[Closed] New Brakes - I fancy a change ......

The new hopes are as powerful (v4 anyway) and yes they are also quite expensive.

Formula Cura 4 would be my choice for genuinely fit and forget.

hmm hadnt thought about the v4! guess they should be on a par with codes for outright power, was always underwhelmed by the tech 3 e4 i had before

The new Tech 4 V4 have a long lead time, but £190 per end from here isn't massively expensive compared to Hayes dominion A4 etc.

https://www.singletrackbikes.co.uk/m7b40s394p92049/Hope_Tech_4_V4_(No_Rotor)_/Brakes_-_Disc/RS_GB/214573?gclid=CjwKCAjw9-KTBhBcEiwAr19igxazANR-rsdWOH4SOEwstfLF6jBhH8pxgZQqkGJjYxkWiU0UnL8unxoCpKEQAvD_BwE

Apparently the new pads are meant to have a bit more bite than the old pads too.

Slightly nosey/may be interested - how old as the Code RSCs that you are going to replace and how much would they be going for?

I absolutely love my Code RSC brakes - were good, then I tried a race (actually, I didn't race, I just tried to pedal and ride faster) and now they are absolutely outstanding for stopping power.

I absolutely hate the amount of lever pull though so have the new thicker rotors just not got round to fitting them yet.

Could be interested in another set for testing my bleeding and set up ideas, but also to probably fit on another bike...

So, if you are thinking of selling them, they might be of interested to me.

Trickstuff ?

I absolutely hate the amount of lever pull though so have the new thicker rotors just not got round to fitting them yet.

@DickBarton - the thicker rotors won't change the lever pull - the pads will still self-adjust their distance from the rotor as before. Have you tried bleeding them with the bite adjuster in the middle of it's range? That way you can adjust the pads in more. The SRAM bleed instructions seem to set them so you can increase the lever throw for some reason!?

As an aside, I just put the Tech4 X2s on my hardtail instead of Shimano M6100 ( ? 6000 series anyway).

£150 an end from Merlin, lots of options in stock.

Not yet bedded in, but oh my what a difference in performance. (And so there should be at the price)

I doubt you’d be disappointed in the E4 or V4 - albeit that’s £165 or £179 an end.

PS - saying your brakes aren’t powerful enough is another way of saying you have a weak grip 😉

I had a spin on a mates bike with Hayes Dominion A4 brakes on the weekend. Serious power, up there with shimano saint, and an incredibly light feel to the lever. If I needed new brakes they would be very high on list for me.

I had a spin on a mates bike with Hayes Dominion A4 brakes on the weekend. Serious power, up there with shimano saint, and an incredibly light feel to the lever. If I needed new brakes they would be very high on list for me.

If I ever stray away from Hope, the A4's would be top of my list to try first.

Trickstuff, you know you want to!

In all honesty I had a go on a bike with some of the new Hope Tech4 E4's and I was shocked. They felt nothing like the old ones at all. The whole package just felt better.

I'm Shimano4life, but I'd consider Magura or Hayes if I had to look elsewhere.

Not actually tried the new Hayes, but Magura have tons of power and modulation.

RickDraper - Full Member
Trickstuff, you know you want to!

In all honesty I had a go on a bike with some of the new Hope Tech4 E4’s and I was shocked. They felt nothing like the old ones at all. The whole package just felt better.

I'd love some Trickstuff but far to expensive for me! But interesting what you say about the new Tech 4's as I'm half contemplating a set to replace my 6-7 year old Tech 3 E4's.

Pure subjectivity, but so far I’d put the T4X2 on a par or better than the T3E4 I’ve also got.

Whether that’s true on a long downhill is another question.

haha no trickstuff for me sadly rick - would love to have some but way out of my league nowadays 🙁

interesting on the new tech 4's - i just assumed they were a slight revised version of the already mega old tech 3, and wouldnt really add much - plus not been a hope fan for a while now

may well look into them, the idea of spares is always a positive draw towards them too

i have like the look of the trp and hayes - i dont know about reliability of magura but they seem to have got alot better over recent years

DickBarton
Full Member
Slightly nosey/may be interested – how old as the Code RSCs that you are going to replace and how much would they be going for?

I absolutely love my Code RSC brakes – were good, then I tried a race (actually, I didn’t race, I just tried to pedal and ride faster) and now they are absolutely outstanding for stopping power.

I absolutely hate the amount of lever pull though so have the new thicker rotors just not got round to fitting them yet.

Could be interested in another set for testing my bleeding and set up ideas, but also to probably fit on another bike…

So, if you are thinking of selling them, they might be of interested to me.

hey, i probably will be selling them to fund some new ones - they were brand new march 2020 - they seem to work rub free easily on the normal centreline rotors, but im really struggling to line up the 200mm HS2 rotors (with proper sram mounts) - no matter what i try they end up rubbing - ive done all the usual, fresh bleed, reset pistons, cleaned pistons, lubed pistons, even let out some lever end oil incase the thickness of the rotor was having an effect - (this seemed to help the most), but ultimately after a few brakes/descents they just start rubbing again

Another Saint fan here.
However I've been trying the Cura 4's and really like them.
Only downside is there's not that many people make pads for them and Formula pads are pretty expensive.

frogstomp
Full Member
I absolutely hate the amount of lever pull though so have the new thicker rotors just not got round to fitting them yet.

@DickBarton – the thicker rotors won’t change the lever pull – the pads will still self-adjust their distance from the rotor as before. Have you tried bleeding them with the bite adjuster in the middle of it’s range? That way you can adjust the pads in more. The SRAM bleed instructions seem to set them so you can increase the lever throw for some reason!?

i have'nt nor hadnt thought of that - as ive always wound the adjuster all the way in as per instructions - i can see what your saying though - would give me a bit of scope to adjust the pads out when they are rubbing

just recently ive really struggled to stop them rubbing with the new hs2 thicker rotors (ive tried everything imagineable)

If they weren't rubbing with thinner rotors but started rubbing with thicker ones, then they are either overfilled or the rotors are too thick. They will stop rubbing when the pads wear down enough to give clearance. One work around is to fit one new pad and one half-worn pad to each caliper and use them like that for a few rides until the pads wear down. After that, you can swap the pads back if you want.

i tried the overfill thing - and let some spill out when i undid the bleed port on the lever, and pushed pistons back in - i immediately saw some come out so thought id cracked it

however after a descent or so it was back to rubbing again, but it did seem easier to align from the off after doing this overfill hack

the pads arent that new and have definitely worn down enough to not contact - just seem really finiky to setup with these thicker hs2 rotors, i never had this problem before on my centreline (also 200mm)

Another Saint fan here.

+1 for the Saints.

the pads arent that new and have definitely worn down enough to not contact – just seem really finiky to setup with these thicker hs2 rotors, i never had this problem before on my centreline (also 200mm)

Just for the record, I have RSCs with the new rotors and haven't had any issues. Sounds like you may still have a problem with sticky piston - the R3Pro tool is great for working individual pistons.

frogstomp
Full Member
the pads arent that new and have definitely worn down enough to not contact – just seem really finiky to setup with these thicker hs2 rotors, i never had this problem before on my centreline (also 200mm)

Just for the record, I have RSCs with the new rotors and haven’t had any issues. Sounds like you may still have a problem with sticky piston – the R3Pro tool is great for working individual pistons.

haha ive got that tool too, and your right it is indeed genius! ive done the hunters silicone lube on it- like i said it seems to work for a bit then back to rubbing - the caveat maybe here i have to remove both wheels every time i ride! so whether its getting knocked or not tigtened down the exact same amount each time on axles who knows, but again this has always been the case and i never had to do it on my centrelines....good to hear yours dont though, it does give me a bit of faith i can eventually get it sorted, if i dont end up selling them for something shinier!

The August edition of the mag will have a 4pot brakes test in it if you can wait that long!

I moved from Saints to Hayes A4s around Christmas time. I got them for £130 per end at Bikester. Really impressed by them, far more modulation at lower speeds which is what I wanted. Been reliable. I've used std SRAM discs on mine and there fine.

One of my Hope E4 calipers kept rubbing and no amount of cleaning and lubing would stop it. At Hope's suggestion I gave the claiper a strip down, clean and service with new seals. Problem solved.

I am really liking my tech4 E4s, definitely feel more powerful than tech3s they replaced

Hayes Dominion A4s. After Hopes, shimanos and SRAMs of various flavours, deffo my favourites. Have them on 2 bikes now thanks to PSA on here for 60% off recently. Nirvana.

Points to note:
1) Works a wee bit better with Sintered Pads vs organic (maybe interesting trying this out in the Alps this summer - see other thread)
2) needs thicker discs - Hayes do a pair which are nice, but I couldn't fid any for the second set so just bought floating jobs off eBay that are thicker. was from another PSA off of here

The August edition of the mag will have a 4pot brakes test in it if you can wait that long!

I'll be reading that but how long did you test the brakes for?

There's a big difference between being very happy with your new brakes and actually living with the bloody things a year or two later when they've got wobbly levers, baggy o-rings, sticky plastic pistons etc etc...

Another vote for Dominion A4s. Not comparing them to a large sample (Guide Ultimate, Guide R, Hope Race) but loving them so far.

 it does give me a bit of faith i can eventually get it sorted

If they are the same set you've had for 7 years and they've not been serviced I'd get a service kit and replace all of the seals etc. as suggested above. I did it with my old Guides and it was pretty straightforward if you are capable of performing a bleed already.

If you like longevity with minimal maintenance then Formula have been very good in my experience. Better than Shimano or SRAM brakes I've had.

frogstomp
Full Member
it does give me a bit of faith i can eventually get it sorted

If they are the same set you’ve had for 7 years and they’ve not been serviced I’d get a service kit and replace all of the seals etc. as suggested above. I did it with my old Guides and it was pretty straightforward if you are capable of performing a bleed already.

no these are two years old max - i ran 2 other pairs before this (total 7 years) as i simply couldnt find anything that good or consistent - so ive just stuck with them, but seems there are a few more on the market now that are as powerful

anyone know where sells the hayes dominion a4 in the uk?

Formula Cura 2pots

- No faffing getting the 4th piston to play nicely and not stick causing brake drag
- Plenty of power
- Loads of modulation
- Easy to bleed and look after

Formula Cura 2pots

– No faffing getting the 4th piston to play nicely and not stick causing brake drag
– Plenty of power
– Loads of modulation
– Easy to bleed and look after

and lots of people make pads for these.

I tend to bleed them with the adjuster all the way out...so there is the maximum amount of throw, the hope is that once bleed I need to wind it in to increase the lever throw...as I'd hope the bleed has the pads too close.

Maybe do it half way so I've scope to wind in as well though...

From memory the SRAM and Doddy bleed guide suggests winding it in so there is minimum lever throw but that then means more lever pull after the bleed...

Other then the amount of lever throw, I've found the brakes to be utterly brilliant.

Intrigued by the Saint fan club.
How would they differ to xt?
I've got xt on one bike and they are perfect. Another bike elwith xt has me constantly fettling them to match the power of the other ones.
I love Shimano because of ease of bleed and mineral oil but I want ones like on my black bike not the ones on my orange bike.

I have hope e4, v4 and xt on three bikes.

Had a 5min go on @loverofminkeys with code RSC.

(Whisper it) the codes were better than mine.

Had a 1 Min go on some saints. In a flat car park they felt the same as my xt.

Can you not go back to your previous non thick rotor  set up?

I've moved from shitty SRAM code R to saints and they work so much betterer.
And before anyone thinks I am a SRAM hater, I run Guide RSC on my other bike and love them.
The saints have decent bite and the lever feels solid with much less throw than the SRAMs.

I was an avid Shimano fan until the other week when I put some Magura MT7 on my bike with 220 rotors front and back.

Jesus wept they are strong.

Quite fancy the Hayes dominion A4 to replace my saints

I was an avid Shimano fan until the other week when I put some Magura MT7 on my bike with 220 rotors front and back.

Jesus wept they are strong.

Good to hear. I'm currently running Zees but thinking about switching to MT7s. Replacing leaking levers in Shimano every couple of years didn't used to be a big deal, but now they're quite a bit more expensive and more scarce, the equation has changed.

I'm thinking of moving over as well @scienceofficer, XTs that have had a bit too much battle damage, and now just not bleeding well or feeling good, replaced one lever twice due to damage in the last 2 years and the third is on its last legs as well!

Personally thinking MT7 Pro, had them before and they're good, but i prefer natural 1 finger levers, also interested in the Hayes Dominion A4s, but can't seem to see them available anywhere for a decent price, have they been discontinued?

I’m waiting on these as a change from XTR, but they’ll work with your Code RSC levers too (I assume different seals.)

https://612-parts.com/products-2/

(Link is to some calipers, not just rotors)

Be interesting to see how they match up to Trickstuff.