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Help - I have been offered a set of these with hope floating rotors for £150 front and rear.
Can you advise if this is a good or bad price, or what I should be offering the chap for them as I understand they are quite old now. I have seen some going for around the £120 - £130 bracket?
Also, are they any good?
Hi, These are great xc brakes, albeit only a few grams lighter than the standard ones, mine are 09 vintage and still performing faultlessly. However, price seems a bit steep as been superseded for a few years now! £120 tops would seem reasonable if in mint condition (rotor wear especially).
They're nice light brakes, but not very powerful in my experience (and they were bled and set up properly!) I like them and 'might' buy them again, but I wouldn't if I were a heavier rider (I'm about 8 stone with riding kit on), so unless you're a racer or very light rider then I'd go for something else more powerful. Obviously, that's only my opinion, but I have ridden a few other brakes (standard mono minis, X2, XTs and Hayes Stroker) all of which I've found much more powerful. The mini pros were still the prettiest though! 😀 As for price, £150 isn't crazy if they're in mint condition with floating rotors, but I probably wouldn't expect to pay quite that much. You could always have a look on the completed listings on ebay to see what they go for though - it's sometimes surprising! Hope that helps. Cheers!
Nice one thanks for the advice. I might see if I can nock him down a bit. I was thinking about £100 - £120 max. I ride xc and these are planned to go on a single speed I'm building up. I weigh about 12 stone kitted up, do you think I should go for some more powerful brakes?
Urm, they'd probably be alright if you're not doing any big descents. I found they always stopped me, I just never felt 100% they would do so quick enough on long, fast descents. On most stuff you'd ride on a ss they'll probably be ok. Depends how much you value having really light kit really. It you're not too bothered about a couple hundred grams I'd go for something more powerful, but if you want a really light build then I'd give them a go. If you get a good price you can always sell them on, if you don't get on with them (contact me in 4 months time after mini monkey number 2 is born and I may be interested! 🙂 Cheers!
I've tried quite a few different brakes, and have original Hope Minis which I prefer to my Hayes 9s, for feel*. But the truth is that all the ones I've tried have had more or less the same amount of 'power'. If you want more stopping power, consider larger disc rotors, say 180mm rather than 160mm.
*Hope are more positive at the lever, feel nicer when feathering the brakes. The Hayes feel more vague and not quite so solid. The Hopes are better quality. The Hayes have needed a lot more fettling to keep them running well, whereas the Hopes have been 'fit and forget', pretty much.
Of course, pad choice can change how the brakes feel; some pads wear faster but offer better braking, some are more durable but don't feel quite as good.
Oh, and proper clean pads can make a noticeable difference too. I clean mine by 'sanding' the pad surface down using a bit of mud. Brings them back good as new. 🙂
I got some with carbon levers and floating rotors for £125 IIRC, in VG condition. I found them great, but lacked a little oomph - but I am 13stone and only noticed when coming off Helvellyn etc!
Sold them last week, without rotors for £75 posted.
Mine stop me ok @ nearly 14 stone. Fine for XC use.
They had given up almost all stopping capability at the end of a long Alp descent though (which is fair enough I think as they're not really made for this).
What's the verdict then?
Should I get them but try and knock him down to say £120 or get him to put new pads in and bleed them up like new and pay the £150?
He works in a bike shop so ths wouldn't be a problem for him.
Good advice from Effinsafety and it sounds like the pros maybe are more powerful than I've given them credit for. In fairness, they never failed to stop me, they just didn't have the same immediate bite of other brakes, but in fairness I had a slightly smaller rotor out back and the pads could have needed a bit of cleaning?
In regard to whether you pay the extra £30 or buy new pads fit them bleed them yourself is entirely up to you really. Hope brakes are very easy to bleed so personally I'd do it myself, but it depends how confident you are and how precious your time is I guess! Either way, it sounds like the pros will be fine for your weight and planned riding, so I hope you enjoy them. Cheers!
I really like mine, £30 for fresh pads and a professional bleed seems like a good deal... (make sure the hose lengths are about right though)
The deal is done I'm having them - thanks for all your advice.
£150, new pads and giving me the old ones (still got plenty left in them) and cleaning them up and bleeding them like new. Also thrown in matching (colour) hope skewer too. Recently had new rotors for them too.
They are mint condition and only been used a handful of times since the bike was built up because he has the priveledge of using the shops demo bikes whenever he wants.
Bargain - cheap as chips!!
Nice one! Looks like you've had a nice little result there really. 🙂
Yep, nice deal indeed. Good work! (And do give me a shout if you don't like them! 😉 )
I'm sure you will though! 🙂