes to XTR trail brakes they were amazing but r1’s doing a great job so can’t justify changing.

I had M4s and they were crap. Easy to bleed but it didn’t make them work any better. Been using R1s for a year or so now and they’re ace. Bleeding is a bit of a faff but I’ve only needed to do it once, after I broke the rear hose off.

Yeh guys thanks its deffo a personal thing, to a certain extent I agree Mr_mills i have Evo M4s approx 18 months old now and they are good but have slowly become a little wooden now a freind has the latest M4s and they feel soooo much better than mine. Maybe thats a pad thing and the pukka hope pads are simply the best?
Mmmm jury is still out.

I have evo m4s on my orange with 203 rotors, they are mega, very progressive.

I have the r1x on my cube race bike, they are silly sharp compared to the hopes.

I prefer the all round feel of the hopes.

xt

I’ve got XTs on another bike and they are good too. Very “on / off” though – like a switch. No experience yet of bleeding them.

There’s Hopes and there’s Hopes. I’ve an old, old set of M4s (black, with gold tops like old fashioned milk), which aren’t the most tactile in the world, but they’ve seen next to no maintenance in eight years aside from me fitting some braided hoses a few years back, but they feel like they could stop a runaway elephant.

I bought some new Mini M4s (the 2008 year) and didn’t really rate them. Stopping power wasn’t great and I preferred the feel of the older brakes. I bought a set of Mono Tech Evos a few weeks back and have swapped the callipers to my silver M4s and the difference is incredible, the modulation and feel is a revelation for me. There’s been no change of pad or bleed or anything, I’ve simply unbolted the hose and swapped them over with no other modifications.

If the proper Evo M4s are as good as my hybrids then they’re a seriously good brake, with lots of spare parts available for not a lot of cash. One of the reasons I’ve been put off Formula stuff is the cost of replacement bits.

Hope all the way for me.

Have you seen the price of Formula rotors? 😮

Hope race evo m4s are ace.

Ahh now we are getting the Hope fans PJM1974 I also had a set on the old M4 mini’s gold cap and yes a good predictable brake and now the latest Evo’s feel like they have found that modulated response again. One of the guys mentioned XTR now I have been trying to avoid the Big ‘S’ for the past few years albeit for the gear train (they are the best at that IMO) but thinking I am shaveing of me nose – if you know what I mean.
Thanks for you replys its good to see whats about : 😀

Hope Tech Evo V2’s here.

Great brakes. Progressive, stupidly powerful, tech lever means the bite point is the same on both levers. In terms of feel, they are the first brake I’ve had in a long time where I can kind of lock the front wheel out without doing an endo. Not had anything like them since leaving Hope and going to Formula. Now I’m back using Hope. Never again will I attempt such madness (buying Italian).

“Interesting that Avid and Shimano are both coming out with 4 pot brakes, so Hope M4 ahead of the game.”

Shimano’s first XT brakes were four pot, if your in the uk I would go hope just for your easy access to spares and tech surport. Your also surporting local manufacturing.

Funny, because I had dh4, then e4. Now I’ve gone for v2 instead. Does that mean I’m going backwards?

Hope M4 of the original variation – running well on my HT at 8 years old. Only changed the fluid and the pads and given them a lot of abuse.

Got the non Evo M4 techs and loved them straight away. Still feel like new and never been touched except for pads.

Solid, repairable and serviceable at home. More than can be said for a lot out there

Agree parts for the hopes and servicing is a doddle. I have heard that is better on the brake-coming on feel maybe thats because you only have one piston on each side as opposed to two where one usualy leads the other – if you get what i mean. Thats what happers to mine anyway.

I’ve had a couple of sets of the Tech brakes over time. A set of the M4’s which somewhat annoyingly sh*t their guts out (twice). Hope kindly replaced them with a set of the V2’s, which were alright, but I sold them on.

I’ve had a set of the newer style Formula The Ones for a couple of years & other than change pads, they have been spot on. Easily as powerful as the V2’s (which were a set of from the M4’s) but a substantial amount less weight.

I and the people I have ridden with have seemingly suffered a far higher failure rate with Hope brakes over anything else we have used over the years so i’m no real fan of them, other bits, great – brakes, no.

mikewsmith – Member

Solid, repairable and serviceable at home. More than can be said for a lot out there

But not Formula.

CaptainMainwaring – Member

Interesting that Avid and Shimano are both coming out with 4 pot brakes, so Hope M4 ahead of the game.

Oh you absolute fanboy! One of the 3 you mention got there first but it wasn’t Hope…

I tried out a bike with a set of 2011 Deores a while back and they were very good indeed. The modulation was excellent, as was the stopping power.

The Deores of old felt very ordinary, these didn’t. Shimano have come a very long way. Avids? They feel okay, but maintenance is a pain IME.

I’ve got some the ones, had them just over a year cut the hose length down twice and still haven’t needed to bleed them, i run a 180 rotor front and a 160 rear plenty of power and infinite modulation with only one finger braking. And they dont grab or snatch like my old hope brakes (though to be fair they were OLD hope brakes so not comparing apples with apples)