[Closed] Hope tech 3 e4. To braid or not?

I went Shimano Saint to Hope E4, zero regrets, great brakes, reliable, easy to bleed, feel great, saved weight

Hoses were long enough for my longest Geometron with 800mm bars and 180mm fork with a bit to spare on both

I could be wrong but I think the stock hose is a kevlar braid anyway (it's more or less industry standard now so it damn well should be), Hope don't say so but it looks like it in photos. If so then the steel braid is just cosmetic, and a bit heavier.

TBH even if they're not braided, it's not a big difference especially when new. If you notice a difference on day one with a good bleed you're a better man than me... In 5 years time maybe since braids don't tire.

(edit- also the steel braids are a relative bollocks to shorten etc too. Kevlar braid hose is basically the bollocks)

I am afraid I don't know how long the hoses are, but personally I wouldn't bother with braided. As far as I understand they don't actually improve braking performance; they are more expensive; but most of all they can be a pain in the arse if you need to try and thread a compression olive over a cut end of the hose.

I went from shimano to hope, they do feel different (less grabby) but the power is easy to control and they have a bite-point adjuster that works.

And im guessing they will work fine with 180 icetech rotors and shimano adapters?

No problems for me with Ice tech rotors.

You might have clearance issues with some shimano adapters, as the hope calipers are a different shape to shimano ones - the XTR ones are thin and generally OK, the cheaper shimano ones not always.

Don't go braided, I have and it's annoying to shorten the hoses. Not as powerful as Shimano out and out, but they work, are consistent and also serviceable.

Also drop Hope an email re: the hoses, I'm sure they will sort you out. Excellent customer service.

advantages of braid: looks pretty cool, goes round corners a bit easier, erm....

disadvantages: can be a pain to cut, is 6mm rather than 5mm so sometimes is a pain to go round tie point on frame, and forks, costs more.

i bought a set of tech 3 e4s a couple of months ago and they are the best brakes I've used in 15 years, I've got code rsc's on the big bike which are undoubtably more powerful but the hopes offer more than enough power with 200/180 rotors and are a pleasure to use. i have a braided hose on the rear and for me it does offer a better feel.

For £10 extra then go for the braided hoses. There is a slight performance enhancement over the standard hoses.

If you need to shorten the hoses then using the correct size fittings and learning how to trim the ends is no more difficult than any other brake system. It's just a different system.

I've ridden braided and none braided back to back and if you put a gun to my head I still couldn't tell them apart.

Go braided if you're in love with the look of it, and if you're having them fitted by a mechanic. Shortening the steel hoses uses to be a bitch of a job.

Also got my current E4's on a Geometron and still had to cut them down. Not sure on the length but I'd say it's enough.

Hope have tested them back to back and openly admit that there is no difference in performance.

Braided was always a preference to rubber hoses, however, the "other" hose for hope brakes has always been braided Kevlar.

Think about things like looks, weight, abrasiveness, routing, shortening and then make your choice.

Always had braided stainless in the past, last build was Kevlar and I don't regret it. Part of the reason was internal routing though. Kevlar is 5mm (rather than 6mm) and less likely to rub inside the frame where I can't monitor it.

Recently went from shimano xt to hope e4. They are a lot less grabby than the shimanos which is taking a bit of getting used to especially when my other bike still has xt brakes fitted.

One thing worth noting is that the pad on the hope pads are deeper than the shimano ones and I found they hit the spider arms of the shimano rotors. This caused a judder under hard breaking which was more noticeable on 203 rotors. I tried different shimano rotors and all seemed to be the same (I have a collection of different rotors). Ended up using it ans an excuse to fit hope floating rotors.

As someone else said, make sure you have adapters to fit the hope calipers as some of the shimano ones don't.

I went for non-braided.

1) Faff to shorten

2) I don't want silver hoses

Very happy with the performance. I used a Shimano adaptor up front, it needed to meet Mr File.

I went braided cause I preferred the look but I wish I hadn’t for all the downsides already pointed out. No performance benefit anyhoo, it’s just about the bling.

The braided hoses are a complete PITA to shorten ....

And I don't believe it makes any difference to the performance ....

And I love Hope brakes ... but don't bother 😎

Just to add a counter view, I recently changed my hoses on my tech 3 e4 brakes from jagwires to hope steel braided.  It was a doddle and shortening them was straightforward using cable cutters.

avoid braid, my mechanic mate damn hates them, for all the above reasons,

£125-130 an end on winstanley get involved, ive used XT/SLX for years, put e4s on my chameleon love them, as others have said brake isnt quite as powerfull imho but they feel far better and less loss of speed on corners like the shimano

avoid braid, my mechanic mate damn hates them, for all the above reasons,

£125-130 an end on winstanley get involved, ive used XT/SLX for years, put e4s on my chameleon love them, as others have said brake isnt quite as powerfull imho but they feel far better and less loss of speed on corners like the shimano

dont braid look manky after a few months of mud and dirt

Do E4s use the same pad as the older M4?

Got Hope Race with Goodridge braided hoses. Can't feel any difference in the brake because of the braid but I like the ability to bend better (less prone to crash damage, damage being shaken up in a flight case etc) although I expect that the risk.of either is still fairly minir with standard hoses.

The Hopes don't feel as powerful as my previous Formula R1s though, but have only used Hope's own pads so far, not yet tried the Alligators I used in the R1s.

Used Hope floating rotors on both, just kept them and changed the rest, they're great, the Formula ones went all rattly very quickly.

Hoses were plenty long for both Trigger and Hightower. I had to cut them down. Particularly the Hightower as the rear doesn't run around the head tube.

Adaptors - I had to run 180 on the trigger as they interfered with the Cannondale 160 adaptor. I had to get a Hope 180 for the Hightower as they interfered with the SRAM adaptor on the Hightower. They are quite chunky callipers.

Shortening is not as straight forward as normal lines. Sure cutters shorten them but then you have to trim back the clear plastic sheath with a risk of knicking the braid. Not really an issue as you only shorten the hoses once, but an additional faff. He only reason to go for them is for the aesthetics of the look of them floats your boat. There are no practical benefits.

@pedlad - the E4 use a slightly larger pad (deeper but same width) but can take the older M4 pad as well

Braided can be a pain in some internal routed frames.

I have standard hoses on one bike and braid on the other. The only difference is the looks, unless you shorten them, when the braided ones are a right PITA.

Stick with standard. Braided not worth it.

Cheers for the heads up on Winstanleys, think it still works out a couple of quid cheaper through crc with bc discount and topcashback. Reckon ill bite the bullet and give em a go. Sounds like the standard hoses are the ones to go for. Cheers for the input!

I use the E4 pads in both my M4s and E4s. They’re deeper than the M4 pads (and a completely different shape to the old E4 and M4 pads from pre-2010) so they must be better cos they are more bigger!