Viewing 29 posts - 1 through 29 (of 29 total)
  • Hope tech m4's – user opinions required
  • stevede
    Free Member

    Hi there,
    am in the process of getting a new five as my new all rounder, having tested a pro a few weeks back in the wet i was left very unimpressed with the tech x2's that come as standard on the pro so i'm looking to upgrade to the tech m4's.
    What i need to know is if they have plenty more power/bite than the x2's which i found noisy and very underpowered. Anyone running them or had them in the past? I'd love some opinions please.
    Oh and looking at 183mm front and rear.
    Cheers,
    Steve

    MSP
    Full Member

    When I first bought a pair of hope brakes I thought they where crap, after lots of trial and error, I have found the brakes are great but the rotors are about the worst on the market, low drag coeficient and no bite point.
    I now run hope brakes on 2 bikes with formula rotors and wouldn't want anything else.

    monotokpoint
    Free Member

    I have 203mm front and back on my Cube. Very happy with them – they provide plenty of power, modulation and feedback. They dont seem to fade v often either. I've had Juicy Carbons and Avid Codes recently, but the M4's are by far the best brakes I have had for some time! Also well made, look lush and easy to maintain

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    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    If the brakes sqeeled a lot and didn't work well my guess is the pads were polished or glazed. No reason they should be like this unless the pads are in poor cndition

    backhander
    Free Member

    I think mine are great and I've tried Avid and Formula. Formulas were OK, avid were very poor (IMO). The hopes are easy to repair, easy to bleed (no syringes etc) and powerful with plenty of modulation. Lovely feel. Run them inboard of your shifters (remove windows), and there's one finger braking with good leverage.
    The only other brakes I'd entertain would be Saint M810s, A lot of folks speak highly of Shimano brakes.

    Driller
    Free Member

    It's easily worth upgrading to the M4s for the £40 Orange ask. You should get plenty of stopping power with the X2s but the M4s are great, lots of power and great modulation, especially good if you're likely to take your bike to the alps or similar.

    180 rotors should be fine.

    Whichever you get, just remember to bed the pads in properly and you should get great performance and long lasting pads. It's likely that the brakes on the test bike you rode weren't bedded in properly, and have probably been cleaned with everything from car shampoo to washing up liquid if it was a demo bike, it sounds like it if they were noisy.

    foxyrider
    Free Member

    +1 Mine are spot on 🙂

    postierich
    Free Member

    M4 tech 180 up front braided floating rotor
    X2 tech 160 rear braided floating rotor

    Great brakes and combination for my hardtail bit of a pussy on the downs so lots of use no issues so far

    Changed from XTR,s and glad I did as these seem a lot more solid but that could be my crap bleeding!

    Rich

    JonEdwards
    Free Member

    I've got a Tech M4/X2 mix on my Soda. The M4 worked pretty well from the off, but the X2 took a fair while to bed in and come up to full power.

    They're not as sharp/grabby as Avids or Formula, but they do modulate a lot better – certainly I can do much better stoppies with the M4 than I could with the others. Ultimate power seems OK – just pull the lever harder!

    I've not had any heat related issues – straight out the box they did 2 weeks guiding in the Pyrenees, and I ended up doing a lot of brake dragging down some pretty big descents whilst mopping up at the back of the group.

    Hope have done some good videos on setup – they're on the 18bikes youtube channel, bleeding, caliper alignment etc. Well worth watching.

    Downsides? Not all that light, and don't interface with SRAM shifters that well (bearable though). The matchmaker thingies are worth having.

    Driller
    Free Member

    Here's the problem though with asking people for opinions on stuff, like brakes…

    Late last summer I was fettling my bike in the car park at Dalby. A guy pulls up in a car next to me, pulls his (fairly decent) bike out of the back and starts to fit his wheels. He turns to me and says 'have you got a spanner I can borrow' I say sure and point to my toolbox. I glance down to see what he's doing, just in time to stop him from undoing one of the bleed nipples on his front caliper. When I ask him what he's doing, he tells me he's just 'letting some pressure out' so he can get his wheel in, because the brake levers must have got pulled while the bike was in the car.

    And I bet he goes around telling people that the brakes on his bike are crap.

    stevede
    Free Member

    Cheers for all the responses, i did put the noise down to possibly some idiot covering them in gt85 or similar but had read a few reviews of the x2's which said they lacked the power anyway. Modulation was really good, nice feel to the lever just didn't fancy putting 203mm rotors on a set of x2's to achieve decent power when the m4's are just £40 extra.
    I'm also thinking of getting the matchmaker clamps to go with xt shifters so i can get the right lever position without any faff or compromise, looks quite neat and tidy too.
    Will def bed my own brakes/pads in properly too – always worth the extra small effort to get the best out of them.

    foxyrider
    Free Member

    And I bet he goes around telling people that the brakes on his bike are crap.

    Oi that was me 😉 Not really – LOL – but you have a point – many criticims often come form a lack of technical knowledge or just a dislike of the brand or item for no aparent reason?

    DickBarton
    Full Member

    I've recently got a set of M4's with braided hoses and a 183mm front and 163mm rear. they replaced a set of Hayes Stroker Carbons.

    Seriously more powerful – too easy to endo the bike – I've not been able to do that since I went to Hayes in 2005. 1 finger braking and loads of stopping power – lever feels nice in use.

    I'd go for a size down in the rear rotor as most of the braking force goes to the front wheel, the rear will be very easy to lock up with the bigger rotor, you will end up with imbalanced brakes i.e. much easier to lock up the rear than the front.

    I was thinking 203mm on front and 183mm on rear but after a few chats with some shop guys who use them far more than me, they reckoned the 203mm was a great brake but if you didn't hammer it hard i.e. DH runs then the brake actually lost power; a similar setup with a smaller disc (183) apparently lasted better – in terms of braking power (no idea how but the riders reckoned it was because the larger disc generated more heat (as braking was left later) and was used less often that the pads then glazed) – I didn't really buy this and as my discs were ordered specifically from Hope it wasn't something to get the stock they had shifted.

    I'm really liking the brakes…much more powerful than the Hayes, they look good – look very agricultural and heavy but don't feel heavy. The bite point and lever adjust seem to be linked together – wind the lever position all the way out, adjust the bite point then adjust the lever position…seems to have a lot of adjustment.

    I'm pleased with them and glad I went for them. No squealing of brakes yet and seem to work well in the wet (although I've not totally soaked them yet so not sure how well they work over sustained wet riding).

    stevede
    Free Member

    Lol! Thats not how you get the pistons back in then? !!!
    I know that some people are very loyal to certain brands despite them being utter crap (have a mate who's very defensive of his kona stab) and also there are people who don't have a clue but i think there are enough knowledgeable people on here to get myself an informed opinion 😕 Most of the time you can tell by a post if someone is clued up or not.

    Driller
    Free Member

    I imagine Fabien Barel would be quite defensive about his Kona Stab too!

    anotherdeadhero
    Free Member

    I used to be very loyal to hope, I still kinda am were their hubs are concerned, but I've given up with their brakes. They've not made a decent brake since the original mini/m4's, they were underpowered compared to the competition even back then, but at least they were simple and cheap, and I wouldn't take those to the alps either.

    I know that'll upset the hope anodising tart fetishists that have spanked a load of cash on Hope brakes, but thats my opinion based, you can take it or leave it.

    stevede
    Free Member

    I'm sure he would but i don't think kona offer custom tubed and custom geometry stab's to the general public. Didn't mean to offend anyone with my kona stab reference its just what came to mind! Apologies to any stw proud kona owners.

    monotokpoint
    Free Member

    Some pics coz I like them:

    Single clamp for brakes and Sram triggers:

    * Other pics *

    JonEdwards
    Free Member

    but I've given up with their brakes. They've not made a decent brake since the original mini/m4's,

    Been there too – I got fed up of Hope lack of power years ago, and switched to Avid and Formula, but actually the new Tech series seem to work pretty well.

    Oh, and I imagine Monsieur Barel gives not a sh!t about Konas, as he's been on Mondraker for the last 2 years…

    mojo5pro
    Free Member

    If what was wet when you demo'd then the pads wouldn't have done the brakes justice. I have tech M4's and the stock resin pads they come with are poor in the wet. The sintered pads give a big improvement in wet conditions.

    MSP
    Full Member

    Been there too – I got fed up of Hope lack of power years ago

    Trust me the problem is the rotors not the brakes.

    JonEdwards
    Free Member

    Different style of rotor back then…

    ScottChegg
    Free Member

    I have Tech M4's, but use Shimano floating rotors because of clearance issues on Chris King/Fox/Hope. I also use Goodrich sintered pads for extra bite. I find them great brakes.

    Hayes Strokers are more powerful, if you go for the same size rotors.

    grumm
    Free Member

    I've got Hope brakes – I can't see how they aren't powerful enough – I weigh nearly 17 stone and they stop me just fine. I ride reasonably aggressively in the Lakes etc

    That's with sawtooth floating rotors too.

    dasnut
    Free Member

    the new v2s are not much heavier than m4s and much more powerful

    kenneththecurtain
    Free Member

    I'm sure he would but i don't think kona offer custom tubed and custom geometry stab's to the general public.

    [ot]Yea, I bet all the pros running other brands run completely stock geo 🙂
    [/ot]

    stevede
    Free Member

    LOL, yes its just fabien barel that run custom geo, all other pros run completely stock bikes 😆
    I was actually referring more to the fact that he used totally different tubing made in a different factory from the standard ones. No idea if other manufacturers do this or not, either way i couldn't give a monkeys. I've already apologised to kona lovers everwhere.
    Cough, back to topic, cheers all for responses, prob didn't give the x2's a fair crack of the whip but for £40 i'm going to upgrade to m4's anyway and when the pads are gone i'll go for some goodridge pads, prob sintered.

    duir
    Free Member

    Have heard a lot of people claiming X2s are underpowered. I think you need to be very meticulous in setting them up properly, particularly the 2 stage bleed (vertical lever and pump a few times to release air) and the caliper/pad alignment needs to be absolutely central. Then its worth using the BPC and reach adjuster correctly. I use te BPC fully in and then adjust the lever so there is hardly any pull before the bite. 6 months hard Scottish winter use with no need to re-bleed, original pads and tonnes of power.

    I also tried a demo 5 out with X2s that felt rubbish but that was due to very poorly setup brakes. Badly centered pads/calipers, lever set so far out that you ended up with severe arm pump….no wonder they felt rubbish.

    Maybe worth taking some time to really set them up well before you shell out for M4s?

    My M4's are awesome in comparison to the Juicy's they replaced.

    203 front, 183 rear, floating rotors and braided hoses on an Enduro – they look lush too.

Viewing 29 posts - 1 through 29 (of 29 total)

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