Going through a bit of a process with servicing and replacing bits and bobs on my sons bike. It was bought second hand and came with Hope brakes, with the e4 callipers. Probably eight years old.

The rear is sticking now, and I was hoping to avoid him realising as it keeps him honest when we ride together. Alas, he’s noticed. I had a bit of an attempt to sort it, using a stepped spacer and pushing out the pistons a little way individually, cleaning and lubing, but it’s not worked too well.

The original Pistons can be bought individually, but I wondered if those new e4 stainless ones were able to be retrofitted, sort of do it once, do it right by stripping down the calliper and cleaning it out and replacing the pistons.

As an aside, how much do Hope charge for a brake service? And how to you get around the need to have to split the line again once they’ve done their thing, for internal routing.

I had a caliper done by hope years back. the price was hardly any more than a set of decent pads and they came back with new pads

I wouldn’t put steel pistons in for heat transfer reasons. Its unlikely you actually need new pistons anyway IMO

As for the brake line – you would need to bleed the system on reconnecting it.

They do I think. There is a thread on retrofitting tech 4 parts to tech 3s. That is as long as it’s E4s with equal sized pistons.

@tj the new tech 4 has a hybrid ss/ceramic piston. Supposed to reduce stick but still resist heat.

Ah – fair enough

As an aside, how much do Hope charge for a brake service?

Had one done in ’21 and it was £60 or so but for that you get a brake back that is virtually brand new, they replace everything that they need to including new pads (you specify organic or sintered). Take the price of the pads out and it’s far less than buying the parts separately. The other one needs to be sent off soon so for the price of less than 1 brake I’ll have 2 brakes that are fresh again.

Cheer jumper, good to hear.

So it would just be a case of detaching the caliper, “draining” it of fluid and sending it off, then do a full re bleed when it comes back?

What was the turnaround time like?

The calipers are pretty grotty, so I don’t want a triggers broom bill with a new body, pistons and seals! What did they resolve on yours?

Edit, just to clarify, did you send the whole brake, or just the caliper?

The new pistons fit the 2013- E4 calipers. Did it 6 days ago.

The new pistons fit the 2013- E4 calipers. Did it 6 days ago.

I believe they also fit M4, the bigger Mono M4 pistons, and the 2-piece E4.

As long as it’s a 16mm piston, it should fit

Some of the M4s had pistons of different sizes.

Yes. The M4 was 4x 16mm, Mono M4 2x 16mm, 2xsmaller.

👍get the wording of your first post now 😜.

tech 4 has a hybrid ss/ceramic piston.

It’s not ceramic, its phenolic., with the SS sleeve.

As long as it’s a 16mm piston, it should fit

The piston seals are the same part number, therefore the pistons will be too.

Yes. The M4 was 4x 16mm, Mono M4 2x 16mm, 2xsmaller.

No it wasn’t.

The M4 and Mono M4 both had 2 pistons of each size, the only M4 that had equal sized pistons was the final Tech Evo model that was an E4 in all but name.

and the 2-piece E4.

Pretty sure they won’t, the DH4 and Enduro 4 had different pistons to the M4. If they were compatible I’d have swapped mine out already.

Tech M4 and Tech Evo M4 (why I said M4) equal size…HBSP136
Both types Mono M4 (2004 & 2007. Why I said Mono M4) 2 of each…HBSP136 x2 &HBSP135 x2

In the hope tech docs

But neither of those are a plain old M4, they’re Tech M4. Call it pedantic if you like but only the original 2-piece caliper was ever called that.

The ‘fours’

DH4, Enduro 4, XC4, 2002 M4, 2004 Mono M4, 2007 Mono M4,Tech M4, Tech Evo M4, Race Evo M4,Race Evo E4, RX4,Tech 3 V4, Tech 3 E4, RX4+, Tech4 V4 and lastly Tech 4 E4.

Wasn’t the Enduro 4 2002? XC4 came before that too as it was a 4 pot version of the C2.

Quite possibly. I took the order from hopes site. As to the XC4. I think its related to the C2, but it was meant to be paired to hope hubs, and had a different rotor size and as such didnt sell too well. They dropped it quite quickly and i remember an interview where Hope themselves had it pegged as a ‘bad idea’.

Yeah it was the same system as the C2. Dunno about being hub specific but yeah it had funny sized rotors IIRC and probably in 5 bolt.

As a bit of an update, spoken to hope and they do a brake factory service for £55 which includes strip down, replace seals and pistons and new pads and bleed. They don’t charge for labour so the costs is what the public would pay for parts.

Seems to be a no brainer.

The only bugbear would be having to split the system when it comes back to feed it through the internal but maybe a swift detachment at the lever end, following their hose shortening method, would avoid that. Either way, a bleed kit is going to be needed.

You don’t need a bleed kit to bleed hopes. Just a bit of tubing and an old jamjar with a hole in the lid. they bleed conventionally. One of the reasons I prefer them

tj is correct. All the Hope bleed kit does is give you a reservoir for the fluid so you don’t need to keep checking and topping up the master cyl. It’s a handy thing to have but not needed.

The only bugbear would be having to split the system when it comes back to feed it through the internal but maybe a swift detachment at the lever end, following their hose shortening method, would avoid that. Either way, a bleed kit is going to be needed.

Nah, as you mention, disconnect the lever carefully and cut the hose, give the lever a little squeeze to bring fluid to the tip just before you reconnect and you’ll likely not even need to bleed. If you do it’ll only be a top up of the master cylinder and a few lever flicks to bring any bubbles up. and as the others have said, you don’t NEED the bleed kit, just makes it cleaner and easier, all you’ll need is fluid and a bit of hose.

All the Hope bleed kit does is give you a reservoir for the fluid so you don’t need to keep checking and topping up the master cyl. It’s a handy thing to have but not needed.

Pyrex make a cute wee 0.25l jug which makes it easy to fill the master cylinder from. Has a spout so no spillage and being glass you can clean it without residue or taint so you can also use it to make the gravy in.

Not answering your question specifically rockhopper but I’m willing to bet if you replaced the seals yourself it would be fine. Did the same on my old set and it made a marked difference without having to replace the pistons.

No offence to Gunz above, you do whatever you find works best for you.

But the pistons are for want of a better term, a disposable part, and as you have them out, and they’re quite inexpensive, it would be prudent to replace them too. The thing about the pistons is the sides take a battering because they(due to pad wear) dont retract fully, so the exposed sides become rough. Fit new pads and those rough sides can prevent the pads/pistons fully withdrawing into the caliper.

The brakes were shipped off to hope today, postal strike pending, they should be with them on Monday. I’ve put the note in to see if the new pistons can be fitted, also needs a new hose. They told me they only charge for parts so it was a bit of a no brainer to get them refurnished at Hope, by a Hope tech. Bearing in mind that a shop will probably charge £20 upwards to bleed a brake, it’s seems good value what Hope offer.

I’ll update once I get them back. It’s a tech3 lever and e4 caliper,

The kit came back from Hope last Friday, so a decent quick turnaround especially under the postal issues. They were sent back by courier.

I’d flagged a nick in the rear hose where it emerges from the orange five swingarm, at an angle through a round hole with no grommet! Funny design that. New hose fitted by them. One of the reservoir top caps was also badly corroded so that has been replaced and the new updated pistons are in and with a set of new pads at both ends.

They still aren’t great cosmetically, turd polishing and that, but hopefully they’ll have another good few years of use.