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Oh man these things made a ton of headlines back in the day but never really went anywhere....they actually showed the first prototype back in 96-97. They also rode terribly due to being from the time where a "freeride" bike meant 200mm of travel with a super steep head angle and low gears for climbing. A bike shop here had one in stock for probably over a decade because they still wanted full retail for it LOL
As for centre lock - the splines always feel loose and if you rock the bike back and forth they often move on the spline no matter how tight the lockring is. They also need different specific lockrings depending on the hub and have just always felt like they didn't add much (like a lot of "standards"...). I think CK went all in on only using centrelock a few years ago but eventually had to bring back 6-bolt
According to Omakacycle "The free stroke is shorter, and the post-bite lever travel is the same as the stock Maven."
I agree with you though, it doesn't add up. I used TRP levers on maven calipers and the free stroke was quite long. I don't see how the radic lever would be any different as the master cylinder is the same size (9mm).
I throw good old Formula Curas in the Mix. Especially the two piston version.
I did the radic/maven combo at least 1-2 years ago. Downgrade from stock. Longer throw, hate maven pad changes.
If I recall correctly King’s claim was that they switched to CL only because they had limited production capacity during covid and CL hubs can run any rotor through the use of adapters. 6B hubs aren’t “universal” in the same way.
Have you ridden stock TRPs dhr evo ? how much longer the free stroke gets? I feel they have a decent long free stroke to start with; I wonder if it gets worse with the maven caliper? Thank you
I went from Code RSCs to Maven silvers to Code Silvers. I can't detect a significant difference between the Code RSCs and the Code Silvers. They work well for me.
Are you saying that kaha lever throw with mace caliper was longer than stock kaha setup, or longer than stock maven setup? I’m curious about this combo but it’s not worth trying if the kaha lever ends up with super long throw.
The lever throw with trp/maven setup is slightly longer than a stock trp Dhr evo setup. Not unusable by any means, but it’s a decent amount of lever throw for sure. Modulation and power were top tier though.
Would the new TRPs with contact adjust help here? Or is it shimanos version of contact adjust?
the TRP version works good.
What "stock" brakes have you run that you can compare them to? Power/lever throw vs a T4V4?
I’ve a good amount of experience on xt, trp, saint, Lewis LHT, shaven. Never used hope.
The trp / maven combo has a long throw but it’s not crazy. Maybe closest to Hayes because those have a decently long throw also
Asking for some thoughts, I'm considering an ebike that comes stock with the new 4 piston XT brakes. My current ebike has TRP dhr's and I love them, I've had XT's in the past and liked them but the wandering bite point and PITA bleed have me kind of turned off on them, then Vital's own Jason Schroeder says they're a step down from Maven's, TRP's etc. Is that the consensus from others who have ridden the new XT's? Would love to give the new Hope's a run, heard many good things about them.
I guess the question is how picky are you? No disrespect intended, but I think this forum is an assembly of the nitpickiest nitpickers in the world when it comes to brake lever feel and power.
The new XT and XTR brakes are totally adequate for mountain biking and ebikes, and if you need more power, you can pair them with a big thick rotor (like a 220mm/2.0mm SRAM HS2). However, they are less powerful than some of their newest competitors* (Maven Ultimates, TRP DHR EVO, Hope Tech4 V4, etc), and the lever feel is less crisp than the classic Shimano on/off feel. Some people think the new XT's and XTR's still suffer from the dreaded wandering bite point, others don't, and the members on this forum will give you a million perspectives on which brake is just right.
In summary, if you're not picky, they'll be fine. If you are picky, and you're fishing for reasons to justify replacing the XT brakes on your new ebike, you will find an abundance of reasons in this forum.
*Editor's note: I think Shimano knows this, which is why they're developing the Jackson Goldstone prototype megahuge brake caliper
Thanks for the reply, TeamRobot!
TRP EVO Pro Question.
This is for folks that have run both the EVO Pro and the DH-R Evo's. I ran DH-Rs prior to some MT7s (HC3) then currently some Lewis options on my two primary bikes. I prefer my levers pretty close and just the index into the end curve, which resulted in me having to use Freedom Coast levers to get them close enough on the DH-R's. Ultimately I ended up moving on from them because I was forced to either sacrifice on brake lever position or shift lever position, which was not great for a thumb that has been through shit, skiing and mechanicing.
Question: Is there more room for setup variation on the new master cylinder, or is it the same. How about reach compared to the original with Freedom Coast levers?
Also considering trying some Hayes, but I have a bunch of mineral oil...
I haven't ridden the new Shimano brakes, but I can tell you that if you love the TRP's you'll miss them. I have TRP's on my primary bike and had XT's on my downhill bike. We did 6 park weekends back to back and I rode XT's for those weeks then went back to the TRP's and it took me a couple rides to readjust. Within 2 months I had TRP's on the downhill.
I really would love to try out Hayes but the whole family rides Shimano and it's nice to use the same pads (and fluid) across the board.
Slapped a set of Mavens on my Sight only to find that the little tangs on the Maven pads don't clear the the carrier on my XTR Freeza rotors
Probably just going to chop the tangs off the pads while waiting for new rotors as my buddy said he'd swing me a new set of HS2's for $$. Anyone else run into this?
Had an interference issue with my dominions paired with RT86 rotors. Unfortunately it meant I defaulted to some centrelines I had, which suck.
It has been years and I still have the centrelines. Really need to do something about that lol.
What's the magic trick to have brakes that don't glaze and will bite and simply just work as intended, when you do slow speed trail riding?
I sort of assumed when I jumped on brakes with organic pads as the main option(Hope does offer sinter, but can't really find any reviews of anyone who uses it on their Hope brakes) that they wouldn't glaze as quickly through normal riding but to me it seems like they glaze just the same.
I thought that organic pads would work better especially for me who won't get much crazy heat in my rotors because I do trail riding in very techy and rocky terrain where the trails dictate the speed pretty much. I just feel that the front brake get glazed and I get the pulsating feel through the lever almost like abs brakes(not as extreme) so it has these continuous micro skips during braking. That tells me it must be glazed, and I just wonder what kind of rotor/pad combo would work better for my kind of riding given I'm not doing Hardline or anything near that at all.
Brakes: Hope T4V4 with the Hope green pads.
Rotors: 203mm F/R TRP RS05E
As per the TRP website, not those rotors, which are design for people who brake hard, late and do not drag brakes ( i run the same and i fit the exact opposite of the description ) that being said i never managed to glaze the green or purple hope pads, another one that i never could glaze no matter the temperature is the trickstuff power, got the rotors blue and those pads were working like fresh, smoking and wearing down fast as, but still working perfectly
I've discussed these kinds of brake combos with him and he persistantly insists that they don't have a lot of throw (which just isn't true). The brake will have tons of power but will naturally have lots of throw. I tried a Radic/Gustav setup and the lever throw was 28mm with the pads against the rotor. For some reason he likes to mislead.
My rotors just don't get colored in the slightest so I understand it's not ideal, I just do the riding I do so it's hard to really produce any more heat than I currently do. The speeds are slow for the most part because that's what techy trail riding is.
I think I need to do an experiment now just to get a base reading of what is needed for me and my riding to get as close to brown colored rotors. I think I'll just start by focusing on the front brake alone and order a Shimano RT-MT800 in 180mm version and just see what I can get out of that. If it is indeed too small for the front I can then just chuck it in the back, and maybe the same rotor(or the Shimano SM-RT86) in a 203mm version for the front.
Open for suggestions of course, because I obviously need brakes as well no matter what my speeds are.
I've had good results with the Magura Storm HC rotors and Galfer Purple pads for this sort of riding/braking without issues. Also found the Magura MDR-C rotor good for riding with more heat/intensity. The Magura rotors are available relatively cheaply here in the UK.
Looking for clarity. Is the lever blade pulsing under use or are you having an event where the rotor has areas of higher and lower bite point with no pulse at the lever?
Love the levers. Bumped up the ergonomics and also modulation + power is much better! Looks good aswell 😎
Have you tried MTX pads? I use the both the red and the gold and have been very happy w/ the performance on Hope, Hayes and SRAM brakes https://mtxbraking.com/store/?brand=hope
The rotor has areas of higher and lower bitepoint, and this does give vibration feel compared to how one continuous bite will feel, and this vibration will reach all contact points of your bike. So, when I'm braking I am in contact with the lever, and thus I feel the vibration there as well as the grips, the saddle and the pedals.
I tried to point out it's a mild vibration but you do feel it when the pads are constantly skipping across the rotor.
I've heard of them lots of times, but never tried them simply because they will cost way too much because of availability(in relation to what country I live in). It's not a common brand you find in most online shops, so when you add expensive shipping and tax and extra tax into my country, it's just not worth it. All online purchases need to have prepaid the VAT and all documentation of that purchase sent electronically to customs in my country by the shop. If they don't do that I will very often have an extra fee, that means a pair of brake pads could easily cost me 100$ which obviously would be ridiculous and that's the end of that.
I've just recently had to go through a loophole just to get a hold of Deity pedals, rebuild kits + pins in one and same order, and it still cost more than it should. Very often it can be tricky to navigate availability and pricing and customs etc etc.
So first I was simply thinking of doing a once over with sandpaper on the green pads that are glaced, just to get a good surface again. Then try that with a 180mm XT freeza rotor(I do also have the purple pads I could try, but one thing at a time). I think it's best to just change one parameter at a time, so just test downsizing the rotor and I thought maybe the freeza version could help a little bit given stepping down could get too hot. The rotor isn't too overly expensive, is centerlock and I can easily throw it on the backwheel if it fails as a front option.
Post a reply to: Nerding out on Brakes shall we? Not another tech deraliment