Hope Mini brakes on my bike seem to take a few metres to stop me when travelling at speed. And it’s nigh on impossible to lock the back wheel up. I’ve never had hydraulic brakes before so can only compare them to my XTR cantis on my old bike, the hopes seem average in comparison. Any ideas what I can do to improve them?

Put the fork down….

Seriously, they sound a bit crap; discs should lock which ever wheel with a finger. Take ’em to the shop, try new pads, rough up the discs, etc.

They should lock the wheel easily with a single finger.

You need to set them up properly – videos on the hope site.

Pads may be contaminated / glazed or not properly bedded in – sand the surface of the pad and do a series of hard stops and do a series of hard stops

I was somewhat underwhelmed years ago when I went from Magura rim brakes to Formula B4 discs. The rim brakes were more powerful and more immediate. What era are the Hopes? New ones or older?

Since then though, I’ve gone through Hayes, Avid, Formula RX, SLX, XT, new SLX and they’ve all been way ahead of those early Formula brakes and much better than rim brakes.

What size discs are you running on the back? I struggled to lock the back wheel with a 140 disc and run 160 minimum (180 at the moment on the rear and 200 front)

Rears should lock with little effort. Sell them and get shimano.

Ha Ha I did wonder if my 16st was a bit too much for the little piston :-). They are quite old, not sure how old but the bike is 2nd/3rd hand. I quite fancy an upgrade but not sure what to get next and wasn’t sure it was wise to before checking with the ST Massive about my current brakes.

After running mono minis for about 5 years then going to the latest generation xtr’s I’ve just put the mini’s back on (xtr to new build).And they are so feeble its not even funny.Nothing to do with set up as I’ve just completely rebuilt them with all new internals and pads (bedded in).Initial bite is good but seeing as I can do rolling stoppies from about 20mph with one finger with the shimano the hopes are more than a little lacking!
Just buy some slx’s!!!

Apparently the Hopes will work fine but

TandemJeremy – Member
You need to set them up properly

As a Shimano user, I’m not sure what this means but it seems to entail them making a rubbing/howling sound as you are just cycling along.

rotrshackh it everything to do with setup – a set of hope minis working properly have plenty of power.

Maybe, but Id ride rather spend time riding than **** around rebuilding brakes every couple of weeks.

For the price of a rebuild kit from hope, plus what I sold the hopes for I got a set of XT’s that I haven’t had to touch since I fitted them.

It’s a good job I’ve been a professional bike mechanic for 10 years then is’nt it TJ? 🙄

Rorschach TJ has told me professional experience doesn’t matter.

Oh good god – the weekly hope vs shimano row!

I like a good internet fight now and again – but this is getting predictable!

#Edit – Al & TJ – I’m looking at you when I type that

I also have some amateur inexperience to fall back on (TJ shared some with me). 😀

hope wins

when was the fluid last changed and bled?

Rorschach – I have half a dozen sets of hopes – all are totally reliable and have plenty of power. Its in the setup. If your hopes were not working properly then they are not set up right.

I will not take the bait.
I will not take the bait.
I will not take the bait.
I will not take the bait.
I will not take the bait.
I will not take the bait.
I will not take the bait.
I will not take the bait.
I will not take the bait.
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‘I believe that is what you believe’

Its the truth as well. My hope brakes all give easy single finger brake locking / stoppies. So its not the brake that is at fault as it can and usually does give plenty of power. There must be a reason why yours are not working properly.

So to the OP – bleed them with fresh fluid. centralise both the calipers and the pistons in the way shown on the vids on the hope site. clean up the disc and pad surfaces with fine sandpaper and bed them in again really hard and you will have a powerful brake

La la la la la la la la la la la la la 😉

My old bike had a Hope Mono M4 (180mm rotor) on the front and a Mono Mini (160mm rotor) on the rear. Both brakes were plenty powerful enough (as in lock the wheel with one finger) and didn’t squeal.

On my replacement bike for the old one that was nicked by a scumbag piece of lowlife chav filth, I’ve fitted 2012 Deore discs (180mm front and 160mm rear rotors). Both brakes are plenty powerful (as in lock the wheel with one finger) and don’t squeal.

My conclusion? Hope and Shimano both work just as well as each other. Hopes are a bit shinier/flashier and cost more, Shimano’s just do the job in hand and cost less. If money were no object, I’d buy Hopes. If I just needed a set of good brakes and was unconcerned with any ‘bling factor’, I’d buy Shimanos.

You ALWAYS go on about setting them up properly TJ. I’ve never had to ‘set up’ my Shimano’s as they work perfectly from the very start. No set up, no faff. I (and everyone) know how you feel about the Hope brakes, but why do they need so much ‘set up properly’ time when any other brake I’ve used doesn’t?

till they break that is – my shimanos when they work are fine – how ever just killed my 3rd brake without trying hard ….. levers fapped now !

replacing with hopes like my other bikes.

I went the other way a few years back then discovered spares were like rocking horse shite – back on hopes

if your rebuilding your hopes every other YEAR even never mind week/month then you need to look at your ability to rebuild brakes – id say it wasnt really adaquate.

I have Hope Mono Minis that have been fitted to my ScandAL for over 5 years. I’ve not faffed with them, not messed with them and have had faultless stopping of my fat ass every time. I know people who have had trouble with them. Most hydraulic brakes work really well. Most people who have trouble with kit spend too much time taking it apart and putting it back together.

“Most people who have trouble with kit spend too much time taking it apart and putting it back together. “

this + blaming their kit for their short comings – i cant ride that my brakes must be broken 😀

TooTall – Member
Most people who have trouble with kit spend too much time taking it apart and putting it back together.

Seconded! I have a mate who has been notorious for this as long as I can remember. Whatever he buys, he feels a strange compulsion to ‘tinker’ with it but never seems to quite manage to put it back together properly, things always seem to work better before he attacks them with the toolkit! It’s not just bikes either, I’ve lost count of the amount of cars that have been sat immobile for months on his driveway, surrounded by gearboxes, axles, suspension components etc covered with tarpaulins and always ‘just about to be put back together’…

So Hope brakes = Good?

Minis are genuinely a weaker brake than most, but should still be more than powerful enough- there’s something wrong with yours, once they’re fixed they ought to be adequate enough (though never particularily good)

First step is new pads, assuming you’ve not already done that, and a bleed can’t hurt if they’re old brakes that are new to you. If that doesn’t work then they’ll need a proper service- worth speaking to Hope if you don’t know your way around a hydro, they’re very helpful. TJ’s advice is spot on.

Though personally I’d sell them and get something better, tbh- my Formulas don’t need any of that fannying around to get them to work well, and cost peanuts compared to Hope.