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For the Fox dropper lever you need a Hope Tech 4 MatchMaker adapter, if you have a Tech 4 lever. The one in the last picture is a Hope Tech 3 MatchMaker adapter, it is not the same.
You wrote a coupla interesting bits. To me it sounds like the pads may be sitting too low over the rotor, which may allow them to run on the rotor arms. Light-med braking may not create a vibe but harder pulls will as you may be getting a little bit extra stopping power each time the arm passes through the pad, and that extra bite causes the vibration. Check the rotor wear marks on the little triangle transition from the brake track to the arm and compare it to the wear mark that lines with the outside/top of the pad/outer diameter of the rotor. I've seen mounts that were off and AM rotors where the brake track wasn't 100% spot on with the brake. Additionally, the pad running over the arm in those hard brake actions can cause the pads to push back the piston ever so minimally, resulting in an inconsistent brake feel. If you can check to a stock Shimano rotor that would be ideal.
Another potential that would be harder to diagnose: inconsistent rotor thickness. Seen that back on old Hayes OG V7/178mm rotors and Tektros a coupla times. A slight high or low spot will change brake force and cause vibration. Worst examples can lead to a pulse in the lever blade during actuation. It doesn't take much, just a couple thousandths of a mm. That would be related to the grinding op at manufacture so would be considered a defect. Again, comparing to a stock Shimano unit would likely suss that out.
Next potential culprit is a bad bed in. Poor bed in can lead to inconsistent pad material deposition, which can create vibration. I don't think that's the case here, but it's worth mentioning. The second we think/act like we always do things right is generally when the time is ripe for us to prove ourselves incorrect.
I'd also suggest trying them with different rotors. I just swapped from Galfer Sharks to Waves on one of my bikes (to move the Sharks to a more desirable new bike), and noticed there's a LOT more vibration/feedback from the Waves. This is with Mavens & Galfer Purple pads. No noise, but it definitely feels very different.
Sometimes a lot of stores re-use old stock images, so I'll just throw in an image from Hope with partnumber as well:
So, this one then?
Yep!
Pinkbike is where you go to stir the pot, Vital is where you go for real discussion.
wrong, at least the pro version is matchmaker compatible
These are great suggestions. I've had the same symptoms in different instances on Shimano brakes because of a) caliper sitting too low on rotor and getting pulse/vibration from the pads hitting the six rotor spokes inside of the intended braking surface and another time from b) bad bed-in process that resulted in a little too much pad material left on one or two spots on the rotor, creating a bump and then vibration/howling. Both situations resulted in perfectly grabby brakes at first but then overheating and sub-optimal braking on longer descents. Problem A was solved by running a 1.5mm spacer under the caliper (203 rotors on 200mm PM) and in the other situation Problem B was solved by being extra careful to not lock up the brakes or even come close during the bedding process. I think the Shimano metal pad material can be perhaps too eager to deposit itself onto a new rotor, which can result in an inconsistent bump on the rotor, but that's a dumb uneducated guess.
I have personally the Wolftooth Remote pro since it was launched and I tried it with a couple matchmaker adapter and it doesn't work unless it's the Wolftooth own adapter. Wolftooth made their matchmaker interface smaller so if you use another brand matchmaker adapter, it will have space to rotate up and down unless you over torque the bolt.
Thanks. Been guilty of a bad bed in myself a couple times. I try not to throw suggestions out that involve throwing money at the problem without first fully understanding what the problem is. I was thinking about the Wave rotors a bit more. Those jobbers have awfully large cutouts in the brake track, which has me wondering if there's potential for the pad to 'fall' into the cutouts under harder braking events. That could create a vibration and again cause an inconsistent brake feel due to the pistons advancing and getting pushed back under each pass. But I'm not about to drop a hundred+ bucks to get a rotor to find out. That's something @noideamtber can check into easily enough.
I have heard about this in the past, but never really given it any serious thought.
Does this mean you keep the wheel/rotor and pads in there the whole time or just throw them back in there at the end as a reference for the brake fluid level?
I do the bleed with the bleed block and then once I'm finished I put the pads and wheel back in. Then it's just a case of pulling the lever a couple of times to let the pistons/ pads move in to the right position, then you can top up the lever with a little fluid. I will at some point get one of the thinner bleed blocks (from the hope website) printed to avoid this extra step, not bothered me so far though.
Ok, so you've removed all airbubbles, and closed off the bleedvalve. Still with the cup attached at the top and obviously with fluid in. Now you attach wheel and pads, and squeeze the lever a few times to push out the pistons. Then just finish the rest?
Regarding bleed blocks you find kits on ebay with most of those 3d printed tools(funnily enough not the narrower bleed block), and I at least feel it's good to grab the kit and you can pick and choose what you want to use. Even though I'm mostly interested in the piston isolating tool, you're better off grabbing a kit because of shipping and all of that anyhow.
If anyone feels like doing some science on this - you can tape your phone to a fork leg (most people have old smartphones lying around these days right?) and use a sensor app like sensorlog (iphone), physics toolbox or I think the arduino app to record vibration and speed - you can use FFT analysis (some of those apps have it built in) to get the frequency of the pulsing, which combined with the speed & wheel diameter you can figure out if it matches the number of spokes in the rotor
Yep pretty much, I usually seal the system up and strap the lever to the bar with medium pressure overnight just to get any little bubbles out. Worth it with the Hopes because a perfect bleed can least quite a long time. Sometimes I'll top up the reservoir as the pads wear down but thats much more useful on other brands without comically large reservoirs (not complaining tho).
That must mean you finish it all off the following day with a lever burp?
i have two versions of the remote pro, one with a matchmaker x adapter and one with an ispec-ev adapter. both remotes without the adapters are identical. i just mounted one to my intend trinity with the intend matchmaker adapter (because the one from wolftooth is not angled right and won't work with the trinity.
so maybe the very first ones were different, but the 2 i bought in the last 2 years ARE matchmaker compatible.
Nerd. 😆 That is seriously good info.
Hot off the press!
https://shop.sram.com/collections/expert-brakes/products/maven-ultimate…
Details on SRAM's new Motive brake, plus two new DB brakes - https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/guide-2025-sram-mtb-brakes-motive-maven-db-models
TLDR:
- Motive replaces Code and Level, becoming the do-everything brake, from XC to all mountain. There are Bronze ($175), Silver ($225), and Ultimate ($275) models, as well as the Ultimate Expert Kit ($599).
- No more 2-piston calipers, everything is 4-piston.
- ALL BRAKES USE MINERAL OIL NOW.
- DB grows to 3 models—DB8, 6, and 4. They're the cheap brakes for most types of riding.
- There is a new Maven 'Base' model ($185). It's the entry-level, user-friendly Maven that shouldn't be as powerful.
- Maven remains unchanged, and there is a new Ultimate Expert Kit as well ($599).
The motives seem like a big miss on Srams part to me. Back to a more vague lever feel, less powerful than the Codes, just doesn't make a lot of sense.
It would be spot on if it was a pure xc brake and really light. But seems possibly underwhelming for a trailbike, but now there’s nothing in the lineup between this and mavens. Seems like they should be lighter or stronger
So Motive is Guide reincarnate? No thanks.
Sram also released the maven base today. No swing link, dual 18mm pistons (ILO 18 and 19.5 on bronze/silver/ult). I'm sure this brake will proliferate all sub 10k builds, similarly to how it has with SC's new builds. Pretty lame tbh... the piston size thing makes just upgrading your brakes with maven silver lever assemblies questionable.
They read as Code power with ligher weight? Even a little less power than Codes seems enough for most trail riding.
https://www.sram.com/en/sram/mountain/series/motive
Less power then codes is not enough power for trail biking where I live fwiw. My minimum brake is code, metallic pads and 200mm hs2 rotors and that can be really pushing it on some of the big mountain descents we have here.
Motive calipers seem to be identical to DB8 calipers with the exception of two of the models use a banjo instead of compression fitting. DB8 calipers are pretty much Code calipers with a compression fitting and different aesthetics. So the difference in performance really comes down to the levers.
That does seem to be the case here.
And my experiment with Zrace levers on DB8 calipers proves it. They are definitely more powerful than the codes on my older DH bike. Both have the same caliper, but the addition of the zrace levers have definitely netted a more powerful brake on my trail bike than the DH rig
#ifyourenotmeasuringyoureguessing
Yup dead on
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