What do you think of that ?.

Regular hose is the inner core, which is really really hard, a woven fiber midlayer and an equally hard outer casing.
Braided hose has the same inner core, but a softer outer casing, and a very flexible knitted wire mid.

Just a thought.

Aren’t both braided?

But yes, stainless outers in brake hose don’t help. I’m sure Hope did some testing a good while back and made the results public.

Even if it did, the isolated benefits would be so small that no/very few humans could detect it. IMO, as someone with both kinds.

Someone will be along in a minute to say how their brakes were transformed by them.

Got braided hoses on my mk2 golf gti and they make a noticeable difference but on a bike?, purely for looks and im on the fence about the whole “more secure in a crash” scenario

They’re just more flexible I think.

Got braided hoses on my mk2 golf gti and they make a noticeable difference

Modern, standard rubber hoses expand less for the same pressure.

Cars use steel tubing for fixed sections and short flexible hoses where they need to move. Performance cars will use aerospace grade braided hoses. In those cases, the brake lines are quite long and the pressures high, so brake lines need to be rigid. On bikes, it just isn’t such a problem. If I was racing DH at WC level, I’d look at it, but for what normal people do, it’s not going to make any difference.

Most quality bike brakes have kevlar hose as standard and have done for ages, braided steel performs the same, it’s just heavier and bulkier. So usually it’s a downgrade, but people think it looks nice and some influencial companies have dubiously sold it as an upgrade (looking at you here Hope) so that sticks.

Even on cars and motorbikes, rubber hoses perform fine- but the lifespans are longer, my motorbike had a 10 year replacement cycle for the rubber hoses and how many pushbike hoses get to 10 years (and then get replaced with braided?)

Replace tired parts with new, and a good bleed with new fluid, and sure you’ll see an improvement. You’ll tend to replace pads at the same time and so you’ll see an even bigger improvement. Best of luck idenftifying where the improvement actually came from though!

Isn’t braided just a bit more durable? I’ve never thought it was supposed to offer any performance benefits.

I’ve never kinked a braided hose.

They look nice, which is a benefit. And in the case of BMW motorbikes, they’re about half the price of the OEM rubber hoses. Which is also a benefit.

Many people who upgrade to braided hoses see a benefit simply because they usually change most of the fluid at the same time.

Many people who upgrade to braided hoses see a benefit simply because they usually change most of the fluid at the same time.

And bleed them, obviously. The bleeding is what probably makes most of the difference.

I’ve never liked the look of them, never thought they could improve braking performance, thicker, heavier, more complicated to install and only of benefit if you crash a lot.

I have Hope E4’s with standard hoses on one bike and braided on the other. The only time I can tell a difference is when I look at them. Also the braided ones being a bit thicker can make them a pain to fit in some clips/cable guides.

Changed the hoses on my v4s to plain black stuff because the ‘extra flexibility’ is a pita when it comes to robbing. And they also look shit.

The newer Hope braided hoses are the same outer diameter as normal black hoses and are covered in a soft rubber so fit fine and are no different from a rubbing POV. IMO there is no noticeable difference in brake performance but they are much more flexible. I find this useful as it means they are much more forgiving for putting bags on the bars and if you have tight routing. Clearly they look different too!!

They’re just more flexible I think.

I’d agree with you there. Comes in some fetching colours though 😀

So more flexible seems a current theme, but more flexible could mean the hose can move and want to straighten out more than a more rigid hose.

If I was racing DH at WC level, I’d look at it,

Did you ever look at how many WC bikes are running braided hoses?

I used to have the ultra light hoses on my old Mono Minis. I changed them for braided because I happened to have some and I didn’t want to throw them out. Very slight improvement in initial contact feel.

Does your brake have a servo? How much force (psi) are you exerting with your index finger.

Answers to these questions should help you identify whether braided hoses for bicycles offer a genuine performance gain, or are in fact just snake oil for people with cash burning a hole in their pockets.

Performance cars will use aerospace grade braided hoses.

Aircraft don’t use braided hoses. They have reinforced rubber hoses just like the standard hoses on cars and the hydraulic systems on aircraft Are pressurised to a much higher pressure.

It’s marketing. Older aged rubber hoses might have lost some of their integrity so you might notice a different if you installed braided hoses just as you would if you installed new rubber reinforced hoses.

wobbliscott
Subscriber

Older aged rubber hoses might have lost some of their integrity so you might notice a different if you installed braided hoses just as you would if you installed new rubber reinforced hoses.

Yup. Though, for cars and motorbikes, braided aftermarket hoses are generally the cheaper option too. Certainly were for me both times I’ve done it.

Id agree they make no difference on a mountainbike. But…..

Modern, standard rubber hoses expand less for the same pressure.

In reference to car hoses that’s rubbish. The rubber hoses degrade, and swell, over time untill eventually the pistons don’t retract and you trash the pads and disk. Which is sub-optimal even if you can’t feel a difference.

If the new Hope ones are sheathed, great, because, the old ones were great at rubbing marks into your lovely frame.
So I guess its down to the desire for flexibility.
When saving m money on BMW m/bike hoses is that saving mentioned here with braided actually all about moving away from OEM parts? Meaning aftermarket “normal” hoses would be even cheaper? If they are even available.

On motorcycle yes, on mtb NO