I have the opportunity to buy some second hand Mono M4’s and I’m wondering if they’ll be suitable for my kind of riding. I have a ’09 Trance X and I do xc and some fairly fast techy stuff too and I’m 12 stone. I’m not after downhiller brakes but something fairly powerful is needed. At the moment I’m just about getting by with my juicy 3’s but they scare me sometimes.

I think the m4’s might be about 3 or 4 years old so I’m wondering if they age well? What are they like to set up and maintain? What pads are good ones to get and what’s the pad life like? Have you had any problems with these brakes? Any info greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Before the m4 mono was the m4. Before that was the e4. That’s the brake I use on three bikes. Awesome brakes and you can still get the bits to make them work like new if they don’t already. If you don’t want them, let me know how much he’s asking.

Damn good, IMHO, i’m about 12 stone and head into corners way too fast and they have never let me down. Although my tyre choice does quite regularly.

Haven’t used the mono m4’s but I’ve been running m4’s for a couple of years and they’re good. I’m about 12 stone and ride a fair bit of downhill. I use 203mm up front and 180mm on the rear, I did notice a fair improvement doing that from 180mm and 160mm respectively.

Had no issues with them and easy to bleed (not that I do it often…)

im 13 stone and use mono m4s on my dh bike which is 40lbs itself
200/180mm discs and theyve been excellent alps, scotland, wales dh uplifts, races etc etc

Ok thanks. I’ll let you know Onza if I don’t want them. I haven’t heard much bad about Hope brakes and I’m thinking they can only be better than my Juicy 3’s. It’ll probably come down to if they’re working properly or need new parts.

I’ve always had M4’s on my bikes, Highly recommend them! 😀

M4 monos on my hardtail and FS since 2005. 12 stone here and running 180mm discs F&R. Never had a problem, as above give you a lot of control charging fast into corners. Also as above lots of spares so you can keep them forever if you want..

I have mono M4’s on my bike and they have served me well for the last 5 ish years. Stunning brakes, perfectly serviceable and pimpable with coloured bits. I have recently changed all the seals in my leavers and calipers and they are like new. Easy job to do.

Double post.

Got old silver M4s and Mono6 Ti here. Amazing stopping power.

Worth the extra weight you carry around IMHO.

Love ’em. Look great, work great. No fuss, awesome brakes.

I’ve had them for a good few years now. Great brakes. We’ve got them now on all bikes. Nice feel/modulation. Power is superb

I agree with all the above. Good brakes, wot I run…….

I have M4’s and Tech 4;s both great prefer the feel of the M4’S SO GO FOR IT.

I’ve put the brakes on my bike. They don’t feel that sharp yet but I didn’t expect them too as I’m not sure the rotors are compatible and the pads look very shiny.

I think I will probably buy these brakes, get the right rotors, bleed them and sort out the pads.

What would be good rotors to get and what kind of pads would you recommend using with them? Should my Juicy 3 rotors be compatible with these brakes or not? Thanks.

I think I will probably buy these brakes, get the right rotors, bleed them and sort out the pads.

A good bleed and stick some (at the risk of being flamed) red Kevlar superstar components pads in. Awesome pads, so far.

Thanks Neil. Can you recommend any rotors please?

Being a bit of a bike tart I went for the Hope coloured floating saw rotor ones to match my blue pro2’s. No different to the standard ones TBH. What I would recommended is setting them up properly by watching the video guides on hopes website. They are slightly trickier to set up than most brakes but taking the time to do it correctly will pay dividends. Chill out, make a coffee and take your time over getting the calipers and pads lined up.

I have put a +20mm adapter on my front caliper to up the rotor size to 200mm. A very big difference in power over my old 180mm setup.

GiantJaunt – Member

I’ve put the brakes on my bike. They don’t feel that sharp yet

Hopes tend to have a different lever feel to other brakes – less initial bite and more modulation – confused by some folk with lack of power but M4s did us fine on the tandem for power

Got old type gold borecap m4 on the front with 185 float rotor. My rear pissed fluid on a ride a while back, had to rely on the front only on some quite fast, steep descents. did the job no prob. (i’m 11 st.)

TandemJeremy – Member

Hopes tend to have a different lever feel to other brakes – less initial bite and more modulation – confused by some folk with lack of power but M4s did us fine on the tandem for power

I should be able to lock my back wheel up at high speed with these brakes though shouldn’t I?

Indeed you should – easily. If you can’t there is something wrong with them. contaminated pads would be my first guess

OK thanks. I was thinking that too. You can kind of tell the power is there but the pads are very shiney so I’ll replace.

Try sanding them and the disc first. Might just be glazed

OK thanks. I’ll do that. I once tried that on some juicy pads I’d spilled dot fluid on and they were fine. Never tried sanding the discs though.

just lightly on the discs fine fine paper if at all

My M4s managed their first winter with just one teasing sticky pistons episode, but the rear has been giving me jip recently. The pistons keep on sticking despite loads of Hunters silicone juice and numerous teasings. Maybe needs a rebuild.