Hello,

I recently bought an Orange Clockwork and I’m looking to upgrade the brakes. I’ve been looking at Hope and Avid’s mainly, could anyone recommend some. At the moment I’m on Shimano’s m395 and i cant get enough one finger stopping power from the front. Is a 180 disc up front a good idea too?

Thanks

180 disc definately makes a difference, try organic pads, bu they do wear quicker in the wet

avids arent worth the hassle ime

The new Shimanos are fantastic. Even the new Deores have stacks of one-finger stopping power. Got a set on my Singlespeed, and can’t fault them for what they cost.

I’ve heard really good thing about Hope brakes, supposedly the same stopping power but more modulation. Never used a set though.

As for Avids. I’d avoid them , had nothing but issues with them. They’re a pain in the arse to bleed, and have minimal clearance. Don’t think I’ve ever had a set which didn’t have a disk rubbing somewhere.

If it was me I’d work out my budget, and then select Deore/SLX/XT accordingly. Having owned a set of XTs and owning a set of Deores, there is very little difference between them. I’d buy another set of either without batting an eyelid.

Hope, nice but expensive.
New Shimano, excellent.
Avid, shite.

APF

Shimano brakes act like a bad set needing a bleed once the pads wear out. The plus side is, being Shimano, you can buy replacements almost anywhere and they’re back to mint again in seconds.

Definitely upgrade the front rotor to 180.

Cheers guys. Tempted to go for the Hope Tech X2 Evo Disc Brake found some for £120.

have you bled them?

Possible contamination?

Give the disc + pads a good hard scrub with hot water and swarfega*

*some may strongly advise against this, but it’s worked for me for year…

No i haven’t bled them, ill give it a try. I was reading some reviews about the m395’s and people were saying some V brakes were more powerful! I bought the bike knowing i’d upgrade a few things. Just wondering which brakes people would recommend.