Which Hope Brake?

General trail riding, replacing an old XT set.

Loving my Tech M4s.

New XT set?

Helpful I know 😉

i absolutly hate my Tech x2 they are rubbish

I’ve just got a pair of magura martas and they knock spots off my XTs which they replaced.

I’ve got X2s which are good; much, much better than the Avid Elixirs they replaced.

Andy

Run X2 and M4s. Really like both. Nice modulation. X2s would be fine for general xc.

XT are better than hope IMO, and on par with magura, although they are nicer to use and look better than magura (again, IMO).

I’d suggest M4s, F183mm and R160mm. You might also consider a F183mm M4 and a R160mm X2 for a nicely balanced mix. Bump it up to F203mm/R183mm rotors if you’re a big bloke or if you have gravity-nut tendencies.

i have M4’s and love them, also have V2 techs and they are better but a lot heavier, M4’s with the new tech levers, yum yum

And don’t forget Hopes are fully serviceable, whereas Shimano and Magura don’t do seal kits etc.

X2’s for general trail riding unless you’re a very big bloke. Got mine 4 months ago. Having bled them properly according to the Hope website (not as per my LBS) they are perfect. Plenty of power for the long steep descents from the Cairngorms, and great modulation. And you can get lots of coloured bits for them to bling the bike up – rotor centres, levers, resevoir caps and piston caps.

Closed 2 😉

Recently bought some tech M4s and they are brilliant – can’t fault them at all. The difference between them and the juicy 7s they replaced is night and day.

i have M4’s and love them, also have V2 techs and they are better but a lot heavier

Oh man, I’m confused about M4s and V2s again. I spent an hour finding out about this yesterday and ended up thinking that M4s and V2s were the same price, V2s better, V2s lighter if comparing like for like (same sized discs, braided hoses etc)? 🙄

If you look at the three in the current tech range, they run x2 as the light weight xc brake, m4 as the mid weight trail brake and the v2 as theheavy weight dh brake.

Having said that, I currently run some endure 4 brakes 205/185 but I’m thinking of swapping them for v2 brakes 183/160 for trail riding duties.

These values are directly from the spreadsheet Hope sent me:

Tech V2:
Includes Tech lever, post caliper, adaptor, braided hose, 203 floating rotor
514g (above with vented rotor 629g)

Tech M4:
Includes Tech lever, post caliper, adaptor, std. hose & small rotor (160 or 183mm)
466g

I am assuming the M4 has been weighed with the 183mm rotor as otherwise that does not make sence…

There is also weights for rotors:

Floating Rotor – 183 – 146g
Floating V2 Rotor – 183 – 180g
Floating V2 Rotor – 203 – 208g

Which means the V2 set with a 183mm rotor should weigh 486g vs. 466g for the M4

Clarity, I think 🙂

(above from a post on mtbr by dropadrop)

I’m also working on the theory that by dropping a motor size I could have v2 power without the weight penalty.

I’m also working on the theory that by dropping a motor size I could have v2 power without the weight penalty

That was going to be my approach but the V2s need thicker rotors which explains the extra 34g per 183 (the smallest) rotor. That said, if you were going for the M4s with braided hoses there is very little in the weight difference.

That was going to be my approach but the V2s need thicker rotors which explains the extra 34g per 183 (the smallest) rotor.

The V2 braking track is wider than the M4/X2. The (non-vented) rotor is not any thicker.

Whoaa there. The OP was which brake for general trail riding.

V2’s are downhill specific, very heavy, and waaaay overpowered for that.

Tech M4’s weigh 20% more than X2’s and cost 10% more

X2’s have more than enough power for general trail/AM stuff for anyone up to about 80kg

The V2 braking track is wider than the M4/X2. The (non-vented) rotor is not any thicker

Apologies if this is a silly question, but does that mean that I could use the normal 183 rotor rather than the heavier V2 version?

No, the braking track is deeper as the pads are larger.

CaptainM, my understanding is that the v2 is not significantly heavier. If it’s more powerful, then why not consider it for trail duties with a smaller motor, thereby getting back some of the weight penalty. The other plus that it’s easier to get two pads running drag free than four.