I like the idea of buying some Hope brakes. Currently got some really old Juicy 5’s. Anybody used them? I did a search on here and someone said they were basically a hope Mini with a different lever.

The consensus seems to be that the brakes are good but there are many people reporting that the Tech levers interfere with their shifters. In fact form the threads below it doesn’t seem that any existing shifter options, baring gripshift, that work really well. If you want the brake I would probably hold out for the Hope “matchmakers” which will work with the latest Shimano XT and SRAM shifters…

The Tech X2 brake is reviewed in the latest copy of Singletrack (Issue 47), which mentions shifter compatibility issues.

There are two threads about the brake here:
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/2009-hope-brakes
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/hope-tech-lever-anyone-mounted-these-and-like-the-position-they-ended-up-with

The “matchmakers” are mentioned in this Core Bike Show report:
http://www.singletrackworld.com/2009/02/core-bike-news/

There are 2 types of X2, the Tech version and the Mini version. The mini version is the normal mini lever and a slightly streamlined caliper with a bigger piston for a bit more power. The tech version has the new caliper and thas POS lever that hope cocked up the design on, so it wont sit neatly against ANY current shifters, unless you bodge them or buy hope matchmakers (only for XT i think tho?). Its supposed to be a good lever tho, but only if your on a singlespeed :0)

I’m thinking of buying some tech x2 brakes for my singlespeed, so not worried about shifter compatibility. Good choice?

More info from Hope here:
http://www.hopegb.com/page_mep_force_60.html

Frankly I think that they’re talking rubbish when they say that these two pictures (from the above link) amount to the same thing. Whilst I would agree that the relation of the shifters to the grip has not changed I would say that the position, and angle, of the brake lever has changed markedly…

fantastic brakes – just buy them! had them for almost 2 months and VERY happy