How GOOD are Hope Brakes!!!!!!!

There is no HOPE! we’re all DOOMED!

I had some X2’s for a few weeks

Look nice but that was about it. Clunky and lacking power.

I’ve had Hayes Strokers, Avid CR, and Formula

The Hayes were the least bother and worked well

I had Hayes 9’s, they were powerful but didn’t have any modulation. Replaced the levers with carbon levers and had power and modulation.

Replaced them with Juicy 7’s as the 9’s kept having piston problems. Juicy’s have required bleeding once a month and have developed sticky pistons, despite replacing them.

I have Hope Race M4’s to go on, hoping they are less faff than Juicy’s.

Aren’t brakes down to personal preference?

When people use the phrase “lacking power” wrt bike brakes do they mean that they can’t lock the wheels up with single finger pressure ?
I’ve yet to find a bike disc set up that can’t do that unless it’s badly set up/maintained or used with poor technique…..

So what have i done wrong installing my hopes which i didnt do wrong with my shimano and the kids avids?

I suspect a couple of things beans
1) you don’t like the soft lever feel / lack of initial bite ( I think this is confused by some for lack of power)
2) they never got hot enough or you have polished pads. Hopes seem to be more sensitive to this = perhaps a part of the reason for long pad life but sometimes mine do “go off” a bit and lose performance when not being used hard – getting them good and hot restores it. did yo have big rotors?
3) you didn’t centralise the pistons in the calipers

GET SOME SHIMANO!

Er, no.

I LOVE SHIMANO

Ok.

wow don’t know id evoke so much passion when I started this thread, but its great to get so much feedback good or bad.

M4s on the Bandit. I’m 98kg. Set up was straightforward, more than powerful enough, tech lever is a work of art and adjustment is excellent. Stopped me when I wanted to stop, never caused my arse to twitch. Pretty much what you’d want from a brake!

Oh, 203 on the front 180 on the rear and braided hoses throughout.

At last I can put the shifters just where then needed to be, and they look the b….ks cant wait to add to the mix if the calliper accepts a 203mm front floating rotor and 185 rear which will look the nuts so reminds me of my motor bike racing days…..

Yup, the Tech X2’s will work quite happily with 203/185 floating rotors – I’ve done it

So what have i done wrong installing my hopes which i didnt do wrong with my shimano and the kids avids?

Agree with TJ’s response to this question but also:
1) Hope brakes seem to loose some power if you run the levers too close to the bars
2) Bleed process – on the Tech levers you need to fully unscrew the bite point adjust before bleeding, and do the extra point lever down, tap, straighten up, top up bit per the video. I reckon even the bike shops miss this
3) They are sensitive to proper caliper alignment

To those complaining of lack of power with Hope brakes: I take it you’ve done this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akIWGqEE0PY
??

humm maybe people who manage to get brake fade should consider user errors rather than product failure.
Never ever had any worries with hope. I still have a pair of XC4 going very strong. The shimanos on the SO’s bike onthe other end have been shite à possible. The fluid seems to vanish into the air.

When people use the phrase “lacking power” wrt bike brakes do they mean that they can’t lock the wheels up with single finger pressure ?

This All MTB disc brakes can lock both wheels if i just pull andi dont even need to do it all that hard

FIT AND FORGET……… Oh change the pads every now and then!
Hope Tech are the Db’s

hexhamstu – Member
Two pairs of mono M4s I’ve owned have been crap but that was on a downhill bike, they are probably mediocre for cross country.

Simply set them up correctly, loads don’t and that can be the ONLY reason that Hope aren’t appreciated by some.

My Hope M4 Evo are set up properly and they’ll work on any track – proved!