Never used RSC’s but recently swapped guide r for Hope E4’s. The guides weren’t bad but prefer the E4’s
Sadly, the Guide R is a budget brake, and is vastly inferior to the RS/RSC/Ultimate spec brakes. The R’s really let the team down!
Anything RS and above however… I’ve ridden pretty much all the top offerings on the market, and I choose to run Guides. Happy enough with RS’ but recently a friend was selling some Ultimates cheaply (Shimano brake fan that can’t update his prejudices!) so now running those on my full sus and they’re lovely!
The Hope’s were better than the XTR’s but still not as good as the Guides. Never thought I would say that about an Avid brake after the Juicy & Elixirs.
Basically this… I took some convincing to try the Guides in the first place after how woeful Elixir’s were, but I’d started desiring more modulation than XT’s could offer. Bought a Whyte T-129 as a stop gap whilst I was waiting for my Evil Following to arrive, it came with Guide RS’s on, they completely surprised me just how good they were! Been Guides pretty much all the way since…
Don’t get me wrong, its not all been plain sailing, have had to warranty a couple of brakes (seems the pistons in the early levers swelled a lot making them nigh on useless), and the early calipers were a PITA to get a good solid bleed on (G4 caliper and Bleeding Edge Tool has fixed that for sure, though it does require the purchase of a new tool just to bleed them which can also be seen as a detractor maybe). Love the way they integrate with a Reverb and my SRAM shifter though, and IMO the lever shape is spot on too.
Still got M785 XT’s on my HT, primarily cos I paid almost nothing for them and with smaller rotors on that and the type of riding I do on it, I’m not so bothered about modulation as I am on my full sus. But tempted to swap out for more Guides or even Level brakes on that too.
As for Hopes…? Yeah they’re fine, lots more modulation than Shimano, more even than the SRAM Guide’s probably, but I find the E4’s very slightly lacking in power for their size, and there’s no getting away from the cost of them. Also not particularly a fan of the machined looks, or the lever shape. I’d happily run them if someone else is paying, but if I’m buying my own brakes then I’ll just get whatever Guides I can at a good price.