Any Hayes Dominion users?

Looking at upgrading the codes on my Levo and am considering the Dominions.

Are there any users on here that could give me a real world reveiw?

Are they as powerful as the online magazine reviews make out?

Any issues with the larger diameter hose going though internal routing ?

Thanks

Steve

Light lever pull, good power. Hoses went ok on the banshee, but its got big old ports.
I mainly got them because they bite so quickly and the lever action is really light, both of which are useful for me as I have knackered wrists. Can’t really comment on power as I weigh so little. I have glazed pads on it in the alps, but no other heat issues.

I think enduro did a test of all brakes against a flywheel a while back and they didn’t come out on top as far as ultimate power goes, it’s the feel and precise bite point you’re getting. They come on a heck of a lot quicker than codes or guides, but its smooth, unlike say the real initial yank you get with servo wave shimano.

I’ve got 2 pairs, they replaced Code RSCs on both my bikes.

I find the power fine in all situations, though I’m not the heaviest at 55kg, and they’re easy to self-service and do general maintenance on. They’re a much nicer feel than SRAM or Shimano in my opinion.

The larger diameter hose was a problem on my Orbea Rise because there’s a plastic hose cover thing where it leaves the frame to go over the motor and then re-enters the rear triangle. Said plastic cover wasn’t large enough for the wider diameter hose so I chucked it in a box and got on with my life. The rest of the internal routing was fine.

My hose cutter really struggled with the Hayes stuff, I think it’s Kevlar lined, but that’s my only complaint!

They’re bloody brilliant. I’m a very big chap and the power is phenomenal.

Levers are very nice, and they’re closer to Shimano in feel, but have a bit more modulation. 

Internal routing on my Bird Aeris 9 was a little tricky with the fatter hose but do-able. 

The hype is real and they’re well worth it.

The best brakes bar none for me, better than shimano, magur,a hope tech 4’s. Reliable, powerful and very light lever feel.

Lots of power for low finger effort. Immediately sorted out my hand pain from comfort braking and made me a lot faster.

For an objective perspective on power, check out the leverage ratio in this spreadsheet compared to rivals.

The hose is 5.5mm. My bike is externally routed but it didn’t fit in the clamp on my 2021 Pike. I bodged it onto the clamp with two cable ties at 90deg to each other, but eventually got annoyed with it and stumped up for an NSB cable guide.

I’ve bled them once just as a routine thing, no difficulty and didn’t need to use the 2nd bleed ports on the caliper.

The crosshair system for aligning them is really useful, but also necessary as they run very close when pads are new. Best way I found is to shine a torch from beneath towards you, then rotate the wheel (no disc is perfectly true) and slowly adjust them into place.

My most recent set of semi-metallic front pads wore out unevenly and were done in under 200km (previous did 800km) due to a sticky piston. That’s just trail riding and I’m a light rider. The other end of the bleed block is designed to exercise pistons so I did that a few times, looked a bit better but I’m still not 100% convinced it’s sorted.

The distributor used to be Hotlines but that came to an end. There was no distributor for perhaps the best part of a year, but Hayes did help a few people out by sending hoses, barbs, and pads direct from Germany (sometimes free). The new distributor is https://www.urbanmotoparts.co.uk/ as of quite recently.

Another happy user here. I have these on my hardtail and XT 4 pot on my full sus and these overall I find more consistent. 

Just to jump in, I also rate them really highly. Tonnes of power (I’m 95kg with gear), more modulation than the shimano xt’s they replaced. No issue with hose sizes routing through a propain tyee or nukeproof reactor, I have found that spares have been a pain to get hold of, including the OEM sintered pads (which IMO are far superior to any others I’ve tried including Galfer), but Hayes have sent some stuff to me for free directly which was helpful.

Yup. 93kg in my birthday suit here and they are the strongest brakes I possess, also feel the best. I prefer them to the Codes I have on the eeb,and Shimano zee I have on the HT.

I managed to pick up a pair discounted for 86 quid and end. I found the oem pads wore excessively quickly and lacked urgency, but my favourite Galfer purples sorted that out easily.

I do worry about spares and support, but at that price it was silly not to give them a punt.

I got some on my 141, ther where ok, lever feel was nice but they where let down by feeling a bit cheep, the clamps and matchmaker felt brittle, the hose did what it wanted, I looked for spares as I had a couple of holidays and races but they where expensive or not available.
I sold them and got another set of Formula Cura from Elro, the Formulas feel great in every respect, very set and forget, I have them on both bikes with no issue after hard use.

@godzilla what’s your lever feel like on your cura?

just put a set on with the formula 2.3 rotors and find the lever feel pretty solid and very sharp

I hadnt thought about the availability of spares to be fair.

What are the other options? Hope T4V4 ?

I have a new-ish set – feel great, well priced, and don’t leak (so ahead of shimano already). For UK riding I doubt they will be a game-changer for me, but my hands felt ruined by the end of my last Alps trip so I am hoping they make a difference there.

They are pretty clearly a great brake, but plenty of hard-descending folk ride codes as their preference, is there something about the codes you don’t like?

The codes have just been very unreliable.

The have done less than 100 miles and burnt through a set of rear pads, have sticky pistons and I have to keep pumping the rear one to prevent it coming to the bars.

I want something that is fit and forget and a consistent feel.

They feel good to me, pretty solid but I don’t need to pull them too hard, the levers are long so I run them in a little more, they work well with one finger, I’ve been riding a good bit in Italy with lots of folk that run Formula and I get comfort from knowing I can get them sorted fairly easily if need be, the discs are cheap but about the best quality I’ve used, they are heavy compared to Hayes but Hayes rotors are twice the price and nothing special, Formula fittings are also great quality too, Elro price matched so they came in at a very sensible price imho.
I ran Hope M4 then V4 for years they where good and probably still going well now but I don’t think they are all that in the power department, I’ve had them fade and scream horrifically with sintered pads.
I also ran Codes for three years which I rate, but the calipers seem to get sticky pistons over time and start running to one side more, they also seem sensitive to pad choice.

To be

the OEM sintered pads (which IMO are far superior to any others I’ve tried including Galfer)

@kraken2345 which Galfers? I have the Advanced (Red) ready to try next.

I sold them and got another set of Formula Cura from Elro, the Formulas feel great in every respect, very set and forget, I have them on both bikes with no issue after hard use.

@godzilla According to the spreadsheet I posted, the A4s should be 15% more powerful – do you feel any difference in power or finger effort required?

The both feel very different, Cura do everything I want in a short bit of thro and pull to a hard stop, Hayes have a lot more throw and a softer stop.
I didn’t see the graph until just now, it didn’t make much sense to be honest, I’ll have a better look later.
I went from 203/203 with the Hayes to 203/183 with Formula and haven’t wanted for more power at 13st.