Hope brake fanbois, you won’t want these

Just upgraded from Tech 2 M4 to Tech 4 E4 s ahead of an alps trip. Cut the hoses, bled and test rode them last night and my, what an upgrade in power – might actually take a bit of getting used to to stop locking up on gravel.

Just reading above stories of lots of air getting in, possibly from lying the bike down on a car journey and what I really noticed doing the bleed, was that the fluid reservoir is sloped – unlike the Tech 2- when the bike is in the stand and the lever brought up to be level. “Well that’s obviously going to leave lots of air in there when I roll on the diaphragm” I thought – so I got my son to tilt the frame so I could brim it as I’ve always done.

Could it be people are leaving lots of air in due to the reservoir shape and this is what goes into the system when the bikes on it’s side?

@crossed

Full Member

Are the master cylinders all the same on the Tech 4 brakes?

I’ve currently got a set with X2 flat mount calipers but thinking of trying some E4’s for a new build. It would save a healthy chunk of change if I can just swap the calipers rather than buying complete brakes.

The calipers have upgraded pistons, stainless hybrid rather than phenolic. However, it’s the lever that really makes the difference due to the smaller master cylinder and revised pivot location.

when the bike is in the stand and the lever brought up to be level

Its the reservoir that is supposed to be level not the lever which would achieve the same thing.

Thanks for that @Onzadog I might just grab a full set in that case.

Now I just need to decide between the X2’s and the E4’s. I think the X2’s with 180mm rotors might be enough for my riding.

Just back from a few days in Morzine.  Tech 4 E4s performed flawlessly, plenty of power and very consistent lever feel (200mm SRAM centreline rotors).  Put in a set of standard Galfer sintered pads before going out and bedded in, not a peep from them and rode in all weathers and plenty of pad life left.  Others didn’t have such a good time, we had a set of wandering bite point Saints and Formula’s, plus. broken Magura clamp (fortunately the mechanic tent in Chatel had a spare in a bits box).

Bike travelled in a bag and no issues with lever feel on rebuilding.  It’s been sat in the bag since I’ve been home, so will see if this is replicated on the way back.

@ta11pau1 probably not much help but last year I got through a week (6 days riding) in Les Arcs with White Room without needing to change pads and they lasted another month or so when home. That was green front, red rear. Going for the same this year, with a second set of both bedded and ready to go.

Put in a set of standard Galfer sintered pads

Actually the standard pads are organic.  Just checked, standard Galfer Black pads.

I’ve read quiet a lot about ‘long leaver throw’ and it being down to ‘poor bleed/air in the system’.

Some users have suggested rather than a traditional Hope bleed, a reverse bleed (from the calliper up) is better for dislodging air.

Any views or experience here?

And if you guys would recommend a reverse bleed, what process are you following?  Same as I’d do for Shimano?  I have the Hope bleed kit.

Cheers!

Is this any good? http://www.totalbleedsolutions.co.uk/collections/hope/products/genuine-hope-brake-bleed-kit-tech-4-no-brake-fluid

I haven’t bled mine yet and I’ve got a tin full of mucky old syringes which I don’t want to touch anymore.

For the tiny minority of us that have managed to get your Tech 4 V4s to run silent, what rotors and pads are you running?

Green pads, vented rotors. Not ridden them in proper filth yet though.

My E4’s aren’t silent, but they are more quiet. TRP R1 2.3mm thick 203mm diameter rotors, hope/galfer red pads.

Was on hope floating rotors and various cheap pads previously.

One of mine needed a bleed straight out the box, absolutely useless, quality control needs looking into. All good otherwise.

I dropped 175ml through my front and 140 through the back before I was vaguely happy with the lever throw on my tech4/V4s. In the end strapping the levers up under pressure with the bike in the stand for a few hours fixed it.  I’ve had shimano do similar before. But not hope.

One of mine needed a bleed straight out the box, absolutely useless, quality control needs looking into.

didn’t you need to shorten the hose/bleed anyway?

Just thought I’d add that my V4’s survived nearly 30,000m of descending over 8 days in the Alps with ease, just a reset of the pistons required most days to get the bite point back to normal thanks to pad wear.

I initially used the green pads but with the huge amount of brake dragging I was doing they really didn’t like that amount of heat so I swapped to the purple e-bike pads and these were awesome, only complaining on the longest, draggiest, steepest trails (where, I might add, several other ‘lesser’ brakes either boiled fluid, or lost all braking, or levers went to the bar, or all the above). The tech 4 v4 just kept on trucking!!

yeah i will add that too – only just recently noticed it and it makes a huge difference

reset your pistons very very regular! if you dont the lever feel quickly diminishes to almost squidgy, randomly i was giving them a good clean a few months back, and reset the pistons as part of the clean…..night and day difference, i was thinking it was really odd as the pads were getting worn but now all of a sudden the braking felt like i had new pads in (which they werent and they were pretty worn)

so i kept an eye on them, felt ace for a while, then same again, so did the clean/reset and even with low pads now they still feel awesome again

now this is something ive never ever ever ever done on any of my previous brakes, so was a bit freaked out by it tbh, but it really does work, if you lever feels a bit crap and squidgy or not like there much bite there, i will very much imagine its like mine and the pistons need resetting

is this a normal procedure on hopes? never once did anything like this on my codes and i ran them almost down to metal sometime and the lever always felt the same

to keep them running with a good feel now i think it is a must to do this pretty often!

Not something I’ve ever needed to do on a lifetime of various Hope brakes daung back to the C2 Pro.

Trying to get my head around what’s going on inside for this piston reset to make a difference

I was having to do similar most days in the Alps, 4-5,000m of descending a day. I do it occasionally at home, maybe every 4-5 weeks which is probably a similar amount of descending. No idea what causes it but they did just keep on working!

@fathomer – niceeee! hope you had a great time mate! ahh yeah its not something im used to doing nor knew i had to do, but damn they feel ace again (like new pads) when you do it, glad its not just me then ha!

@onzadog – yep no idea, ive just kept doing it maybe 2 times a month perhaps, its incredible the difference in feel, no idea if i did something wrong bleeding initially for it to be like this now, but once i do it they do feel like new again even with worn pads

I don’t think it’s anything more than pad wear + sticky pistons caused by getting covered in dust all day long then that brake and dirt dust getting baked on at whatever temperature they get up to! 4-5000m a day is equivalent to either a VERY heavy week in Scotland or the lakes, or about 2 months normal local riding.

Hopes are very sensitive to set up, a fraction of a mm in pad gap can mean a big difference in feel at the bar.

I’ve just taken off my rear purple pads, I used them from day 3 onwards so 6 days of riding, this is Vs a brand new green pad… 😲 If you were using green pads all trip they would have worn faster. This was a brand new purple pad.

Tom Howard, yes a did need to shorten the hose anyway but with all the leaky pistons talk I thought I’d check before internally routing, makes it easier to put back in the box and return to Hope when it’s not threaded through my frame, anyway there was zero signs of leaking so proceeded with the routing and shortening, thanks for your question, not sure what your point was, shouldn’t they be good to go from the box, or are you just poking for kicks.

4-5000m a day is equivalent to a VERY heavy normal week in Scotland for me.

😉

I’m just back from a week in the Alps and I found the purple pads somewhat lacking.
Only had them in the rear with reds in the front and after the first day switched to green front red rear.
Was much better.
TBF we did some really slow speed steep stuff on the first day and everyone was struggling by the end of the ride.
Just felt like the pads weren’t gripping the rotor on the slow endo switchbacks trails. Felt fine on faster more open stuff.

Did 3 days dry riding in morzine on green pads and all good. Need to pop out the pads and check them but impressed with stopping power. Mates E4s overheated and a piston got seized as a result but that may have been due to old fluid/lack of bleed maybe.

Anyone know if the V4 calipers (just the replacement full caliper, not the whole brake) comes with pads?

No it doesn’t just bare caliper

One ride old Tech 4 V4 and i’ve got leaking pistons on one side….wish I’d had a read of this thread sooner.

How are all the people who’ve had them serviced getting on now?

Mine have been fine for about a year now. It will either be an improperly installed o-ring or out of spec machining in the caliper. Mine was both.

I ended up phoning them after replacing the seals a couple times, and after insisting there was something wrong they measured the calipers and found they were out of tolerance.

Cheers @wr404 Good to hear they’ll sort it one way or another.

Yeah, two seals were twisted on the same side when I popped the pistons out, hopefully thats the only issue. Hope are sending out a seal kit and a set of pads for me. Also spoke to Tredz who said if that doesn’t sort it they will send them back to hope FOC for me. Thumbs up for both Hope and Tredz customer service.

Mates E4s overheated and a piston got seized as a result but that may have been due to old fluid/lack of bleed maybe

Clearly an old thread, but this makes me wonder. Hope obviously make lovely products but they seem a bit service-sensitive.

I’ve been to the alps, found terror in Madeira, and ridden in Britain without a flush or full bleed on SRAM guide Rs that came with my bike. They work. And I fear I am a bit brake-heavy as I bimble down the trails. But no boils, no fails, and as much stopping as I want.

The only brake that has boiled and failed on me was a Hope mini.

Clearly an old thread, but this makes me wonder. Hope obviously make lovely products but they seem a bit service-sensitive.

I’ve got a set of Tech M4’s currently on my ht that are 12 years old that have been through multiple bikes with only a couple of bleeds and lots of pad changes. The Tech 3 E4’s on my current fs are 2.5 years old and have had a couple of fluid refreshes and I’m on the 5th set of pads on the front. That’s all with a 120kg+ rider doing occasional enduros and uplift days on a 130mm trail bike. The only time either set has misbehaved was when the pads were running low and the pistons didn’t seem to retract cleanly, Pushing them back in and fresh pads fixed it.

I am currently thinking of getting a set of Tech 4 V4’s after trying a mates for the fs and moving the E4’s onto the ht but it’s hard to justify the cost when the old brakes work so well.

@prettygreenparrot

Swings and roundabouts though really. Despite having an issue with these hopes I’ve had plenty of issues with Sram brakes in the past. I’ve had 1 set of guides that the lever pistons went swollen on each side, a set of codes that were decent but then another set that have been crap. The benefit being Sram brakes out of warranty are pretty much landfill and even during getting SRAM to sort them is a nightmare, whereas Hope said sent them in and we will sort them this week or we can send you bits to do yourself. Despite only needing 2 seals they send 2 rebuild kits and 2 sets of pads.

I’ve got some Code RSC’s at the moment which I’d like to launch into oblivion. Both pad contact adjusters are seized and I can’t get a satisfactory bleed without backing them off. You need a special tool (obviously) to dismantle the lever and sort them out. This tool is completely out of stock in the UK.

They need to survive a few more months until they get switched for a set of E4’s.

@sharkattack those adjusters on SRAM brakes are a pain.  Mine have always been ok but K’s are seized – it does’t take that much dust/mud/a tiny bit of wood.

But what’s the tool? I was looking into doing a rebuild on a SRAM lever and the kit seemed to come with everything you need (here on amazon)

Yeah that weird shaped red thing in the middle is what you need to extract the lever guts. I was in the LBS trying to order one and they couldn’t find it listed anywhere. I can get one online but I’m going away and I’ve ran out of time to mail order it from Europe.

I just hope the brakes survive Morzine without daily faffing. Then I’ll do the rebuild and probably fit the metal pistons. If that doesn’t vastly improve the reliability I’m be binning them.

I’ve got one here. It’s part of the rebuild kit.

Could you get it to Sheffield in 48 hours?