Any experiences with the Zoom xtech HB-100 brakes – too cheap?

I’m currently trying to resurrect my monstercross SS that’s currently brakeless on minimal budget for upcoming winter use so I was about to stick a set of cheap mechanical brakes on it (terrible/worse than cantis) but came across these, Zoom xtech HB-100  brakes, get ok reviews on the aliexpress page but can’t find any other info. Any experiences with them?

I’m currently using some Juin Tech R1s on another bike which are great, but they are ~£110 compared to these at £24 a set, so tempted to give them a go anyway!

No experience of those but definitely worth a look on eBay for something (probably better) that’s nearly new or new / old stock.

Ive had a few brake bargains the last few years – picked up new avid bb5’s for about what you’re suggesting paying for the zoom brakes, paid £35 for a pair of hydraulic Deore m535’s complete with rotors (also brand new) and then about£70 or £80’(I forget) for nearly new Guide R’s complete with a full Sram official bleed kit for them.

I’ve had pretty bad experiences with BB5 brakes (one failed completely and the other never stopped squealing no matter what pads, disk or even bike is was on) so wanted to avoid if possible. I also have a huge stock of the old shimano pads meaning I could run these for a fair few years for free!

Gonna be going on a monstercross so needs to be drop bar compatible making 99% of the ebay bargains not applicable for this bike sadly!

So for those interested , I ended up ordering a pair and they arrived on Saturday! A slightly interesting setup as the cable angles didn’t suit the frames internal routing exit point but once fitted they bedded in nicely.

Went for the first ride and they seem to be pretty damn good, yes not shimano hydro level but better than any mechanical brake I’ve used (bb5, bb7, spyre)  and have completely silent operation which is also nice!

I’ll update after a few months of use on how they hold up to mud and grit!

How are they getting on?

They’re still doing well, on original pads and good power, did have to adjust after a couple of rides but only mibor. Due to illness only ridden about 4/5 times so not a true long term review yet.

Any update on this, just seen someone else recommending them on Facebook so interested to see how you are getting on

Sorry, none at all, the bike has been sat in the shed since early December as have been using the CX bike predominantly in the winter mud!

I was going to suggest these but saw the original thread was from 3 months ago:
https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-parts/bike-brakes/clarks-mechanical-mountain-bike-brake-system

In case anyone is still interested, due to other issues with the bike it’s only been ridden a few times in the last 9 months, but the brakes are still working as they were out of the box. As I’ve been asked a few times over the message system I’m using my with road pull levers as I’m pretty sure that’s how they are designed as the lever feel is good as is the power.

I have some of these on order.

My road bike is about 5\6 years old now, had a number of services and numerous moving parts have been replaced over the years but brakes are original and bordering on dangerous (Promax cable disk brakes – the adjuster screws are rounded out so i cant get them set well now even with new pads). They have got so bad partly as i have been procrastinating over the solution (upgrade the calipers, upgrade to hydro, upgrade to new bike).

In the end i have gone for these as a cheap option with a slightly longer term plan of upgrading to a new bike with full hydro disks. Spending £25 on these as opposed to £100+ for something from a more reputable brand. The saving applied to the new bike fund.

I will report back.

What kind of pads do they take?

Same as Deore as I recall. Had a set of these which worked well for about three years, then stopped and weren’t serviceable so replaced with Giant Conduct.

What kind of pads do they take?

Yes standard shimano type and i have some knocking around somewhere which is a result.

Same as Deore as I recall. Had a set of these which worked well for about three years, then stopped and weren’t serviceable so replaced with Giant Conduct.

I looked into Giant conduct but wasn’t sure if it would fit my stem, the extra cost of a stem put me off. I will take 3 years – the plan is to run it into the ground and then upgrade the bike. I would have done it sooner but it has a nice set of Superstar wheels that are only 2 years old. If these brakes are as good as i hope then i will stick a new chain and cassette maybe new bar tape but that will be it.

Giant conduct is definitely worth it. They are cheap on eBay and performance way ahead of the cable or part hydro calipers. If you need calipers (a lot of sets are flat mount) then they are tektro calipers which are easier and cheap (I have one brake with a giant branded caliper and one with a tektro one, calipers are identical other than logo). Try to get the SL version as easier to adjust.

Looks like I’ve seen this too late but Planet X appear to have bb7s for about £24 per end (callipers only) at the moment.

Looks like I’ve seen this too late but Planet X appear to have bb7s for about £24 per end (callipers only) at the moment.

That was an option but from my reading up these should outperform BB7s and cost half the price. As per the title – are they too cheap? I will find out.

I’ll let you know how I get on, I’ve just ordered a pair for my Charge Plug, as the current Promax efforts are bloody awful.

If the OP is still around, how did they compare to your Juin R1s?

I’ve tried: Shimano somethings (terrible), BB7s (better, but still pretty terrible), Spyres (Good when you get them in the sweet spot, but hours of faffing to get them there), V-Twins (Good – but they stopped working for some reason. Didn’t have a bleed kit to hand, so went back to the Spyres), and Juin R1s (happiest so far).

These look a fairly similar setup to the R1s, so I’m tempted to give them a go.

Well I’ve decided to take a punt on these over BB7s. Thanks OP!

I had a set of Zooms on my daily commuter for 7 months. They were grand, certainly an improvement on any of the cable discs I’ve used; bb5’s, spyres and cheaper units in terms of power and consistency. Worked without issue until the bike got nicked. This post has just prompted me to get a new set for my grade.

I’m interested in these too….but to just to confirm it is a cable actuated hydraulic caliper? I assume they can be bled if needed?

Don’t think so, at least I never figured out how despite lots of googling. As I say, they worked when fitted then continued to work well until they stopped (and I didn’t). I did replace the originals which were black with red ones briefly, which are now on my 9 year olds daughter’s bike. Good upgrade from her basic cable disks and I can’t see her breaking them.

Looks like a port by the “X” at the end of the master cylinder?

Guess just attach a syringe/funnel and flush in/out the same port?

Mine turned up today.

They seem alright if a bit cheaply made and finished but then for £30 to my door who’s bothered?

They are much better than the god awful promax render R calipers I removed.

Only gone round the block on them as I retaped and changed the sealant on my wheels while I had it apart and wanted to get it round the wheel a bit.

They are more powerful, they feel nicer. They’re easy to set up but be wary of your seat stay clearance as on some frames it could make centering a bit of a faff (was a mare on my Charge Plug!).

Tbh at £30 I’m chuffed that I’ve improved the brakes on one of my bikes.

They weigh the same as the mechanical efforts I removed too.

Mine arrived this am, popped them on this evening and away we go. Instant improvement on the cheap tektro’s they replaced and they were feeling very nice after the pads bedded in on their maiden ride. If they do as well as the last I’ll be chuffed. If anyone is interested I’m happy to do the odd update?

@theboatman an update would be great. Currently building up a Marin Gestalt but not sold on mechanicals and hydros too pricey just now. These seem like a good option.

If anyone is interested I’m happy to do the odd update?

Please do 🙂

They look pretty good on that black frame.

is evening and away we go. Instant improvement on the cheap tektro’s they replaced and they were feeling very nice after the pads bedded in on their maiden ride. If they do as well as the last I’ll

Had mine on for about a week now. Took a while as I had an issue with the cable alignment. As you can see from the pic the cable goes in to the calliper at a 45 degree angle. My bike has internal routing and the exit hole is about 3 inches from the calliper. Not enough room to get it to run in nicely without having to bend down and then up. I ended up re routing a break outer from the exit point under the BB. Not an aesthetically great outcome but its hardly visible and it works better than 3 inches of extremely bent cable outer. Note i did try it that way and it was clearly causing issues.

Performance wise. Really good. Much better than every other cable break i have tried.

Bad points. The resistance spring is to weak for my liking. I mentioned the issue with the cable and a stronger spring to reset the calliper would have reduced the issue i had and would generally improve the feel.
I’d also say there doesn’t seem to be any adjustment other than via the cable – same with other hydraulics but will have to wait to see how they are when the pads wear down a bit.

Few dry rides in and these still aren’t awful.

Regarding adjustment, there’s a slave cylinder adjustment as well (the actuating pushrod is threaded and there’s an allen cut in the base) you can wind in the pre-load there as well as doing the cable tension.

Any update on how people have found these after a winters worth of crud and shite?

I had these on the bike for a couple of months but with lockdown ending my commuting i sold the bike in the end.

In the circa 3 months i had them and circa 10 rides i was very impressed. The braking power is unquestionably the best from any cable calliper i have tried. My only criticism would be they seem to have a soft reset, you need the brake to spring back to help pull the cable back through once you release and while it works I would want it to be much firmer. I guess that is where a full hydro comes in as with these you get decent feel in terms of loading pressure up but releasing pressure is a bit vague. All depends on use but for me on a road bike that is not the end of the world as what really counts is that you can stop from high speed. I wouldn’t want them on a downhill bike where braking and modulation of braking is a massive thing.

Also worth noting that the cable feeds in to these at a funny angle so i could not use them with the internal routing in the chain stay. I just ran the cable out at the BB and into am outer that was zip tied on. Have a look at the pictures of these fitted to bikes and you will see that the cable on the rear comes out at a funny angle for many frames. (no issue on the front).

So in summary – for any cable disk road bike/gravel bike (drop bars) these are a no brainer upgrade. If you have a flat bar bike then just get a full hydro set up.

I ended up consolidating my bikes so ended up switching these out for the juin tech equivalents purely on the factor that the HB100 was missing the tool free adjust and bling factor of the Juin tech brakes. The longish term performance was good, never let me down and didn’t eat pads quicker than any other brakes. I echo the thoughts of uwe-r that they have a soft reset and the cable angles are a little odd compared to some brands.

There’s a YouTube channel called Wolftick Videos. They’ve fitted these brakes in their last video and likely the next video they up will be a field test. They specialise in fair reviews of popular budget components so might be worth a watch.

Bit the bullet on these for €26! in total, which isn’t much more than a set of pads F+R. I’m going to throw them on my Marin Nicasio+ gravel bike and see how they go

Holy thread resurrection batman! Any thought on how these work on road levers, as I only seem to be able to find MTB versions now. could do with something like this to go on my old 2014 disc road/cross/ bike.

Ta!

Just in case anyones considering these. Mine failed after a few months on a cargo bike.

Main piston seal has gone (the one that operates the brakes) leaking oil over the caliper and pads.

They are in the bin now, original cable brakes back on the bike.