So ive been underwhelmed with my E4 brakes since new (there about 6 months old, coming from x2) However last night ive noticed that the leaver sounds squishy. Like the fluid is aerated! I bled them and its no better. Any thoughts?

Oh they work fine and dont pump up or anything either.

Warranty

oh really?

If they haven’t worked as expected from new anx now are worse go back to where you got them from.

I have the E4 race and the power was good enough when new albeit not up to my old XT 785s. Not sure if it tailed off or I just got annoyed with it but always seemed to be fighting to get the bike slowed down enough into turns lately. Stuck a 203 rotor on the front last week and it’s awesome, the difference in power and control is night and day. So maybe try that.

Got the e4s on the big bike and your old x2s on the 29er

E4s are much much better – I’ve had a few occasions where the x2 just would not bite (tho I’m putting that down to set up and maybe pad / rotor problems first)

Probably down to setup. Have you watched the video on Youtube? Deals with aligning and centralizing the calipers. It takes 5 minutes to do and make a world of difference if the original setup was out.

If the brake is properly bled either your caliper is misaligned or not centralized.

D.

As above if not aligned properly they feel like ordinary brakes with little modulation.

Mine have changed feel after bleeding/shortening but they self-correct after a few rides. The old elastic band on the lever trick works as well

yup ive done the elastic band on the lever, bled and aligned (spent a lot of time with this using feeler gauges)

this is the responce from hope

Water can also sit in the space between the piston and the caliper body, again doing no harm but can make a noise. As long as the brake is working well I would not worry over the noise.

Ive had bith the old m4 and the new e4 all been spot on both wet and dry. Have you try lube the piston there video on hope website. If the not to old contact hope there normal v good customer service and you can send them back to them. I like 1/2 mile from factory so i call in when ever them an issue there allway help

Andy,
I’ve got E4s on three bikes, all with the same Hope 203/180 rotor combination.
They don’t all feel identical.
Two are great but the third always seems a bit squishy on the rear, between rotor contact and full power.
Centred carefully and all pistons moving freely but it still feels like it needs a bleed. I’ve flushed it through with new fluid and still got the same squish in the lever.
To be honest, I’d probably not notice if it was my only one… but it’s noticeable when compared to the other two identical set-ups.
Next course of action will likely be a further bleed but with calliper off the bike to tease out any air from potential trap-spots.

Get them serviced by Hope,they will come back like new and well worth the price, if they decide to charge you!