• This topic has 20 replies, 19 voices, and was last updated 7 years ago by rents.
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  • Hope V-Twin…Should I?
  • aazlad
    Free Member

    The Avid BB5’s on my cyclocross/commuter are no longer stopping me. They’be been stripped, cleaned, new pads, degreadsed rotors, etc so its time for new brakes. They’ve never been great to be fair.

    I’d like to go hydraulic but my current setup is 10 speed and I don’t want to buy new wheels that can accommodate a 11 speed cassette.

    Unless anyone has any better ideas I think the options are TRP Hy/Rd or Hope V-Twin. I’m swinging towards V-Twin because of the shorter run of cable and I like Hope MTB brakes.

    Any other ideas or suggestions welcome.

    longmover
    Free Member

    Don’t 11 speed cassettes just fit on the same freehub as 10 speed ones?

    nixie
    Full Member

    MTB ones do yes, road ones don’t.

    Wookster
    Full Member

    [list]I be got V twins…. Haven’t looked back great set up as it allows me to use my Campag levers.

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    V-Twin here as well on my CX bike – specifically because I wanted to use a 10sp set-up (MTB cassette) and I wanted bar-top levers because the bike is set up for the Three Peaks.

    The only option is a V-Twin where the cable comes out of the 10sp Ultegra STIs, through the bar top levers and into the V-Twin unit, it’s then full hydro to the caliper.

    The cables require VERY careful set up, there’s a lot of resistance in there due to the bar-top levers and the tight cable turn but it does work, it just doesn’t feel quite as smooth as it would do under normal use.

    No issues with the V-Twin or the calipers in 2 years of normal use. Not even had to bleed it yet.

    senorj
    Full Member

    I have the vtwin on my cx . They work really well . I’ve changed the “shorter run of “cables& outers only twice in four years . That’s it.

    moe_szyslak
    Free Member

    MTB ones do yes, road ones don’t.

    That isn’t true, many many road hubs will take 11 speed. What hubs do you have?

    igm
    Full Member

    My V-Twins are over four years old. Never needed maintenance on a commuting bike that does say an average 50 miles a week summer and winter.

    zilog6128
    Full Member

    My V-Twins are over four years old. Never needed maintenance on a commuting bike that does say an average 50 miles a week summer and winter.

    Exactly the same with mine. They’ve been extremely dependable.

    nixie
    Full Member

    That isn’t true, many many road hubs will take 11 speed. What hubs do you have?

    Do those hubs not require a spacer to fit 10spd though? Not the same as MTB where the 2 cassettes are the same width.

    STATO
    Free Member

    nixie – Member

    That isn’t true, many many road hubs will take 11 speed. What hubs do you have?

    Do those hubs not require a spacer to fit 10spd though? Not the same as MTB where the 2 cassettes are the same width.
    [/quote]

    Road 10sp needs a spacer on 9sp hub
    Road 10sp on 11sp hub needs a wider spacer

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Road 10sp needs a spacer on 9sp hub
    Road 10sp on 11sp hub needs a wider spacer

    +1, basically you can’t run 11s cassettes on a road 10s hub. Although strictly Moe is correct IF he’s talking about road 11s hubs (which will also take 10s), he’s just got the wrong end of the stick.

    Nipper99
    Free Member

    Id save up for new fully hydro (Tiagra is 10sp)and in the mean time get some better mechanical stoppers BB7s or TRP Spyres etc.

    aazlad
    Free Member

    Thanks all. The Tiagra hydro is 10speed but is flat mount only so no good for the vast majority of older bikes running 10 speed.

    The wheel are hand built and very nice so I won’t be ditching them for an 11 speed hub.

    Looks like Hope V-twin is the way to go.

    ianfitz
    Free Member

    I had a V-twin for a while and despite three different cable changes I was never happy with it. Obviously plenty of people are.

    There is another option for 10 speed though. The new tiagra level hydro come with direct mount calipers if you order them as a set. But shifters are available as lever only and you can pair them with some post mount calipers. This may well end up costing more though…

    For me thats what I’d do after my experience with the Vtwin

    wiggles
    Free Member

    I’m looking at v-twin as well.

    As mentioned above you can get the tiagra levers on their own but they are £150 each (plus a pair of callipers) and only work with 4700 mechs, so v-twin seems like the most reasonable option.

    cchris2lou
    Full Member

    Or take one of the sprockets out of a 11 speed cassette.

    flange
    Free Member

    I’ve had v-twins, shimano full hydros (albeit the first Di2 ones) and I’ve now got TRP hy/rd.

    Without doubt the shimano ones are leagues ahead of the rest. Lever feel, lack of maintenance required and ease of setting up wins it for me.

    I’ve found the hy/rd’s lack power and need constant adjustment to keep them functioning well. I’m doing around 150 miles a week commuting and most weekends its a twist of the barrel adjuster or tweaking the cables. Not the end of the world but I’ve had a few sketchy moments where they just haven’t stopped me at all, with the lever back to the bar. I’ve never had that with hydros or even normal road calipers.

    The V-twins need very careful setup (get some sharp cable cutters!) and there’s a fine line between working well and…well not working well. A big thing for me was that you struggle to mount a bar bag (if thats a concern) as the cables foul against it. On the plus side I did around 1500 miles on mine and they never once needed bleeding. They also didn’t require pads which I thought was quite impressive. Overall power was ok, not amazing but once they were set up they didn’t need any fettling.

    Unless you’re running Mavic wheels you’ll need a new freehub at least, if not a new wheel.

    jonk
    Free Member

    There is a company that makes an 11sp road cassette that fits a 10sp road hub. Can’t remember the name. V-Twins are good as long as you set the cables up right. i had some for a few years but then went to full hydro which are better .

    DiscJockey
    Free Member

    Yes, if you like Hope brakes and happy bleeding/maintaining them, and have spare hose/fittings/Dot 5.1 bleed kit it makes good sense to carry this over to your CX bike.

    Very happy with my V-Twins. I’m running them with 105 5700 levers.

    Compared to running X2 calipers with Tech/Race levers, V-Twins are not as sensitive, so you do need to pull the levers harder than dedicated road hydraulic brakes. Quite simply, the V-Twin cylinder/piston design isn’t as efficient as its MTB cousin. This is noticeable when operating the brakes while holding the hood, but once on the drops, you can lock out either wheel no problem, at which point you realise they’re as powerful as you’ll ever need on a cross bike. And as modulation is excellent (i.e. never ‘grabby’) you can always brake in confidence on the slippiest offcamber sections.

    The main benefits are that they’re MTB brakes through and through. This means they’re tough, you can run metallic sintered pads, no need for that pad cooling fin nonsense. Bleeding is exactly the same as MTB brakes – the master cylinders are actually just modified Minis.

    It’s also great that you can mix and match calipers. My previous CX bike had IS tabs, so I fitted old mono calipers (no adaptors needed) with my V-Twin master cylinder, and they worked perfectly. My new frame has PM mounts, so I’ve ‘retrieved’ the X2 calipers back from my MTB. If I wanted to, I could even run E4 calipers with the V-Twin on the CX bike, but that might be overkill.

    rents
    Free Member

    I have had v twins on my commuter/tourer for over two years now clocking over 14k miles on it. They have been very reliable. Like the other posts say, cable set up is very important. I change my cables every six months or do to keep it fresh. Also, last year I had to change the two little o rings behind the cable adjusters on the front of the unit. Using GT85 on the cables to keep them lubbed sprayed in at the sti end the oil had made its way down to the head unit and swelled the o rings making the resistance on the lever stiff. Once changed and lubbed with red Greece they were all good again. So in a nut shell, super reliable and plenty powerful enough for a road bike. Oh and I’m still on the original pads and reckon get will last another year.

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