that weren't DH beasts (180/160) but pretty damn powerful and not stupidly expensive where would your hard earned go ?
ta
Hope
hello houns - hope what ?
Magura. Whichever ones were cheap. Or SLX.
Clarks skeletal, about 69 per end, with spare pads and they are white 🙂
Shimano XT. They're a lot more powerful than X2s.
Hope we can all agree for once.
Hope you get some brakes that are right for you 😀
Magura Louise BAT
Working well for me. £200 new from Merlin.
Not because they're better than hopes (they're not) but they are better value IMO. SLX only £20 cheaper.
Shimano XT. They're a lot more powerful than X2s.
A LOT easier to break and much harder to repair (if at all) as well.You gets what you pays for.
Hope
XT's from Ribble - £65 per end
Hope
Formula Oros. Or SLX otherwise. Never met a Hope that seemed to deliver good value for money so far. I'd also consider the latest Deore 595, they're fantastic for the money, very strong though not quite as good on feel as the SLX.
XTR
SLX. Probably worth trying someone elses first though, the weird cam thingamy (cant remember the name) isn't to everyones tastes....
Elixir 5s, big fan but I mostly got them because they were white.
Juicy 3's. Cheap as ****, had them on all my bikes and powerful enough to stop a 5 Spot at speed.
Northwind - Member
Formula Oros. Or SLX otherwise. [b]Never met a Hope that seemed to deliver good value for money so far[/b]. I'd also consider the latest Deore 595, they're fantastic for the money, very strong though not quite as good on feel as the SLX.
I can only imagine you've not tried M4's on Tech levers then.
Hope
Having tried many, and loved few, The SLX's that came on my bike last year were a genuine revelation, Everyone who has tried the say's they have remarkably good "feel". I'm currentlly running them on my hardtail, but (with the right size rotors) I'd happily run them on the DH bike (as a friend of mine has done for the past year or so, also with nothing but good to say about them)
Hope Tech M4!
Avid Elixir Rs
Hope x2, they have far better feel than my XTs.
Is a brake that can never be serviced still good value for money?
I buy Hope primarily because of the performance. Although not the most powerful, the M4 is possibly the most versatile brake available; although the X2/Mini can be drafted in for a lighter rear option if one's braking style permits. Even the larger V2 can be toned down for general trail use because of lever adjustemnts which actually do what they say they do. I can mix and match calipers and levers to give me an ideal personal set-up.
Buying Hope supports British manufacturing and British design - it keeps as much money as possible within our own economy and keeps people in employment. I can service and overhaul Hopes ad infinitum because every single component is available to the consumer at sensible money. I have a solid warranty and access to probably the best customer service in the industry. I can call Hope and talk directly with people who understand the product and who are genuinely happy to help.
Until Hope stop being the company that they are, producing the standard of product that they do, I see no reason buy anyone else's brakes.
Formula RX from UK Bike Store. You can get front and rear for approx £280.
Far superior to all the previous brakes i've run.....Hope M4/Mini Mono/X2 and Avid Juicy 5.
EDIT: Three_Fish: I thought the same until i tried the Formulas 😀 They've been faultless and by all accounts if i do encounter any problems then Toby at Propel is a great help.
I'd highly recommend the shimanos, love my old deores, fault free for more than 5 years. From everything I've read the new SLXs should be as good. That deal from ribble above is great, got to be worth a go.
On a lot more expensive note, I've recently tried a pair of Formula RX1s and they had incredible feel and power on 180mm rotors. Easily the best brakes I've tried in a long time.
SLX.
I'll never trust Hope brakes. Ever.
I run RX1's on my Zesty and was so impressed by them i bought my wife a set of the RX for her 575.
They also look ALOT better than Hope IMO.
Hope M4/Mini.
I have some XT (m765), some Hayes HFX9s and some older M4s. Have also had Juicy threes and Mono Minis.
Between the Hopes and the XT, rotors are 180/160 (XT) and 200/180. I'm guessing, factoring in rotor size power is probably about even. Hopes might be a little better in terms of modulation but it's not a fair test.
The advantage of Hope is you can buy parts. If you bend a lever blade, or the pushrod you can get new one in a matter of days, and they carry bits for older designs. Getting spares for my m765s is impossible I believe. Also pads for hope are easy to buy.
I'm not a fan of Avid (or to some extent Hayes), bleeding them is a right pain in the proverbial, unless you have the bleedkit with you, you can't just pop down to Halfords and get some DOT.
I don't know much about maintenance for Magura or Clarks.
Friends have Shimano Saint. Power is amazing, but maintenance might be an issue.
[url= http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/mtb-bmx-bike/disc-brake-kits-Shimano-XT-M775-Disc-Brake-ex-Rotor/SHIMDIBK260 ]Shimano xt brakes - 65 quid each... no rotors though (not much of an expense though!)[/url]
if i were looking for new brakes atm, id go for these!
hope,just don,t get em wet !
Formulas in looking good shocker 😮
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43121659@N06/4570509834/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43121659@N06/4570510296/in/photostream/
Look good, work well, ain't gonna break the bank.
safehandsduffy1 - Member
hope,just don,t get em wet !
handy... only going mtbing in the dry... ❗
coogan - Member
SLX.I'll never trust Hope brakes. Ever.
Personal experience, or just mouthing off again?
hope,just don,t get em wet !
Since I got sintered pads, I haven't had a single squeek from mine. Wet, dry or otherwise (is there an otherwise?).
The only brakes I would never own again would be [s]avid[/s] avoid. Horrible things IMHO.
Im another vote for XT's but dont expect to ge parts easly if you brake them.
how much are SLX levers and calipers generally? Very tempted
if i was buying again i'd go hope X2s.
I find my XTs are good, as are my SLX, but they lack consistency regardless of the amount of maintenance performed.
My set of black hope mono minis are 4 years old.
Only just had big bother with one the other day.
The lever has come to bits.
I shall rebuild it and get another few years from them no doubt.
hmm thanks folks
interesting that SLX get so many mentions - my mates new Rock Lobster Team Tig has them, i didn't thiink they had much power at all - can't be set up right
The XT's look GFVM...
Personal experience, or just mouthing off again?
From painful personal experience.
first i've heard of the clarks skeltal system. Much, much cheaper than most of the rest (£49 on rutland cycling) be interested to hear feedback
coogan - MemberPersonal experience, or just mouthing off again?
From painful personal experience.
Furry muff...
... care to expand?
yes those clarks are cheap and look the part
anyone got them care to comment ?
Few years back, in the Alps, levers to bars, heading for a tight corner with a large drop to the side, had to bin the bike, ripped the rear mech off and landed in a heap battered and bleeding. Put me right off them and sold them as soon as I got home. Replaced with Saints.
Plus, last year in the Alps, long rocky descent, 9 riders at the bottom, 3 had boiled brakes and they were all Hopes. Sorry, just don't trust 'em, know some love 'em, but not for me. Can't fault Shimano brakes.
I bought some Avid Elixer 5s from Wholly Hat Shop last year for £130 for the full set up. Can't fault them, very easy install and they are a big step in performance from Juicy 3/5/7. All avid juicy's are the same design the higher cost models offer more adjustability and lighter materials, same for the elixers but the elixer design is the newer improved model. So the basic Elixer offers better performance than the top end Juicys. In my view there is no value for money in the cost of reach adjustment and carbon leavers etc. I can blow my nose and save that much weight.
re the clarks skeletal
we've got them in the shop and have fitted them to a few bikes, they are well made, easy to fit, easy to bleed as well and seem powerful enough (on the ride around the block road test) if I didnt have hopes then i'd have a set (may still throw some on the tandem)
Well I hope the XTs are all they're cracked up to be as mine just arrived this afternoon from Ribble. For those who are thinking of going for them, they are OEM packed, no instructions, have the M06 pads fitted, and both ends come with IS adaptors, for 160mm rotors (not supplied). So to go 180/160 you need the appropriate adaptor for your fork. You get spare olives, transport spacers, bleed spacers and all the bolts you need except for the rotor ones. Can't wait to give them a go tomorrow evening.
hope minis
spev - how much are you doing them for ?
TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR - Member
"I can only imagine you've not tried M4's on Tech levers then. "
You'd assume wrong. More expensive, and not as good feel at the lever as my Oros. Power was pretty comparable but I don't know what pads the Hopes had in to be fair. They were perfectly decent, just too expensive. TBH I'd probably choose my XTs over them as well, and the XTs aren't as good as the Oros.
It's got to be shimano for me, at any price point they do fantastic brakes Deore's do the Job admirably, but I've had great experiences with LX, XT, Saint (older 2 pot and currently XTR (with old style XT levers)...
Mix and match compatibility of calipers and levers and spares/Pads availability is actually pretty good (find me a shop that won't carry/order in shimano parts)
Hope are all well and good, I like and own some examples of their Hubs and BBs but I don't see the additional value in their braking products over and above shimano's not when your looking at almost double the spend in some instances for something that arguably does the same job no better (personal opinion only of course)...
If you choose to express your patriotism through the products you buy then I suppose that's a big plus for Hope, but otherwise go with the masses...
for my money it's Shimano every time.
a few mates have had Formulas. K18 and K24 to be precise. the 18's were good although the lever had a tendency to pop out of the housing which became annoying (matey did used to fall over alot though). 24's were good, but only once they'd been heated up. in the cold they were pants; no power/confidence in them.
my SLX have been faultless. the same can be said for the old Deores on the GF's bike. pleny of modulation and power regardless of temperature.
one mate has XTs on his bike. can't say i like them as much as my SLX. the lever feels more wooden. less throw to them. they stop you ok, but as far as 'feel' goes they don't cut it.
Shimano are also easy to bleed (bottom up, IME). the Formula were a PITA.
Strangely I've never been in a situation where I need to service Shimano brakes whereas Hopes are terminally unreliable.
X2s also lack power, have a very vague lever feel and, astoundingly, are still unreliable.
And yes, you can get shimano spares. You just won't need to.
"Shimano are also easy to bleed (bottom up, IME). the Formula were a PITA."
Ah, that's a fair point, I'm kind of opposed to brakes that need specific bleed kits generally. Having said that if you follow the instructions exactly they're simple and clean to do, which is nice... Takes me about the same time as it does my XTs.
Also, the finish on the Formulas is completely crap, very brittle so it chips easily. So if you're a tart that's a definate negative, but my bikes all look like they've been in a cement mixer so it's not really an issue for me 😉
SpokesCycles - Member
Strangely I've never been in a situation where I need to service Shimano brakes whereas Hopes are terminally unreliable.X2s also lack power, have a very vague lever feel and, astoundingly, are still unreliable.
what utter rubbish. I have 4 sets of hopes - all totally reliable. all have spares back up unlike shimano if you do need them
Hopes only become unreliable and boil when not maintained properly. any brake with dot fliud needs an annual fluid change.
anyone who finds hopes lack power and are unreliable needs to learn to maintain them.
Every hope I've had was faulty from new. Regardless of maintenance. I've never boiled a brake in my life.
I've bled my shimanos once after I shortened the hoses. In my time with Hope it was overly regular.
The one set of X2s I've had experience with have lasted 8 months before pissing out the pistons. Utter rubbish.
You can get Shimano spares. You just never need to.
Out of curiosity, how do you get shimano spares? I had one of my XT calipers develop a sticky piston, ended up just replacing the caliper with a cheap XTR one (£20 with pads) but it'd be good to know how to get spares.
A dealer can get hold of most bits if they need to, but I'll admit replacing the calipers is often a cheaper way to go with the deals about.
spokescycles - please explain where youget these shimano brake spares from - 'cos madison don't have them for most of the brakes
As for your experience with hopes - you are the only person that that happens to
next time you are around my way have a shot on one of my bikes with well set up reliable and powerful hopes - you might just be suprised
Justa, we've got em up for £59.99 I think (we fit em for free) but we could prob do a discount off that as well, are you local? If you are just say your either in the CTC or university 🙂
or ask for me Chris (the speccy one)
Avid BB7's.
spev - no not local - shame though i was at afan at the weekend !
I've got SLX, they have quite a soft lever feel even after a bleed, but plenty of power and very reliable.
Is a brake that can never be serviced still good value for money?
I'd rather have one that didn't need servicing 😀
I've run avids for 3 years and other than the odd fluid change and a couple of pairs of pads they've been awesome, elixirs are very good, but still loving my juicy 7's. (that said I'm hankering for a set of formula the one's)
I've got a range of Magura, Forumula, Hayes, Hopes and Shimano brakes on my bikes and for easy of set-up, reliability and power I don't think Deore's can be faulted - plus they have the added benefit of being cheap.
I recently replaced the Deore's on my Zion with some light and bling carbon/Ti Hayes and while the Hayes are ok I was surprised by how much less power they had compared to the Deores.
+1 for Hope M4's - I've run a number of brakes and have settled on them. All mine have been reliable, powerful enough to stop a mule and even I can change fluids / bleed / change pads.
anyone who finds hopes lack power and are unreliable needs to learn to maintain them.
To me, there lies the problem. The Shimano's I've owned have needed no maintenance or the need for spare parts. The just work. My old Saints were on the bike for over 4 years and bled once.
Re: Shimano spares - I've always found them easy to get hold of, direct from Ultimate Pursuits (now [url= http://www.madison.co.uk/products.aspx?vertical=Cycling&tier1=Braking+Components ]Madison[/url])
I'd personally (probably) go for Shimano XT or SLX as have always found them so reliable. And simple to maintain (and easy to get parts for!)(It would take a fair few hours research before making my decision though 🙂 )
I have to say that Hope have never been unreliable for me but once i'd tried the RX1's on a demo bike returning to using my X2 was just not nice. They felt horrible in comparison. The Formula's just have far superior modulation and also bags of power.
Hope are easy to bleed though but we had to bleed my wifes RX brakes after shortening the hoses, but with the proper bleed kit that was easy.
There's some good deals around on the older Formula brakes too...
No problems with shimano here, don't see any reason to buy anything else, but I've not needed spares yet.
BTW, only needed Shimano spares due to breakages caused by crashes.
I'm using Magura Marta brakes, brilliant. Light enough to be a cross country brake. When I go to the Alps I pop on big rotas and they are a full on DH brake
It seems that brakes are a personal thing.
not as good feel at the lever as my Oros
Funny because I'd have said the exact opposite. I quite liked the 2 sets of formulas (K18 & K24) I had but they felt delicate and the modulation wasn't great. I would like to try the new RXs though. The avids I had were just pathetic.
I've had 3 sets of M4s of different ages, and they've all been very reliable indeed. I whacked one on a tree and phoned hope who talked me through the repair and sent me a new bolt thingy FOC. There is a definate value to that which is worth baring in mind when buying brakes. I'd like a razz on some new saints mind you.
Hmmm - about a million different opinions here!
Replaced my Juicy 5s (fine when working - often weren't, hateful pad replacement) with Elixir CRs recently and they are a world apart - brilliant feel, loads of power, no more squeaking and of course they look nice too...
Love Hope stuff (got plenty of it on my bike) but never really "got" their brakes.
I have used avid 3, 5 and carbon Hope and Shimano- every brake i have ever used including rim brakes can lock your wheels so why the need for more power? How much servicing /fettling they need seems to be a bit of luck. I ilike the Avid syringe bleeding method though.
My hopes needing bleeding after a service and more of a faff IMHO.
Not helpful eh. Agree with buying Hope wherepossible to support UK manufacturers and also the service is superb.
slx are the best brakes I've ever used. I used to be a Hope man before that and just had enough of fixing them so tried the SLX and will likely never go back.