I’m looking to upgrade my brakes this month and could do with some real life experience.

I have XTR shifters (2×10) and want to reduce the number of clamps on my bars, so I-Spec Shimano brakes are the obvious choice. But it’s not just about the mounting, it’s also about the braking, so can I get Hopes with Matchmakers to do the same job?

Then, please do you have any good points/ bad points to watch out for.

I’ve been very happy with my current set of brakes, so have never looked into what options are open to me.

Cheers!

Hope do matchmaker clamps for Shimano.

You can get hope Matchmakers for Shimano – although I think in that scenario, you’re buying both the i-Spec shifters (or shifter body) AND the Hope matchmaker clamps to make it work – I’m prepared to be corrected ont hat, mind.

For Shimano, it’s just the I-Spec shifter bolting directly to the standard brakes.

As for the brakes themselves, I have had XTR, XT and Hope X2 Evo in the last while, and they are all very good indeed, XT reliability issues aside.

XT 785’s. They can stop my portly but authoritative frame on a dime, lovely modulation and don’t cost nearly as much as XTR’s. Plenty of sites doing them for £85ish an end.

Cheers

Danny B

I’ve been really impressed with my XT brakes. They’re not pretty but they work well and the lever blade is a great shape.

Not got any experience of the more modern Hope brakes. I gave up on them when they bought out the Mini series but there is a lot of love for them in the UK. In my eyes they ate pretty pricey these days but at least they are totally serviceable and will be for a while yet.

I don’t think you can really get bad brakes these days, they all seem great and it boils down to personal preference and prejudice.

My shifters are not I-Spec atm, but I have found replacement covers for around forty quid. It also means I can fit the brakes and use the existing clamps in the short term and sway out the mounting cover for I-Spec at sometime in the future.

I’m running the XTR shifters with Hope X2 Evo’s.
I’m using the Hope Matchmaker camps and they work really well together. A bit of a bonus is that the black brakes and Matchmakers look fantastic with the XTR’s!

Looking on CRC and I’m going blind! I want all of them!

Anyone recommend the Ice Tech rotors?

I’m running the Ice Tech rotors, was thinking that I didn’t notice all that much difference until yesterday when I was out on my BFe running Deore brakes with normal rotors. After a relatively short down hill they were mega hot and a bit stinky. I’ve never noticed heat at all on the XT’s with Ice Tech rotors.

Shimano quote something like a fifty degree reduction in heat on a long descent which us quite a lot.

Got to shout up for Hopes- have had tech m4s for almost 3 years on my 575 and they’ve been trouble free.
Still got great bite and plenty of stopping power.
I had heard of issues with hopes squealing and other stuff but was assured by the Evans mechanic that if the mounts were faced and the brakes set up properly they’d be trouble free. And that’s what they’ve been!
Edit- could prob do with a bleed I suppose but still feel great so haven’t bothered yet!

Hope stuff in general is v overated imo. I have tech x2s which are very unimpressive.

how about Formula?

I bought slx i-spec shifters and they didn’t work with the Hope “suits Shimano XTR” matchmaker. I managed to machine bodge a 6mm thick square shim that solved the problem and they’ve been fine since November. The brakes are good – M4/x2 combination.

I’ve been a lifelong hope fan, mono 6ti’s, m4’s, mini’s, and tech x2’s. I recently bought xtr trail brakes on a whim and its opened my eyes to how singleminded I’ve been. Sure I miss the ‘made in the uk by a fella called dave with a boobie calendar on the wall behind his toolbox’ look and feel about the hopes, but the xtr’s are phenomenal, I’ve even downsized the rotors on my covert due to the power available.