Narrowed my choice down to between Tech X2 Evo’s or XT 785’s from Rose… have followed opinions of each brake independently and both seem to have pro’s and con’s, but would like some feedback from folks who have tried them both…

Also saw the reviews of the Hopes in the mag with the Race lever, but budget would be pushed already with the Hopes so would rather not go there – so I’m look at standard Tech X2 Evos with the standard hose.

Help me decide! I like the concept of the modulation of hope brakes, but do want out right power to be available – my braking tends to be late and hard rather than feathered. They’re going to be used on the XC race bike, which is a Scandal hardtail, but I probably ride technical and rough downhills at above average speeds.

Head says Shimano (and sometimes hope based on serviceability), heart says hope, wallet says shimano…..

*pulls up chair*
Interested in this too. Hope look nicerer, but Shimano just work and work and work. Also mineral oil is much nicer to paint on bikes! Hopes are DOT, are they not?

Hopes are DOT, yes. Not too bothered by what fluid is used. Magura and Shimano have proved to me that mineral oil is OK for bike use.

Shimano for outright power. The Hopes look/ feel lovely, but simply don’t have anything like enough power for use on remotely interesting terrain. XTs are ugly and possibly a bit tricky to bleed (that might just be me) But they will actually slow you down. And then some.

Fortunateson09 – have you experience with the x2 EVO specifically?

Head says Shimano (and sometimes hope based on serviceability), heart says hope, wallet says shimano…..

But what do your loins say?

I’d go for the Shimanos. I’ve used some, they’re plenty powerful and modulate nicely. I’ve not used the X2s, but I have tried V2s and M4s and found them lacking in power compared to my Formulas. Take from that what you will.

I have the Hope on my Scandal 29er and the XT on my full sus.

The Hope brakes do have a lovely feel to them, great modultation, but do not have the stopping power of the Shimano. I also had to remove the indicator windowns from shimano shifters to accomadate the Hope brakes. They have more than enough power most of the time, just not as powerful as the XT’s.

The XT brakes are now easy to bleed i find with the new way of doing them. They are really powerful to the point that i have gone from a 203mm back to a 180mm disc at the front.

The brake levers on the XT are very short and you have to be happy one finger braking with them, the brakes themselves are a good price, but you need to factor in the “finned” pads and ice-tech rotors seperately (although i’m using normal pads at present).

Speaking from experience…..I have the hopes on my TRc and had the XT’s on my Giant HT – loved both set of bikes hope took a while to set up, XT’s needed one short ride to bed in and were ready to go. Both are excellent brake packages, I would say Hope just narrowly loses out to the XT on stopping power but the Hopes have better feel and modulation; and of course the Hopes are beautiful compared to the XT…..from what you are writing IMO you should get the XT’s!

but you need to factor in the “finned” pads and ice-tech rotors seperately

I got my XT brakes from Rose, which are great and are what I’d go for, but the rotors were actually cheaper from UK shops.

I’ve got rotors & mounts anyway, so they aren’t an issue. The XTs from Rose seem to come with pads anyway – just non-finned. I’m not bothered about the finned bit…

I’ve got XT’s & from a practical point of view they do absolutely everything perfectly. Sooo powerful & I haven’t got a problem with the modulation either.

The only reason for getting Hope from what I can see is that they look pretty. Not that big a deal for me I’m afraid.

The Hopes look/ feel lovely, but simply don’t have anything like enough power for use on remotely interesting terrain

I have to disagree. They are not designed as an AM brake, but they are more than enough for “aggressive XC”. Had the non Evo X2’s for a year and they fine for most stuff but a bit (not totally) underpowered for the biggest Scottish descents off Munros.

IMO the problem is that many bike shops/people don’t bleed them properly because of the extra bit you have to do at the end as per the Hope vid

Got the xt on 1 bike and just ordered slx for my other bike the xt are fantastic got normal pads on with hope rotors compared to avid the a revelation !

Looks like it’s going to be XT 🙂

Went with XT. just gotta wait for the stock now 🙂

The more time I spend on a bike the more appreciation I have for stuff that “just works” over what looks nice. If you get looks nice+whatworks in the same package then even better.

I use a second hand set of xtr´s, my next brakes will be XT. (Had avids and tried a bike with Hope)

Got x2 on my xtc 29er and the xt on my Tallboy.The xt’s are better so far,just have to wait and see on their reliability.My xt’s came from Rose with the finned pads,but i’m using them with Hope floating rotors.Don’t know if they’d be even more powerful with the Ice Tech ones.The Hopes have been fine but just lack real bite.Every time i swap bikes its very noticable.

Waht about second hand Hopes, i’ve got some Mini’s they are about 5 years old now and i love them, think i have only been through about 3 sets of pads, and i brake hard and late and weigh [around/s] 16 stone

was at Cwm Carn on saturday with no problems stopping, whereas my mate who is a lot lighter was on Avid Ultimates and was having problems stopping.

but them my brakes before the Hopes were Hayes So1e and after those, dragging my feet along the ground would have better stopping power!!

Had some X2’s for a while, they were nice but the Tech lever is a bit OTT.
The next new brakes I buy will be Shimano.

I have XTs on one bike and Tech M4s on another. Hadn’t ridden the M4 equipped bike for 3 months and the first thing I noticed yesterday was how little power the Hopes had relative to the XTs. Plenty of feel and arguably enough power for the UK, plus they look bling, but I have some XTs to replace the M4s and will put it on my list of things to do before taking that bike out again!

I have non Evo X2’s on my Five and I am really pleased with them.

I have used some XT’s. I would say they are more powerful overall but the X2’s have way better modulation and are more than powerful enough. I weigh 13 stone and can stoppie no problem.

Ultimate power is not what its all about though (and I don’t see why people think it is 😕 ) there is only so much braking you can do before you lock up.

has anyone tried the new x2 evos and the regular x2s for comparison?

Love my XT’s however they aren’t pretty, they work well though and have loads of modulation.

I changed from Hope Race X2s to the 2012 M785 XTs and it’s one of the best things I’ve changed on my bike.
Wasn’t sure on the looks of the XTs initially but they’ve grown on me and the feel and power are fantastic.
The Hopes were beautiful and the engineering is 2nd to none but they left me with little confidence that I’d stop in time and the amount of force I’d have to apply through the lever was excessive.
The Hopes are great for personalising as I did with red levers, floating rotors, bore caps and matchmakers but stopping and confidence is what brakes is all about.

XTs from Rose Bikes for about £130 compared to about £350 for the Hopes!

My new 2012 XT’s were fabulous…I stress WERE as the front calliper has blown a piston seal at 4 months old (less than 1 trail ride a week average) and it’s been in the shop coming up to two weeks waiting for parts……seems I’m not alone and there are possible manufacturing issues resulting in banjo and piston leaks….. 👿

see discussion at…… http://forums.mtbr.com/brake-time/love-new-2012-xt-brakes-734689-3.html

Hope a seal replace sorts them as they are superb when working…..but reliability is now in doubt for me at least.

I got the new XTs from Rose and although the front’s been schweeeeet. The rear’s been a PITA. Bled it four times and finally with the shimano method but time will tell if it’s done the job. Very, very easy to blow the piston seal. Howeve, I may just be unlucky and they are very powerful with great lever shape and feel.

One thing I have noticed with my Hope M4’s is that the calliper needs to be aligned properly as per the hope video. If not, the breaking power is greatly reduced and they squeal when wet.

Things i’ve learnt with my hopes:
1) You can’t just do the pull the brake on and do the bolts up (as rudedog notes) – you also need to centre the pads.
2) If you use the ‘Little Bleeder’ kit you get a vastly better bleed (with the downside of shooting 20psi dot fluid around the place) than if you do it by hand.

My hopes are currently very powerful indeed thanks to the above – I run them primarily because you can get spares. I don’t know what I do to brakes but I have a gift for destroying them (Saints, hayes strokers X 2, avid juicy 3s, avid elixrs X 2 (!))…

Ok have heard back from the LBS. The bad news…..no 2012 XT piston seal parts available in the UK. The good news…..warranty swap out of whole front calliper + new pads! Result, but doesn’t bode well for the Shimano option….looks like this is an acknowledged problem.