Braided Hoses – Worth It Or Fad?

About to order a set of Tech M4 brakes to replace my old Mono4s. Looking at the options, i’m going for floating rotors, but i’m unsure about the braided hose option. Prefer the look of black to be honest. 😆
So is there a real performance benefit to the braided hose or is it minimal if at all? The bike is for XC and all day stuff.
The brakes are going on this:

Cheers for your thoughts,

Jack

alps or DH courses yes, but XC in the UK, er no.

For my car – yes, the pedal feel was massively different (over the old rubbers). For a bike, not sure it’d make much odds unless you’re maxing out the brakes anyway, so the percentage increase in stiffness of the walls and the extra heat dissipation (if there is any) wouldnt really be noticable.

If the hoses are old and spongy then a set of braided and a bleed will make a huge difference, you’ve got some low rent callipers and you need a bit of extra umph, or the route to the rear is particularly tortuous, then I’d recommend them. but otherwise it’s a bit overkill. They do however add a little sparkle, and there’s nowt wrong with that.

Ignoring perceived performance differences- braided hoses wont kink in a crash/knock, which could lead to splitting.

I’m not really aware of any performance benefits – but they are undoubtedly more flexible and, as scruff says, are therefore a bit more accident-proof. Also – they’re a lot less likely to induce frame/fork damage due to cable rub.

Braided do help. I upgraded some Hayes, and the result was firmer, more immediate bite, and more power. You can also get black braided hoses from Goodridge, dunno about OEM.

Cheers guys.
I’ve never had any problems with the existing Mono4s. Just upgrading them so they can be donated to another project.
So possibly a bit more feel? Looks like normal black hoses then. (and i’ll try not to crash)

Thanks,
Jack

druidh, why are they less likely to rub paint off?

CaptainMainwaring – Member

druidh, why are they less likely to rub paint off?

Being softer, they tend to flex less where actually connected to the frame (i.e. there’s more scope for flexing elsewhere). Might be a bit difficult to explain / imagine, sorry.

They do however add a little sparkle, and there’s nowt wrong with that.

True! ;0)

braided hoses wont kink in a crash/knock, which could lead to splitting.

Have you ever heard of that happening? Because I never have, not ever, not even close….
🙄

braided hoses wont kink in a crash/knock, which could lead to splitting.

Have you ever heard of that happening? Because I never have, not ever, not even close….

Yes seen it happen.

placebo effect ime – better spending your money on something more tangible

had the new m4 tech brake for a week, floating rotor warped, and disc got very hot on one small downhill, i was not impressed with them at all.
The new lever is very clunky, and dosent sit well with shimano shifters.
I was so impressed i sold it and went back to my formulas.
They look wonderful, but i found they performed far worse than they looked