Will ring Hope tomorrow and ask them but has anybody already asked the question will the Hope V-Twin be okay on a disc braked road bike. They don’t say cyclocross ONLY on the web site, but also don’t mention road bikes either.

Im taking the Bikerumor article with a pinch of salt, but it makes you think about a failure coming down a big alpine pass or a steep UK road like Hardknott.

Road Bike Disc Brakes Are Coming, But Will They Work?

Esp. As Hope MTB disc brakes have never been that resistant to brake fade compared to some other manafactures.

I think I remember rightly that Chipps did the Fred Whitton this year on his new Ti monstercross with v-twin brakes??

I run hope e4 brakes from the original pro lever remote reservoirs and they work flawlessly.

Is that an open or closed system? Presumably that’s the old xc4 calipers?

You’ve never had fade on long descents? Do you mind me asking your rotor size?

E4 caliper with the pro style reservoir which is an open system. 165mm rotors front and rear.

I’d like to run 185mm on the front but It’s beyond the spec of the fork.

Hmm…Interesting

No reason at all why not – the key thing is that you have to use discs differently – drag them at low speed they will overheat, use them hard to slow for corners they will not. Braking for 3 miles as he did will overheat any brake and if you really have to drag the brakes then alternate them.

User error

Not all user error depends on road type, situation and the ability of the system to cope with heat. On a 1 in 3 descent you have to brake for a long period if you want to curb your speed esp on a road such as Hardknott where the road surface is terrible.

TRP Parabox is specifically for cyclocross they have now made a specific road version that copes with heat a lot better.

Hope – I don’t know what they think?

On a 1 in 3 descent you have to brake for a long period if you want to curb your speed esp on a road such as Hardknott where the road surface is terrible.

The super light discs he had fitted would have been a big factor as well.
If you have to brake continuously then you have to alternate but preferably you let it run and let speed build braking down to speed required for any corner.

YOu can overheat rim brakes as well and people do

Interestingly, one of the disc brake manufacturers is trying to persuade bike companies to run 140mm rotors on ‘cross bikes, but 160mm on road bikes for just that heat reason.

Having tried both the Hope and the Parabox systems, I reckon the big question with both is ‘What are you trying to achieve by having hydraulic discs?’ They both work fine, but no better than my Avid BB7 mechanicals.

They appear to be a stop-gap until SRAM and Shimano come out with hydro road brakes. In the mean time, I reckon I’m going to go back to mechanicals with some Gore RideOn Cables.

I know how to ride a road bike and I know how to ride steep road descents. Don’t really want to dwell on the article as stated in my original post. I’m just wondering if anybody has any experience of a hope v-twin or have asked hope a similar question.

I also know Hope in the past used to be well known for having brakes that don’t handle heat very well, hence why the introduced phenolic pistons.

Mine are using standard alloy pistons and work fine.

Thanks Chipps – your insight is very welcome.

I’m think bb7s work well and are powerful, but due to fixed piston unless you get the qr exactly right everytime they can rub (esp if you run then firm with minimum lever pull) as they don’t auto align like open hydraulic systems, also they don’t auto adjust for brake wear and are not as ‘fit and forget’ as hydro brakes (some may argue this point but this is my view)

I also know hydro road shifters are on the way (SRAM red this year?) but as I run a road bike for all situations that just happens to have discs – so touring, centuries, fast rides etc. I run a triple and close’ish ratio cassette on the rear so you don’t get big jumps in gear ratios, SRAM is double specific and I doubt shimano will ever release a triple/hydro shifter as it’s very likely to be di2/hydro only.

Hence the interest in something like the hope v-twin or the yet to be released U.S.E system.

I very much doubt you would have issues using standard hope discs. Its all proven kit and as you say phenolic pistons.

I do fear tho that with discs designed for road bikes that the temptation will be to go too small and light and tuck everything out of the way so reducing air cooling.

I have overheated brakes a couple of times on the tandem and when you get the right combination of factors for it to happen it can happen in a couple of hundred yards Dragging the brakes at low speed is worse than at high speed for generating and retaining heat.

One tandem rider asked hope about the v twin brake for tandems and was told no – calipers and discs too light / small

V-Twin is equivalent to a “Race” lever, so not compatible with V2 calipers. You can order V-Twin with M4 calipers and 203mm discs if you want it on your tandem. They’ll sell it with whatever length hose you desire and it doesn’t cost substantially more, just adds some lead time.