Hi
Regardless of the price difference which would you buy ?
I like brakes with a nice progressive feel …but also need plenty of power
Didn’t like the shimano brakes I’ve tried
Has anybody had either and swapped to the other for any reason ?
Please share your experiences with either whether good or bad
Also I’m a fit and forget type of person
Thanks in advance

Hope. No brainer. Look better, and spares more easily available. Piece of piss to bleed. Progressive as they come.

Guides ‘no brainer’ apart from looking sleeker I proffer the lighter lever feel and modulation, it’s what I run. My mate runs Hopes and they also seemed less powerful but that may be due to discs and pads.

Had both, loved both. Hope is prettier, British and rebuildable. I wouldn’t buy Guides as an upgrade but I wouldn’t feel compelled to remove them from a bike.

Oops, sorry, I’m on V4s.

I’d have a job making my mind up.

I love Guide RS’s and see no reason why RSC’s should be less good.

I find Hope’s industrial design ‘challenging’ and while I give them a pass for some things that actually work well, I find most of it bar the hubs and seat collars gopping.

I do have a set of Tech 3 E4’s specced on a fantasy bike I may be building later this year though. Go figure…

Always hope!

I went from Shimano to Hope E4 to Guide Ultimates, I’m fairly quick succession.

The guides have been on since & I don’t plan on changing them.

The Hope’s were better than the XTR’s but still not as good as the Guides. Never thought I would say that about an Avid brake after the Juicy & Elixirs.

I’ve never used either(!) but I’d buy Hope if price was no object.

Hopes, for the bling if nothing else. Everything else looks a bit boring. But in any case they’re plenty powerful enough for anyone. They don’t have a problem bringing my not inconsiderable mass plus the not inconsiderable mass of my bike to a halt pretty quick smart when I need to, and delicate enough on their modulation to negotiate a slippery rocky surface on the brakes with confidence. They really are a great bit of kit.

I prefer the modulation & feel of the RSCs, which to me is what it’s all about.

I’m using the Hope V4, having had Guide RS previously (and Zee before that). I liked the Guides, better feel than Shimano and enough power. Lever blade shape not as nice as Shimano but not bad. Where the Guides let themselves down was reliability, they needed bleeding every couple of months and I didn’t find it a quick or easy job to do well. Hopes have more power and the best modulation I’ve experienced. They’re also easy (if a little messy) to bleed but hardly ever seem to need it. Only downside for me is I find the lever blade a bit big and industrial feeling. Still my favourite brake though. Oh, and for the sake of 20grams or whatever it is, i’d advise anyone to go for the V4 over E4.

Just moved from M4 and M2 across to Guide RS and RSC including SRAM discs. Feel, power and adjustability are good. Bleeding and hose shortening with the Bleeding Edge tool and Bleed-a-majig stuff is simple and stress free.

Went for the e4s as they were a better price than the sram at the time. Only niggle is the width of the caliper has it right up against the frame so not much room for adjustment. Power and feel are great as you would expect, bedded them in with laps off the lifts in utah and whistler

I’d go Guides. Both pairs of my RSC’s have been faultless for two years needing nothing other than pads.

Power is good (one pair are on my Demo), modulation is great and I like the integration with my Reverb / SRAM shifters. Mine are pre bleeding edge and are a piece of piss to bleed.

Personally I’m not a fan of how Hope brakes look; the levers are big and clumpy and somewhat industrial looking.

But machining screams sophistication 🙄

Guides for me,mine have been fit and forget for years.
I didn’t have the same experience with my Hopes.

I didn’t have the same experience with my Hopes.

You can say the same for any bit of kit. People have different experiences with their kit, doesn’t mean your experiences are the same as everyone else. I had great experience with SRAM Elixers in the past, but know many people didn’t have the same experience as me. Hopes reign supreme amongst my riding mates because they’ve tried all the alternatives and had issues, but Hopes run on and on and on no matter what the British weather and maintenance neglect throws at them, and when they do need attention they are quick and easy to fix. I like the heavier and more linear action of the Hopes which makes modulation easier – I don’t like the lighter weight action of the alternatives – Shimano are just pant for me, I just can’t get on with them at all. Aesthetics are down to the individual, but the reality all brakes are good enough, it just boils down to personal preferences.

I guess if you really can’t decide between Guides and Hope and can’t get a decent test ride to compare them, then just get the cheapest. They’ll be perfectly fine.

Never used RSC’s but recently swapped guide r for Hope E4’s. The guides weren’t bad but prefer the E4’s, not much difference in power but Hopes feel more controlled and consistant and are apparently easier to bleed

Never used RSC’s but recently swapped guide r for Hope E4’s. The guides weren’t bad but prefer the E4’s

Sadly, the Guide R is a budget brake, and is vastly inferior to the RS/RSC/Ultimate spec brakes. The R’s really let the team down!

Anything RS and above however… I’ve ridden pretty much all the top offerings on the market, and I choose to run Guides. Happy enough with RS’ but recently a friend was selling some Ultimates cheaply (Shimano brake fan that can’t update his prejudices!) so now running those on my full sus and they’re lovely!

The Hope’s were better than the XTR’s but still not as good as the Guides. Never thought I would say that about an Avid brake after the Juicy & Elixirs.

Basically this… I took some convincing to try the Guides in the first place after how woeful Elixir’s were, but I’d started desiring more modulation than XT’s could offer. Bought a Whyte T-129 as a stop gap whilst I was waiting for my Evil Following to arrive, it came with Guide RS’s on, they completely surprised me just how good they were! Been Guides pretty much all the way since…

Don’t get me wrong, its not all been plain sailing, have had to warranty a couple of brakes (seems the pistons in the early levers swelled a lot making them nigh on useless), and the early calipers were a PITA to get a good solid bleed on (G4 caliper and Bleeding Edge Tool has fixed that for sure, though it does require the purchase of a new tool just to bleed them which can also be seen as a detractor maybe). Love the way they integrate with a Reverb and my SRAM shifter though, and IMO the lever shape is spot on too.

Still got M785 XT’s on my HT, primarily cos I paid almost nothing for them and with smaller rotors on that and the type of riding I do on it, I’m not so bothered about modulation as I am on my full sus. But tempted to swap out for more Guides or even Level brakes on that too.

As for Hopes…? Yeah they’re fine, lots more modulation than Shimano, more even than the SRAM Guide’s probably, but I find the E4’s very slightly lacking in power for their size, and there’s no getting away from the cost of them. Also not particularly a fan of the machined looks, or the lever shape. I’d happily run them if someone else is paying, but if I’m buying my own brakes then I’ll just get whatever Guides I can at a good price.

Just gone to E4’s from Guides rs, prefer the Hope feel, bleeding is piece of piss and far more reliable for me. I have guide r ‘s too which have been a pain. Horses for courses really.