i am looking to go to les arks this summer and was wondering if my hope mini monos will be up to the job . I am running a 203 rotor up front and 185 on the rear both with braded cables

Changing the fluid if its old might help.

and when rebleeding, use dot5.1 not dot4 fluid. Also Organic pads stay cooler for longer. And finally change the pistons for phenolic (sp) ones.

will be doing that along with new pads

There you go.

Just change the fluid, the pads and the pistons – or replace the whole thing with some Shimanos.

what shimano’s and why

Shimano’s are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than Mini’s. Used SLX is Les Arc’s and Italy last year, they were awesome.

dont want to argue whats better all i want is to know if they will be up to the job

Not arguing, such stating what I know from experience. All I know is my Hopes gave up working in Les Arcs on my first visit and put me off them for life.

Problems with mono minis in the alps too. But that was with 180/160 rotors, unbled, sintered pads and I weigh 95kgs AND am a terrible brake dragger.

But if I was going to change I wouldn’t go Shimano I’d go Magura. Well thats what I did and the Martas I was using easily outperformed everyone elses XT and SLX brakes.

cheers andy will start my search for some new stoppers

Blur3810 – Used my mono mini last 2 times out in morzine with 180/160 and did the job well except maybe lacking a bit of power and by the end of the week hands felt the brunt of it!

Good thing with hope is they are so easy to service if you get any problems unlike other makes… Few guys had avid’s and ended up not riding by the end of the week due to problems ;-/

I had some minis I think on my 5 when I was in the alps they did get abit hot but were fine on 160 rear and 185 on the front.

hayes nines never overheat.

use what youve got, bleed them, new organic pads bedded in properly, and if you have a problem, get some while you are there.
no point in gettting new brakes “just in case”

Olly – Member
no point in gettting new brakes “just in case”

Wot he said. I mean, it’s only your brakes. What could possibly go wrong?

its not like they fall off though is it.

if they start to go, chill out till they cool down, then when you make it to the bottom after a few stops, THEN go to the bike shop.
worst comes to worst on a descent, your front brake cooks and goes, so you just lock up the back and bring the bike to a controlled sideways stop.

(troll)hopes in the alps, no(troll)

make sure you do a full bleed, with a NEW bottle of dot?.

contaminated dot fluid boils at a lower temperature and causes brake fade. not something you want when your doing 30+ and the only thing do stop you going over a cliff is a pile of tv sized boulders.
i know through experience. i put a dent in my head and more importantly i put a large dent in my brooklyn. i have only had brakes that use mineral oil ever since.

if you feel the need for new brakes, ime magura are the best i’ve used.

or replace the whole thing with some Shimanos.

I am shocked and appalled that you said that. Shimano breaks are the biggest pile of crap i’ve ever seen, non serviceable and either on and off or pull to the bars.

Hope, Hayes or Magura. I wouldn’t bother with anything else

has anyone used or tried formula mega brakes as these were one of my options if my hopes did not come up to scratch

spock – Member
or replace the whole thing with some Shimanos.

I am shocked and appalled that you said that. Shimano breaks are the biggest pile of crap i’ve ever seen, non serviceable and either on and off or pull to the bars.

not in my experience, (apart from servicability) have used saints, slx for downhill and have xt on my trail bike.
plenty of modulation…

you ride what you like all brakes at mid to top price end will do the trick, was always a hope fan and still am only reason i changed to the big S for brakes and drive chain is when out of the country and things go wrong everyone stocks the big S so spares not a problem with hope i was always having to take a wide range of spares with me. 8)

all disc brakes are brilliant.

if they’re not, then it’s your fault, bleed them once a year, keep the discs clean.

Blur: your hope brakes are fine, but do consider bleeding them before you go if the fluid is more than a year old.

if you don’t know how to do this, don’t panic, it’s not too hard. there are plenty of videos on youtube which will guide you through it.

if you’re still not sure, that’s ok, make friends with someone who can bleed brakes, and be very nice to them.

If you’re set on new brakes, then you’d do well to click on the below link IMHO 8)

Formula brakes at cheap cheap prices…

A set of these for €170 with 203mm rotors would be pretty hard to beat for the Alps…

bleeding and maintaining them is no problem . It was just i have not rode decents of the length that will be in the alps . The hopes have coped well with eveything over here innerleithen , glentress , coed ect .

Holding up at GT and Inners is nowt compared to what you could do over there. We got to the bottom over a long, rocky, steep descent. Bikes and brakes and riders all took a thumping. 7 riders and 3 with brake levers touching bars at the bottom. All 3 using Hopes. Me and another rider were using old style Saints and they were working fine. Like I said, I’m not impressed with Hope brakes. Plenty will say the opposite, but just my opinion on the sets I’ve had.

cheers

then you’ve got nuthin to worry about.

😀