I have this pasted into some notes on brakes (yes, I'm that nerdy), so I'm plagiarizing someone. I think I know who but don't want to...
I have this pasted into some notes on brakes (yes, I'm that nerdy), so I'm plagiarizing someone. I think I know who but don't want to say in case I'm wrong and this is wrong.
"With swinglink, since the initial position of the cam profile doesn't change, the contact adjuster causes the position on the cam profile at which the pads make contact with the rotor to change. The more aggressive the ramp in the cam profile is, the more pronounced the difference in feel based on contact adjust is. The initial portion of the cam profile has decreased leverage so that the gap between the pads and the rotor can close quicker. The cam profile then transitions to higher leverage for increased braking force without an overly stiff lever. When contact adjust is wound all the way in, you transition to the higher leverage portion of the cam a little later relative to when the pads contact the rotor which results in a stiffer feel than if you wind it all the way out."
That was the post I was thinking of, thank you. I also think it was by Cascade Components. I also recall that the Blister Gear Review...
That was the post I was thinking of, thank you. I also think it was by Cascade Components. I also recall that the Blister Gear Review guy observed the same phenomenon in his review of the Mavens.
Although I think the above reference to "wound all the way in" is the opposite of how the adjuster dials are marked. Winding the adjuster in the direction of the arrow (which says "in") feels higher leverage / easier, and in the opposite direction of the arrow feels lower leverage/harder. I could be wrong though, for reason below.
I was messing around with the dials in my garage after my post & people calling me out, and the other thing I observed was that could be happening is running the C adjuster fully in for the same lever reach position means that the lever locks up the brake when the lever is closer to the bar. And your finger's grip strength becomes greater the closer it gets to a fully closed fist position... think about trying to do a pullup just from your fingertips in a C-shape vs. doing one with them fully wrapped around a pullup bar.
Regardless of whether the cause is from the system or biomechanical, it's less fatiguing to run the contact adjuster inward.
You're welcome. I thought it was Cascade as well, but didn't want to throw a name around without being sure. I think the post means that...
You're welcome. I thought it was Cascade as well, but didn't want to throw a name around without being sure. I think the post means that the longer the lever throw, the more power you get from the swinglink. In other words, it's really about the length of throw rather than how to close to the bar as far as swinglink.
As to where your end / almost locked lever position is relative to the bar, the conventional wisdom I've always heard is that closer to the bar gives you more power and helps with forearm pump and further from the bar gives you more sensitivity or fidelity. But I'd love to hear opinions.
And for all the other OCD people out there who ride with gloves, does having the lever rest further from the bar seem to cause your gloves to bunch up a touch under your palm. I think it's something to do with rotating your hand forward a little bit to grab the lever in the sweet spot of your finger.
You can run the contact point adjuster all the way in and still have the lever far from the bar if you like that by running the reach adjust all the way out. But that means you have to reach for the lever as you mentioned. Not a problem if you have spaghetti length fingers, but I guess having shorter fingers limits you in options brake lever setup wise.
So I rode my trail bike this last weekend, which has code rsc, 200mm hs2 rotors, metallic pads and freedom coast levers. I was blown away by how sketchy the brakes felt on this bike after riding my santacruz bullit with maven's on it and my nomad with trp dhr evo's so much lately. Granted, the route we were riding had one descent that was 1.26 miles and -26% grade (1,700 elevation lost) and another that was 3 miles long and -15% grade (2,300' elevation lost). By the time I was towards the bottom of those I was yanking the levers as hard as I could.
Honestly the current crop of brakes, mavens, trp dhr, hayes dominion, etc are so good. It's crazy to go back to a brake that I felt so confident with for years and feel like they were completely sketchy. I think I just hit the point where I need to move on from codes entirely... I thought that I would keep them on my trail bike and while they work for shorter descents... the big mountain steep descents are pretty scary when you're at the limits of what your brakes want to tolerate.
To be fair those are solid downhills to appreciate a good set of brakes especially if you are doing a top to bottom run. The roughness and the speed matters.
Funny enough, back in my XC racing days on east coast I used to run SRAM level 2 piston brakes and 160mm Ashima Aoro rotors. They were on my bike for nearly 4 years so clearly they didn't bother me. When I moved to the mountains and was introduced to steep and long descents I started appreciating brakes. Soon enough the "notoriously powerful" Code RSC were painful to hang on to for fast top to bottom runs. I retired the codes to my 27lb short travel trail bike and I still don't like them. Sure I can get used to them and accept the pain but why? Someone once told me that brakes are like spicy food, you build a tolerance to them. Regular food will taste bland once you're used to the 🌶️Same can be applied to suspension or any other critical bike component.
To pour gasoline on the fire, is it just me or are those descents neither long nor steep?
A mile long trail with an average grade of -26% is steep, especially when you factor what the anti-grip conditions in southern california are like. Since it's an average of -26% and there are not only flat sections but 2 short stabs at uphill... there are plenty of -32 to - 40% grade sections.
We had an enduro event here recently on these trails (trans santa ana enduro)... there were many pro and semi-pro riders that attended and many of them were sketched out by the remoteness and difficulty of the trails. Each one of these usually has a rut full of rubble and debris that crosses the trail over and over at the worst possible times.
Not that I need validation, but this is in the Santa Ana mountains in southern california. I'm happy to show anyone the goods here... but it involves a lot of suffering on the way up, and a lot of brake and tire destroying conditions on the way down. It's tempting to bring a light weight bike with lighter weigh tires, that can at times be a mistake.
A mile long trail with an average grade of -26% is steep, especially when you factor what the anti-grip conditions in southern california are like. Since...
A mile long trail with an average grade of -26% is steep, especially when you factor what the anti-grip conditions in southern california are like. Since it's an average of -26% and there are not only flat sections but 2 short stabs at uphill... there are plenty of -32 to - 40% grade sections.
We had an enduro event here recently on these trails (trans santa ana enduro)... there were many pro and semi-pro riders that attended and many of them were sketched out by the remoteness and difficulty of the trails. Each one of these usually has a rut full of rubble and debris that crosses the trail over and over at the worst possible times.
Not that I need validation, but this is in the Santa Ana mountains in southern california. I'm happy to show anyone the goods here... but it involves a lot of suffering on the way up, and a lot of brake and tire destroying conditions on the way down. It's tempting to bring a light weight bike with lighter weigh tires, that can at times be a mistake.
Diablo 👹. Was out there on a work trip and rode Corona. Definitely appreciate what you're saying
Doing a 30 percent average grade trail is nothing out of the norm for our neck of the woods but for me it's not something that causes problems to the brakes... (running Code RSCs). My comment was aimed at that if that kind of gradient is causing problems, it's really a big problem with the brakes (as I don't have these kinds of problems with the same brake on a similar terrain steepnes wise) or that the gradient itself is not a good measure for how hard the trail is on the brakes. Looks like it's the latter here.
Also, antigrip, what does that look like in your case? We have limestone at home which is really slimy and being on vacation on Sardinia right now (no bike, hiking only) it's mind boggling again how much grip granite has compared to limestone... So ground conditions other than steepness apparently play a big role.
Anyone ever run into a new rotor that just won't hold a true? A while back I picked up a set of Galfer Waves cheap from Europe, and months later got around to installing them. One of them has a wobble in 1 particular spot that keeps coming back no matter how many times I straighten it out. The problem spot is in the middle of 2 arms, and I feel like the arced arms are so far apart it's difficult to get it corrected without moving the spots where the arms meet the outer rotor out of true.
Anyone ever run into a new rotor that just won't hold a true? A while back I picked up a set of Galfer Waves cheap from...
Anyone ever run into a new rotor that just won't hold a true? A while back I picked up a set of Galfer Waves cheap from Europe, and months later got around to installing them. One of them has a wobble in 1 particular spot that keeps coming back no matter how many times I straighten it out. The problem spot is in the middle of 2 arms, and I feel like the arced arms are so far apart it's difficult to get it corrected without moving the spots where the arms meet the outer rotor out of true.
I would double/triple check that your rotors are centered to your caliper. Sometimes, they may be centered between your brake pads, but not necessarily to your caliper. When you squeeze your brakes, check to see if the rotors "bend" towards one direction or another.
With that said, I've also owned Galfer Waves and they did have a tendancy to bend, but in all fairness, all rotors I've owned all seem to go slightly out of true for one reason or another. I am using my rotor truing tool rather frequently
Anyone ever run into a new rotor that just won't hold a true? A while back I picked up a set of Galfer Waves cheap from...
Anyone ever run into a new rotor that just won't hold a true? A while back I picked up a set of Galfer Waves cheap from Europe, and months later got around to installing them. One of them has a wobble in 1 particular spot that keeps coming back no matter how many times I straighten it out. The problem spot is in the middle of 2 arms, and I feel like the arced arms are so far apart it's difficult to get it corrected without moving the spots where the arms meet the outer rotor out of true.
I would double/triple check that your rotors are centered to your caliper. Sometimes, they may be centered between your brake pads, but not necessarily to your...
I would double/triple check that your rotors are centered to your caliper. Sometimes, they may be centered between your brake pads, but not necessarily to your caliper. When you squeeze your brakes, check to see if the rotors "bend" towards one direction or another.
With that said, I've also owned Galfer Waves and they did have a tendancy to bend, but in all fairness, all rotors I've owned all seem to go slightly out of true for one reason or another. I am using my rotor truing tool rather frequently
Yeah, I'm not talking about it warping during a ride... I can straighten it with the tool, spin the wheel and it stays clear for maybe 1 revolution then goes back to being out of true, both in the caliper and in a trueing stand. It doesn't matter how many times I fix it, it keeps going back to the same slightly bent shape in the exact same location.
Have you laid it down on something completely flat? Maybe an arm is twisted but hard to see unless it's laid on something flat to produce a gap or shadow.
Had an issue with a bent hockey skate runner, was sharpened several times and used for multiple seasons but was never noticed by the sharpeners. Pulled it from the holder oneday and laid it on a flat board, noticed the tiniest of a bend. That's when I realized why I was having issues using my edge on that side and sometimes it would wobble skating straight.
Recently, last Thursday, installed a set on my Kaha’s with SE05 rotors. Got 3 days of riding in over the weekend with a whopping total of 6800’ of decent, and pads are toast, worn almost down to the backing plate… riding was very, very wet and the dirt is a clay that does generate a lot of grip, buuutt, that seem insane to me. Never seen this before, has anyone ever worn through the Hope greens that fast? The o.e. Kaha pads had 6 months of bi-weekly bike park and nor-cal sierras shuttling and they have 2x the pad material left.
hope green are awesome pads... called race pads for a reason. I normally get a couple of park days from a set BUT if its wet you will destroy them very fast like you've experienced. Galfer purple works well as a replacement an last a hell of alot longer.
im 4 months on my galfer purples and the rear is basically toast, More than likely ill swap Pads and rotor to rear and get new ones for the front.(8 park days + a heap of local riding + some Queenstown wet laps and thats abrasive asf)
Re: Hope Green PadsRecently, last Thursday, installed a set on my Kaha’s with SE05 rotors. Got 3 days of riding in over the weekend with a...
Re: Hope Green Pads
Recently, last Thursday, installed a set on my Kaha’s with SE05 rotors. Got 3 days of riding in over the weekend with a whopping total of 6800’ of decent, and pads are toast, worn almost down to the backing plate… riding was very, very wet and the dirt is a clay that does generate a lot of grip, buuutt, that seem insane to me. Never seen this before, has anyone ever worn through the Hope greens that fast? The o.e. Kaha pads had 6 months of bi-weekly bike park and nor-cal sierras shuttling and they have 2x the pad material left.
Scratching my head on this one.
I killed a set of Trickstuff power in a day doing a spicy version of the Sellaronda Hero, 90km and 7120mt of downhill
I’m not mad about it, on normal riding they last heaps more
I can kill a set in a couple park days tho ( 10/12k mt of downhill )
Hope race, I took them off honestly, same rotors as you and pads but on V4 brakes, too noisy, I just put the Trickstuff Standard and just bedding them in so far they’re silent as
How was the noise on the Kahas with those pads/rotors?
hope green are awesome pads... called race pads for a reason.I normally get a couple of park days from a set BUT if its wet you...
hope green are awesome pads... called race pads for a reason. I normally get a couple of park days from a set BUT if its wet you will destroy them very fast like you've experienced. Galfer purple works well as a replacement an last a hell of alot longer.
im 4 months on my galfer purples and the rear is basically toast, More than likely ill swap Pads and rotor to rear and get new ones for the front.(8 park days + a heap of local riding + some Queenstown wet laps and thats abrasive asf)
Thanks for the feedback, that’s kinda what I thought but was surprised to see them get wasted so quickly.
Re: Hope Green PadsRecently, last Thursday, installed a set on my Kaha’s with SE05 rotors. Got 3 days of riding in over the weekend with a...
Re: Hope Green Pads
Recently, last Thursday, installed a set on my Kaha’s with SE05 rotors. Got 3 days of riding in over the weekend with a whopping total of 6800’ of decent, and pads are toast, worn almost down to the backing plate… riding was very, very wet and the dirt is a clay that does generate a lot of grip, buuutt, that seem insane to me. Never seen this before, has anyone ever worn through the Hope greens that fast? The o.e. Kaha pads had 6 months of bi-weekly bike park and nor-cal sierras shuttling and they have 2x the pad material left.
I killed a set of Trickstuff power in a day doing a spicy version of the Sellaronda Hero, 90km and 7120mt of downhillI’m not mad about...
I killed a set of Trickstuff power in a day doing a spicy version of the Sellaronda Hero, 90km and 7120mt of downhill
I’m not mad about it, on normal riding they last heaps more
I can kill a set in a couple park days tho ( 10/12k mt of downhill )
Hope race, I took them off honestly, same rotors as you and pads but on V4 brakes, too noisy, I just put the Trickstuff Standard and just bedding them in so far they’re silent as
How was the noise on the Kahas with those pads/rotors?
this makes me feel better about it. I’ll probably end up ordering more but save them for dry race days.
Honestly they were silent until they were saturated, like deep water sections that went up to the calipers type of deep water sections. The trails are multi-use ohv trails so lots of deep moto ruts in some areas.
I'm more and more confident the Hope Racing pads are made in the same factory as the Trickstuff Power pads. They look the same new and used, make the same power, wear is even (aka super quick), same noise on the pads ... As they are 7 or 8€ cheaper, they're now my goto pads.
Annoying they had to paint the backplate, as it takes a few runs for the pistons of Trickstuff or Radics to "bite" into the paint.
I'm more and more confident the Hope Racing pads are made in the same factory as the Trickstuff Power pads. They look the same new and...
I'm more and more confident the Hope Racing pads are made in the same factory as the Trickstuff Power pads. They look the same new and used, make the same power, wear is even (aka super quick), same noise on the pads ... As they are 7 or 8€ cheaper, they're now my goto pads.
Annoying they had to paint the backplate, as it takes a few runs for the pistons of Trickstuff or Radics to "bite" into the paint.
i haven't tried the Power pads on Hope, sadly, the importer in NZ decided not to get them for the Maxima/V4 shape, no comment on this decision, better, but i'm waiting, i got a set of Standard to try but after one small ride they’re still not biting, so i'm not sure if this is all or they take way longer to bed in, the Power always required 3 decent brake moments to be up to the real power, would really love to know who's making these pads ( the Green Hope )
i haven't tried the Power pads on Hope, sadly, the importer in NZ decided not to get them for the Maxima/V4 shape, no comment on this...
i haven't tried the Power pads on Hope, sadly, the importer in NZ decided not to get them for the Maxima/V4 shape, no comment on this decision, better, but i'm waiting, i got a set of Standard to try but after one small ride they’re still not biting, so i'm not sure if this is all or they take way longer to bed in, the Power always required 3 decent brake moments to be up to the real power, would really love to know who's making these pads ( the Green Hope )
I've bought alot of hope products and i've never bought through the NZ importer, the guy is arrogant and rude.(i was told this then experienced it) most of the Stuff came from places like r2bike or lordgun etc. - Our local shop can and has got stuff in the past but they will not deal with them anymore.
I talked with him at a local event and Yep, ill refuse to do business with that outfit - i suggest getting your hope products elsewhere.
i haven't tried the Power pads on Hope, sadly, the importer in NZ decided not to get them for the Maxima/V4 shape, no comment on this...
i haven't tried the Power pads on Hope, sadly, the importer in NZ decided not to get them for the Maxima/V4 shape, no comment on this decision, better, but i'm waiting, i got a set of Standard to try but after one small ride they’re still not biting, so i'm not sure if this is all or they take way longer to bed in, the Power always required 3 decent brake moments to be up to the real power, would really love to know who's making these pads ( the Green Hope )
I've bought alot of hope products and i've never bought through the NZ importer, the guy is arrogant and rude.(i was told this then experienced it)most...
I've bought alot of hope products and i've never bought through the NZ importer, the guy is arrogant and rude.(i was told this then experienced it) most of the Stuff came from places like r2bike or lordgun etc. - Our local shop can and has got stuff in the past but they will not deal with them anymore.
I talked with him at a local event and Yep, ill refuse to do business with that outfit - i suggest getting your hope products elsewhere.
oh this time i was talking about Marleen, Trickstuff importer for NZ, that somehow thought it was a good idea skipping the power pads for the top of the line brake.
I'm more and more confident the Hope Racing pads are made in the same factory as the Trickstuff Power pads. They look the same new and...
I'm more and more confident the Hope Racing pads are made in the same factory as the Trickstuff Power pads. They look the same new and used, make the same power, wear is even (aka super quick), same noise on the pads ... As they are 7 or 8€ cheaper, they're now my goto pads.
Annoying they had to paint the backplate, as it takes a few runs for the pistons of Trickstuff or Radics to "bite" into the paint.
Have been told the same thing at least for the last 2 years. From what I can gather, Galfer used to make the green pads from hope but a few years ago they switched to trickstuff. That was honestly the reason why I decided to try them, identical compound, cheaper, and easier to get in the US.
Thats tough, but be aware sometimes the 223 galfer wave rotor wont fit correctly in shimano calipers even with the correct adapter, You have to raise it even more. However you cant go wrong with any of those options, I have Mavens on my DH bike and TRP evo Pro's on my 2 other bikes. mavens are brutal power... just make sure you do the piston massage with alot of pressure, lots of advice on MTBR(braketime) - then they just work great. TRP similar setup time but they have some videos to follow. good consistent brakes.
I have the poverty shimano BR-520 4 pistons on my ebike, they are what I would call "adequate"They are on metal pads, 203mm icetech's.Would upgrading to...
I have the poverty shimano BR-520 4 pistons on my ebike, they are what I would call "adequate"
They are on metal pads, 203mm icetech's.
Would upgrading to the 223mm Galfer Wave rotors and Purple pads be a noticable improvement? Or upgrade the brakes to Mavens/TRP?
That is a good question, and I am curious to see what answers you get, as I have the same brakes on a bike (albeit one that isn't seeing any really challenging conditions). My understanding is all the Shimano brakes from those Deore up to XT and the non-xc XTR have the same piston sizes, so the hydraulic power should be the the same. You already have the good (and large) rotors, and metallic pads, so I'm surprised they're not cutting it for you. Are they Shimano metallic pads, or another brand?
using Shimano metal pads, I've been on this setup for years and to be honest for where I ride it's fine, just my mate got a vala with top spec Mavens and it blew my mind how strong they were and it got the little cogs in my brain moving which is a dangerous thing
Have been told the same thing at least for the last 2 years. From what I can gather, Galfer used to make the green pads from...
Have been told the same thing at least for the last 2 years. From what I can gather, Galfer used to make the green pads from hope but a few years ago they switched to trickstuff. That was honestly the reason why I decided to try them, identical compound, cheaper, and easier to get in the US.
My local shop asked the Galfer rep last summer, and he was "yea we're still making them for Hope". Probably not up to the latest developments maybe? Definitely different compound than the Galfer Pros, and while the Pros are good, they don't handle the heat that well. I'm a pretty heavy rider and tend to run the brakes HOT, and the Pros start howling halfway down the local resort. Hope or TS Power, no problem.
I believe the Hope Red pads are still Galfer though.
Their rotors are fine, can't use the Wave as I'd destoy the pads even faster as they're just a cheese grater, but the Sharks are pretty alright (at least when you find them new for 65€ each and not the 90 they retail for). Running the TRP RS05E on the ebike, as it's pretty much a clone, and so far so good. Bit noisy with Power pads, but I don't mind.
Hi, I'm having trouble getting a good bite point with the Lewis LH4 lever and Cura 4 caliper combo. When the bleed block is in the caliper, the bite point feels great and the lever travel is short. But after installing the pads and rotor, the lever travel becomes extremely long, and even with the lever fully pulled, there's no braking power. What could be the issue? I’m ruling out bleeding problems since the bite point is fine with the bleed block installed.
Is there anything specific I should consider if I replace my current Shimano XT RT-86 200mm discs in my Saint brakes with either Magura MDR-P 220mm or Hope 220mm discs? Both options are floating, and the Magura discs seem to be a great bargain right now at Bike-Discount for 38 euros each.
My pad policy is to replace new Shimano H03C pads every season if that matters. They seem to do very well for a season.
I have the poverty shimano BR-520 4 pistons on my ebike, they are what I would call "adequate"They are on metal pads, 203mm icetech's.Would upgrading to...
I have the poverty shimano BR-520 4 pistons on my ebike, they are what I would call "adequate"
They are on metal pads, 203mm icetech's.
Would upgrading to the 223mm Galfer Wave rotors and Purple pads be a noticable improvement? Or upgrade the brakes to Mavens/TRP?
Alternative option: I have some MT520s with 1.95 mm thick rotors (Hayes in this case but you could also use Magura or SRAM) and it makes the lever feel noticeably better.
using Shimano metal pads, I've been on this setup for years and to be honest for where I ride it's fine, just my mate got a...
using Shimano metal pads, I've been on this setup for years and to be honest for where I ride it's fine, just my mate got a vala with top spec Mavens and it blew my mind how strong they were and it got the little cogs in my brain moving which is a dangerous thing
Get the mavens. You adapt to the available power quickly, and I can’t see myself going back to another brake. Have to think a lot less about braking in general, especially where and how much to brake, is so nice.
Started with organic pads and Galfer wave rotors, now on metallic pads and HS2 rotors because I feel like the organic ones wore a lot faster. Don’t feel like there’s much difference in braking behavior between the two once bedded in properly.
Brake pads are 12 bucks without spring and screw as well which is nice.
You can run the contact point adjuster all the way in and still have the lever far from the bar if you like that by running the reach adjust all the way out. But that means you have to reach for the lever as you mentioned. Not a problem if you have spaghetti length fingers, but I guess having shorter fingers limits you in options brake lever setup wise.
So I rode my trail bike this last weekend, which has code rsc, 200mm hs2 rotors, metallic pads and freedom coast levers. I was blown away by how sketchy the brakes felt on this bike after riding my santacruz bullit with maven's on it and my nomad with trp dhr evo's so much lately. Granted, the route we were riding had one descent that was 1.26 miles and -26% grade (1,700 elevation lost) and another that was 3 miles long and -15% grade (2,300' elevation lost). By the time I was towards the bottom of those I was yanking the levers as hard as I could.
Honestly the current crop of brakes, mavens, trp dhr, hayes dominion, etc are so good. It's crazy to go back to a brake that I felt so confident with for years and feel like they were completely sketchy. I think I just hit the point where I need to move on from codes entirely... I thought that I would keep them on my trail bike and while they work for shorter descents... the big mountain steep descents are pretty scary when you're at the limits of what your brakes want to tolerate.
To pour gasoline on the fire, is it just me or are those descents neither long nor steep?
To be fair those are solid downhills to appreciate a good set of brakes especially if you are doing a top to bottom run. The roughness and the speed matters.
Funny enough, back in my XC racing days on east coast I used to run SRAM level 2 piston brakes and 160mm Ashima Aoro rotors. They were on my bike for nearly 4 years so clearly they didn't bother me. When I moved to the mountains and was introduced to steep and long descents I started appreciating brakes. Soon enough the "notoriously powerful" Code RSC were painful to hang on to for fast top to bottom runs. I retired the codes to my 27lb short travel trail bike and I still don't like them. Sure I can get used to them and accept the pain but why? Someone once told me that brakes are like spicy food, you build a tolerance to them. Regular food will taste bland once you're used to the 🌶️Same can be applied to suspension or any other critical bike component.
A mile long trail with an average grade of -26% is steep, especially when you factor what the anti-grip conditions in southern california are like. Since it's an average of -26% and there are not only flat sections but 2 short stabs at uphill... there are plenty of -32 to - 40% grade sections.
We had an enduro event here recently on these trails (trans santa ana enduro)... there were many pro and semi-pro riders that attended and many of them were sketched out by the remoteness and difficulty of the trails. Each one of these usually has a rut full of rubble and debris that crosses the trail over and over at the worst possible times.
Not that I need validation, but this is in the Santa Ana mountains in southern california. I'm happy to show anyone the goods here... but it involves a lot of suffering on the way up, and a lot of brake and tire destroying conditions on the way down. It's tempting to bring a light weight bike with lighter weigh tires, that can at times be a mistake.
Diablo 👹. Was out there on a work trip and rode Corona. Definitely appreciate what you're saying
Doing a 30 percent average grade trail is nothing out of the norm for our neck of the woods but for me it's not something that causes problems to the brakes... (running Code RSCs). My comment was aimed at that if that kind of gradient is causing problems, it's really a big problem with the brakes (as I don't have these kinds of problems with the same brake on a similar terrain steepnes wise) or that the gradient itself is not a good measure for how hard the trail is on the brakes. Looks like it's the latter here.
Also, antigrip, what does that look like in your case? We have limestone at home which is really slimy and being on vacation on Sardinia right now (no bike, hiking only) it's mind boggling again how much grip granite has compared to limestone... So ground conditions other than steepness apparently play a big role.
Anyone ever run into a new rotor that just won't hold a true? A while back I picked up a set of Galfer Waves cheap from Europe, and months later got around to installing them. One of them has a wobble in 1 particular spot that keeps coming back no matter how many times I straighten it out. The problem spot is in the middle of 2 arms, and I feel like the arced arms are so far apart it's difficult to get it corrected without moving the spots where the arms meet the outer rotor out of true.
I would double/triple check that your rotors are centered to your caliper. Sometimes, they may be centered between your brake pads, but not necessarily to your caliper. When you squeeze your brakes, check to see if the rotors "bend" towards one direction or another.
With that said, I've also owned Galfer Waves and they did have a tendancy to bend, but in all fairness, all rotors I've owned all seem to go slightly out of true for one reason or another. I am using my rotor truing tool rather frequently
Yeah, I'm not talking about it warping during a ride... I can straighten it with the tool, spin the wheel and it stays clear for maybe 1 revolution then goes back to being out of true, both in the caliper and in a trueing stand. It doesn't matter how many times I fix it, it keeps going back to the same slightly bent shape in the exact same location.
Have you laid it down on something completely flat? Maybe an arm is twisted but hard to see unless it's laid on something flat to produce a gap or shadow.
Had an issue with a bent hockey skate runner, was sharpened several times and used for multiple seasons but was never noticed by the sharpeners. Pulled it from the holder oneday and laid it on a flat board, noticed the tiniest of a bend. That's when I realized why I was having issues using my edge on that side and sometimes it would wobble skating straight.
Re: Hope Green Pads
Recently, last Thursday, installed a set on my Kaha’s with SE05 rotors. Got 3 days of riding in over the weekend with a whopping total of 6800’ of decent, and pads are toast, worn almost down to the backing plate… riding was very, very wet and the dirt is a clay that does generate a lot of grip, buuutt, that seem insane to me. Never seen this before, has anyone ever worn through the Hope greens that fast? The o.e. Kaha pads had 6 months of bi-weekly bike park and nor-cal sierras shuttling and they have 2x the pad material left.
Scratching my head on this one.
hope green are awesome pads... called race pads for a reason.
I normally get a couple of park days from a set BUT if its wet you will destroy them very fast like you've experienced.
Galfer purple works well as a replacement an last a hell of alot longer.
im 4 months on my galfer purples and the rear is basically toast, More than likely ill swap Pads and rotor to rear and get new ones for the front.(8 park days + a heap of local riding + some Queenstown wet laps and thats abrasive asf)
I killed a set of Trickstuff power in a day doing a spicy version of the Sellaronda Hero, 90km and 7120mt of downhill
I’m not mad about it, on normal riding they last heaps more
I can kill a set in a couple park days tho ( 10/12k mt of downhill )
Hope race, I took them off honestly, same rotors as you and pads but on V4 brakes, too noisy, I just put the Trickstuff Standard and just bedding them in so far they’re silent as
How was the noise on the Kahas with those pads/rotors?
Thanks for the feedback, that’s kinda what I thought but was surprised to see them get wasted so quickly.
Honestly they were silent until they were saturated, like deep water sections that went up to the calipers type of deep water sections. The trails are multi-use ohv trails so lots of deep moto ruts in some areas.
Thanks for the feedback!
I'm more and more confident the Hope Racing pads are made in the same factory as the Trickstuff Power pads. They look the same new and used, make the same power, wear is even (aka super quick), same noise on the pads ... As they are 7 or 8€ cheaper, they're now my goto pads.
Annoying they had to paint the backplate, as it takes a few runs for the pistons of Trickstuff or Radics to "bite" into the paint.
i haven't tried the Power pads on Hope, sadly, the importer in NZ decided not to get them for the Maxima/V4 shape, no comment on this decision, better, but i'm waiting, i got a set of Standard to try but after one small ride they’re still not biting, so i'm not sure if this is all or they take way longer to bed in, the Power always required 3 decent brake moments to be up to the real power, would really love to know who's making these pads ( the Green Hope )
I've bought alot of hope products and i've never bought through the NZ importer, the guy is arrogant and rude.(i was told this then experienced it)
most of the Stuff came from places like r2bike or lordgun etc. - Our local shop can and has got stuff in the past but they will not deal with them anymore.
I talked with him at a local event and Yep, ill refuse to do business with that outfit - i suggest getting your hope products elsewhere.
oh this time i was talking about Marleen, Trickstuff importer for NZ, that somehow thought it was a good idea skipping the power pads for the top of the line brake.
Have been told the same thing at least for the last 2 years. From what I can gather, Galfer used to make the green pads from hope but a few years ago they switched to trickstuff. That was honestly the reason why I decided to try them, identical compound, cheaper, and easier to get in the US.
I have the poverty shimano BR-520 4 pistons on my ebike, they are what I would call "adequate"
They are on metal pads, 203mm icetech's.
Would upgrading to the 223mm Galfer Wave rotors and Purple pads be a noticable improvement? Or upgrade the brakes to Mavens/TRP?
Thats tough, but be aware sometimes the 223 galfer wave rotor wont fit correctly in shimano calipers even with the correct adapter, You have to raise it even more.
However you cant go wrong with any of those options, I have Mavens on my DH bike and TRP evo Pro's on my 2 other bikes.
mavens are brutal power... just make sure you do the piston massage with alot of pressure, lots of advice on MTBR(braketime) - then they just work great.
TRP similar setup time but they have some videos to follow. good consistent brakes.
That is a good question, and I am curious to see what answers you get, as I have the same brakes on a bike (albeit one that isn't seeing any really challenging conditions). My understanding is all the Shimano brakes from those Deore up to XT and the non-xc XTR have the same piston sizes, so the hydraulic power should be the the same. You already have the good (and large) rotors, and metallic pads, so I'm surprised they're not cutting it for you. Are they Shimano metallic pads, or another brand?
using Shimano metal pads, I've been on this setup for years and to be honest for where I ride it's fine, just my mate got a vala with top spec Mavens and it blew my mind how strong they were and it got the little cogs in my brain moving which is a dangerous thing
My local shop asked the Galfer rep last summer, and he was "yea we're still making them for Hope". Probably not up to the latest developments maybe? Definitely different compound than the Galfer Pros, and while the Pros are good, they don't handle the heat that well. I'm a pretty heavy rider and tend to run the brakes HOT, and the Pros start howling halfway down the local resort. Hope or TS Power, no problem.
I believe the Hope Red pads are still Galfer though.
Their rotors are fine, can't use the Wave as I'd destoy the pads even faster as they're just a cheese grater, but the Sharks are pretty alright (at least when you find them new for 65€ each and not the 90 they retail for). Running the TRP RS05E on the ebike, as it's pretty much a clone, and so far so good. Bit noisy with Power pads, but I don't mind.
Hi,
I'm having trouble getting a good bite point with the Lewis LH4 lever and Cura 4 caliper combo. When the bleed block is in the caliper, the bite point feels great and the lever travel is short. But after installing the pads and rotor, the lever travel becomes extremely long, and even with the lever fully pulled, there's no braking power. What could be the issue? I’m ruling out bleeding problems since the bite point is fine with the bleed block installed.
Is there anything specific I should consider if I replace my current Shimano XT RT-86 200mm discs in my Saint brakes with either Magura MDR-P 220mm or Hope 220mm discs? Both options are floating, and the Magura discs seem to be a great bargain right now at Bike-Discount for 38 euros each.
My pad policy is to replace new Shimano H03C pads every season if that matters. They seem to do very well for a season.
Alternative option: I have some MT520s with 1.95 mm thick rotors (Hayes in this case but you could also use Magura or SRAM) and it makes the lever feel noticeably better.
Get the mavens. You adapt to the available power quickly, and I can’t see myself going back to another brake. Have to think a lot less about braking in general, especially where and how much to brake, is so nice.
Started with organic pads and Galfer wave rotors, now on metallic pads and HS2 rotors because I feel like the organic ones wore a lot faster. Don’t feel like there’s much difference in braking behavior between the two once bedded in properly.
Brake pads are 12 bucks without spring and screw as well which is nice.
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