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Just curious—why IPA over brake cleaner?
no residues left from additives
I have rotors with no colour, some coloured a light yellow and one a dark brown. The brown always fades on long decents but the others generally perform well everywhere. If I had to choose I would say the ones with no colour perform the best.
So if you have no colour then they may be fine but the only way to tell if a smaller rotor would be better is to try it out.
We’re spending a lot of time talking to pedal bob about his brake problems when he might just be dragging brake
Much better taste and less painful hangover.
+1 I switched over to MTX pads two seasons ago. First in my TRP DHR's, then in my Trail Evo's and Shimano XT's. By far the most consistent pads I have ever used, same performance regardless if its hot/dry/wet/cold or whatever riding discipline you are partaking in. They bed in so easy it is laughable.
Also I have had better luck cleaning rotors with dawn dishsoap and a semi stiff brush, plus it's cheaper then Iso.
So after a decade on shimano brakes I’ve got some cheap db8s in the mail. I’ll definitely try them as is and likely switch to mtx pads at some point, but I also have a set of maven bronze levers. I’ve seen a lot about using the maven calipers, but had anyone swapped the maven levers over?
why would you get the levers and not the maven calipers which is what makes them good
Cuz when a friend gives you the levers and keeps the calipers you end up with the levers and not the calipers
I've been itching to try Shimano levers with the DB8 calipers. I think it'd be a neat thing to try.
I have tried this, but they were secondhand old xt deore levers and they were leaky AF. Tried to resurrect them with after market seal kits by no cigar.
Ended up buying Zrace levers and they are a fantastic combo with the DB8 calipers
I do want to try and find some Lewis radial cylinder levers (lv4 ones) to try, but I’d probably wait until tariffs calm down
I'm now on MT7's with the zrace levers on one bike (mave some MT5's to put on the other bike that is currently running the zrams...
Hello brake nerds. I subjected my partner and best friend to a year of brake swaps to get their opinions. We made a low production value video talking about our thoughts.
I would also like to contribute some brake info because I actually took the time to disassemble and measure the master cylinder diameters.
Really interesting how different the Lewis and Hayes feel with identical hydraulic specs. Lever geometry, leverage curve, return spring rate, seal friction, and pad compound all add up.
Also I feel like formula would make a few running changes and be competing with the top dogs.
Upcoming Brembo specs put it above the Mavens in terms of hydraulic leverage. I pulled on a set at Champery worlds and the lever feel seemed really good as well.
Also very interested to get my hands on the Hope GR4's and Maven Base. So if anyone wants to buy/trade some of these brakes hit me up haha
First, I really appreciate the work that it took to do this. I can't even begin to imagine.
Second, what are the changes you spoke about to the Formula's to compete with the big dogs?
Lastly, did you ever come up with any of the data from the brake ace for the Lewis vs Hayes?
Whats people's favorite Shimano lever alternative but keeping the shimano calipers? Shimano lever blades just snap so easily I'd like to try something else.
@Evwan @iceman2058 backlink
Different rotors = different cooling.
So they don’t use a control pad or a control rotor?
Their test setup photos don’t look like they properly apply the force to the pocket of the brake lever either.
Junk science all around IMO.
I inferred that they tested the XTR's as a set with the XTR rotor, the SLX's as a set with the SLX rotor, Hayes' as a set with the Hayes rotor, Formula with Formula, etc...
They then also tested with Sinter pads as control. They missed a few combinations and the hypothesis/method/apparatus/etc isn't described with technical rigor, so perhaps it wouldn't pass as a scientific paper, but it's not a scientific paper. I feel that I can make meaning of the results.
Iirc they use the product as shipped, as it's much more relevant than people mix and matching which doesn't happen on stock bikes.
It's one of the better brake tests done, sorry it's not to your standards.
I'll kindly wait your entirely free review of 14 brake systems in and out of the lab, until then, maybe be a touch more accepting.
About to pull the trigger on some mavens. Anyone have strong thoughts on the various models including the base? Leaning towards the Bronze for simplicity but open to hear people's thoughts.
Rumor is that SRAM is going to be releasing new maven options soon. I’d hold off until at least April (sea otter) if you can.
Does anyone here have experience on both radic kaha and maven’s?
I’d be curious to know how the braking power on both compares. I’m drawn to kaha for the low dead stroke and light lever action, but I’m not willing to give up much power from mavens.
The bronze don't have contact adjust, if you care about that sort of thing. But if an update is around the corner, the 2nd hand market will look a lot more attractive
Then the GR4 with the Power levers are a great alternative
Less fiddly than the mavens, look way better, nicely build, way easier to bleed and service, nicer tolerances, plenty of power, more modulation
Thanks! I would be very curious how a set of formula brakes with 9mm master cylinder (instead of 10mm) and also with a few more threads cut on the reach adjust to allow more range of adjustment, would stack up against the Mavens etc.
The brakeace was interesting to try but they only had the clunky android app at the time I used it. After a couple weeks with the system my takeaway was that regardless of the brakes you are using, you always end up using similar braking power. For example I had very similar data between the Lewis and Hayes but the perceived experience was very different. To me this makes sense. You are always going to brake as much as you need to, but how hard you have to pull the lever to get that power you need depends on the brake you are using. On unfamiliar trails/ non-"focused" riding, the data is super messy and not worth reading into IMO.
An interesting takeaway I also had from the brake ace is that on trails that I'm just "riding" I use a lot more rear brake. 70% rear bias. Similar to what brake ace team has found to be common. But when I'm doing a race pace effort my braking is much closer to 50/50 or even 60 front 40 rear. So my conclusion in the end was that my braking technique is fine and my use of same size rotors front and rear is also fine.
OK, I’ve pulled the trigger on a set of EVO GR4s for my V10. Should be here in a week. Replacing Codes.
Hope instructions say the brakes ship with resin pads. True? Do I need to order sintered pads to be happy?
Looking forward to more power.
In the past V4 brakes shipped with multiple sets of pads. Awhile a go it was the red (all round organic) and gold (sintered). My last set had green (high performance organic), red, and purple (heavy use oganic). I stil use the sintered out of choice because even though they're not the most powerful, they are the most consistent.
The hopes ship with green, black and purple. Greens are race oriented, very powerful, wear quick.
I actually have never tried the blacks, they're resin.
Purples are marketed as a ebike pad, they're a sintered setup. They're actually pretty good, great power and last ages.
I often run a green up front and Purples out back 👌
The Base is ace, but as someone else said, SRAM is rumored to be updating the entire Maven lineup to mimic the lever feel of the Base brake, and allegedly the new lineup is going to drop soon.
Post a reply to: Nerding out on Brakes shall we? Not another tech deraliment