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First day on GR4's today. My dh bike was out of commission, so I was on my ebike instead which in turn requires more braking anyway. All the boys of course were on dh bikes so I was swinging off it to keep up.
These brakes are absolutely phenomenal, I've used all of the top dog brakes, radic, t4, maven, intend, maximas,I'd rank these at the top of the list. Reasonable dead stroke, firm bite point, wonderful modulation, very good power and easy bleed.
If you've been put off hopes before because of vague bite point etc, give these a go. Worth a shot
mines should show up in a couple days! i wonder if i'll be able to keep myself from installing it waiting for the new bike or if they're going on immediately
Oh tough call! I just swapped these directly for T4's, used the same hoses etc. If I had to reroute hoses they'd probably still be in the box 😅
My riding buddy got a set of GR4 and I like them more than my Intends lol
Unfortunately have only had wishy washy customer service so far. They agreed to warranty the master cylinder on the front set that died first, sent me the wrong model after a month (received August 14th), and currently still waiting on a replacement. Contacted them again about the rear, hoping to discuss having a new seal kit or something appropriate sent out other than a new brake, and was told to bring it to the local shop (initial email mentioned that I work in said shop lol). We don't see too much in the way of Hope product, but we've all concluded that it's some sort of seal/diaphragm issue in both sets. Ended up pulling the remaining brake off and threw on an old set of Code RSC's w Cascade Cams and will probably sell the T4's and replace with Mavens eventually.
I just swapped a pair of really unreliable mineral Radics off my bike and but the Evo TR4s on. I’d ordered the GR, but when a pair of TR’s came in to stock I swapped.
I’m super impressed. So much power, very positive bite, minimal dead stroke, bleed was as easy as it gets.
I’ve dropped the rear rotor to 180 from 203mm to see how they cope.
Anyone have some feedback on the TRP RS05 rotors (2.3mm) - specifically related to how true they come out of the box and how true the stay?
I've got 203mm Sharks (that I bought from Europe for ~65/ea before the tariff bullshit) on my ebike and enduro bike, and like them a lot, but certain trails have me thinking about upsizing to a 220. Hole pattern on the RS05s looks very similar at a much more affordable price point, but in my experience 220mm rotors are much more likely to come warped out of the box and warp during use.
True out of the box? Almost
Easy to true? Very
Stay true? Absolutely yes
This is identical to my experience with them
Interesting the differences that keep showing between the reliability of mineral vs dot Radics
Comments like that plus all the warnings about not mixing or using different fluids for a given brake makes it seem like there really are no benefits to using mineral oil at all...
Unfortunately I’ve had the opposite experience….taking the GR4s off and putting back on the V4s
Do tell…
Yeah. That is not enough info. Ha ha
I ordered a set of GR4's on the weekend. Sounds like they'll be about a month or so until my shop gets them in (ordered all polished). I'm coming from a set of Lewis LH4's, which have been great, but I'm a big guy and always looking for more power. Super excited to give these a shot.
"I'm a big guy and always looking for more power."
My Large Mammalian Maple Brother... as a 6'3" 230lb Brique Shithaus, the answer you seek is still Hayes Dominion A4's
Dead Dog on Mt 7 on a Norco Shore running 220/203 Rotors and Sintered pads and Conti' DH SS Shoes was smooth, confident and in-control with 0 Fade or wander of bite on the Hayes magic. Hell, I can 10mth old baby slow crawl the chutes on Puma Grande in the dry with these bad larrys.
Promise you'll love 'em
I've done the same (Dead Dog/Psychosis course) with my Lewis brakes and didn't have any issues at all. I just like shiny new things (literally and figuratively). Hope comes in silver/polished and just happen to be ridiculously powerful too. Lol
Isn't the general consensus that Dominions are a smidge more powerful than Codes, but not at the level of the new, powerful stuff?
That's the impression I've had.
Depending on the exact configuration, I'd say about halfway between a Code and Maven. Obviously, way lighter lever feel and more aggressive bite though.
When they came out, they were one of the more powerful options available and had one of the best lever feels available. That was in 2018 though and there have since been more powerful options out there, so they are kindof in the middle compared to when they came out. They were more consistent than the Codes for me and had a stronger, more progressive bite.
Maxima, Maven, Intend, Radic, Hope T4V4 all have more power than the Dominions do and a stronger bite point with less deadstroke in my experience.
I’ve got Maven Base and Dominions. Not a lot of difference in power but the Dominion lever point doesn’t wander in and out as much. I like the Dominions better.
The stupid Maven levers are slick like ice. Actually had my finger slip off on a steep turn and broke my face something good. I had to put grip tape on the levers.
Looking forward to putting the Dominions on this newer bike once I have a chance.
I had a so/so experience with those rotors. Admittedly, I'm a trp newb... but about 1/3 of the way into my usage of those rotors and the first set of brake pads, I started to develop ticking/clicking sensation that was not only audible, but I could feel through the levers. I tried to champfer the leading edges of the pads slightly (which is futile, because they will always wear back into a sharp edge) but that did not work. I fail to see how a rough/hard edge on the voids in the rotor would cause this. I've never had that happen before in all manor/quality of disc brakes (race cars w/slotted, mtb, moto etc).
I ended up going back to the RS-01E, 2.3mm standard rotors and have not had this issue since.
Thanks, I ordered 1 of the S05e in 220 to try and see how it fairs. If it has issues with straightness but I end up finding a benefit to stepping up to 220, I'll pony up for a 220mm Shark (running 203s of those) since they seem pretty reliable for me. I'm running Mavens with SRAM sintered pads FWIW. I was hesitant to get the S01e because it's stamped vs laser cut, and I hate dealing with warped rotors (and associate stamped with warping).
Haha agreed about the SRAM levers man. They're allergic to giving them any sort of grip. Outside of the wandering bite point, how did you like the base's? Heard they're much less "bitey" than the BRZ/Silver/Ult but how do they compare to the Dominions bite?
The Maven Base are good brakes, I'd be more than happy running them if I didn't have a set of Dominions ready to swap over. I don't want to overstate the wandering bite on the Mavens, it's not like Shimanos, it's subtle and all brake levers move a little when heating up. But the Dominions move a slight bit less.
I haven't gone back-to-back on them, but I'd say in general they feel like a slightly less refined Dominion - initial bite is similar and well controlled. I've taken them down some super steep jank where brake control is key and they were great. Lever pull is plenty light, I never thought about it while riding. My only nits are the slick lever blade, I prefer the Domion lever shape, and the new-style master that goes parallel to the bar is annoying for quieting cable slap. Grip tape shreds gloves so if I was going to keep these Mavens long term I'd pull out the dremel and put in some grip grooves.
It's amazing that we're comparing little details like this - so many good brake choices these days.
The S01E is laser cut, and works fine, although for bigger pads like V4, the bottom of the pad is slightly hanging under the braking surface. The S05 is better in that regard.
I would stay away from the Shark 223mm, had a pair for a season and the problem is that the tiny holes "line up", as in they're always on the same radius from the center of the rotor/hub. It means that when the pads use the rotor, grooves form in lines at the same radius. In the end I had a rotor that was 1.7mm thick at its thickest, and 1.4mm at its thinnest (in those groves). It took a lot longer to bed in new pads, it made additional noise when braking, and 1.4mm didn't feel that same to me.
That "problem" isn't as big on the smaller versions, the tiny holes are all staggered out much better. And on the TRP S05E, I haven't noticed that yet after a full season on them, and the holes look better positioned, so all good in my opinion.
I have been running the 220/203mm TRP RS05 rotors with my Maximas for this season and have been very happy. Previously I had the trickstuff rotors 223/203 and I got really tired of truing them after every other ride. After installing the TRPs, I haven't had to true them all season which has been a real treat. They do make a high frequency ticking noise when braking at high speeds (most rotors do) but no squeaks or squeals etc.
I have two pairs for two wheel sets and both 220mm ones required a very minor true out the box. That is because the Maxima pads sit very close to the rotors. On a caliper like Maven/code I wouldn't bother with that minor true. I couldn't use my parktool truing fork because of their 2.3mm thickness but good ol knipex piers work just fine.
Huh, interesting. Yeah I've noticed that on my 203mm Sharks there are always a series of parallel lines on my pads. I hadn't thought to check rotor thickness to see if the rotors are wearing unevenly. One of the other local guys got 223mm Sharks and was complaining about them being really noisy. My 203s are only noisy (with sintered pads) when they're cool and dusty - after a little bit of braking on a descent they quiet down to just the typical sintered grinding sound.
The TRP website was where I got the stamped vs. laser cut from. Maybe they're referring to the overall rotor cutout, rather than the holes. Pad hanging off the bottom is no bueno though - that's a recipe for issues (I've run into that when accidentally running 203mm post mount on 200mm rotor).
did you have the UL or HD rotors? i was decided to pair my GR4s to the UL for some weight savings but i don't want to deal with rotors that don't stay straight
I had HD versions. GR4 and UL should not go in the same sentence. I've been down that route and saving weight on rotors has always caused me a lot of hassle. In addition to constant truing, the big cut outs translate to some pulsating feeling in the lever. Especially in heavy duty brake systems.
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