Enduro 4 and Open 2; is it worth the hassle of doing a caliper rebuild (I’ve already done the levers and I’ll need to source the seals) or just accept that old brakes just aren’t as good as newer ones?

Depends if you’ve got the cash to buy new brakes or not!

Personally, I lived my old E4’s. they were genuinely some of the best brakes that I’ve ever had and certainly better than the M4’s that replaced them.

I’m not sure Hope still sell the seals for the earlier brakes.

Stripped and rebuilt some Hope Mini’s once, as far as I could anyway.

Bought some very cheap Shimano Deore brakes for the “second” bike and they were that much better ( and quieter) the Mini’s went. Mini’s were also pimped with braided hoses etc., no excuses then.

I wouldn’t bother. IME, cheap Shimano brakes will be better.

Hope just used standard parts

Will take a bit of work but if the propriatory parts are in good nick the open 2 was one of the best brakes they ever made
E 4 was the worst along with the xc4

accept that old brakes just aren’t as good as newer ones

Agree with what mindmap3 said my Hope (original) Mini’s were so much better than the Mini Mono’s I replaced them with so they went back on the bike and the Mono’s got sold , modern pad materials mean older brakes if fettled well aren’t far off the latest brakes and if it saves cash you don’t really have then keep them going.

Depends, I still think C2’s were the best brake ever until the current shimano’s came out. Well aside from the fact they’d boil on a steep slope. Might be rose tinted glasses but that’s my opinion.

Add to that, that i reckon brakes are needlessly powerful on XC bikes, I’ve got hope minis (not the most powerful brakes ever) and aligator aires rotors (not the most powerful rotors) and they’ve never been out of their depth riding normaly. XT’s on the pitch are a hugely better brake, but would be overkill on the XC bike.