Lever feel sounds right. The end of the bite point has a bit of flex at the end and isn't as firm as a shimano or a Hayes. But it should have plenty of power on tap. I can't quite say what is stronger between Cura4 and the Hayes A4, its just how the lever delivers that power that is different. FWIW, I added the FRS/RCS lever aftermarket, and liked the change in feel you can get. It allows a bite earlier or later in the lever throw, almost allowing you to be closer between a Shimano and Sram feel...
Just to put a word in on direct comparison, I had a bike with Xt8120 and another with Cura4, both with MTX red pads. I found the cura 4 easily more power on tap. So to me something seems weird here. I never used formula pads, but the enduro mag test made it seem a pad upgrade had a major impact on power, that maybe is the case here? The bleed shouldn’t matter unless it feels spongy. I would try doing a full reset bedding process using acetone on the rotor and a bit of sandpaper on both the rotor...
Thanks, I'm thinking in the same direction that it might be the stock pads that aren't up to standards. Lever feel is pretty good, although they feel less on/off like Shimano, more in the line of old Sram in terms of feel. I have a set of galfer pads on hand that I might try instead.
Just switched from Shimano XTs (8120) to Formula Cura 4, mostly for the silver color matching 😆 However I feel like the brakes are not as powerful as the Shimanos. I've bled them 2 times, all according to the manual and also looked up a few other methods on youtube. Running HS2 200mm rotors front and back and stock metallic...
A few years ago, I had a DH tire that was impossible to get on the rim. I busted out 3 metal Pedros levers. Got the son of a bitch on. Could only find 2 levers. Oh well, the garage owns it now. Added some sealant through the valve stem, gave the wheel a spin to spread the sealant, found the lever. Somehow made it into my tire when the bead popped on. Almost gave up biking when I realized I had to take the tire off and re-mount it again.
Infinite tweaking of limit screws and b-gap screws on derailleur with no success of getting it to shift well with no luck. Oh yeah, the frame bolt is loose. I've done this one enough that it's now one of the first things I check.
After the nuclear winter there will be a cockroach riding a bike with 8120 brakes on it. They are perhaps characterised by the fact that they’re not outstanding anywhere, but they’re good enough almost everywhere and will stay that way after the fluid has turned to tooth paste. There are plenty of better stock brakes, but few as robust. Sure there have been occasional runs with bad pistons but the reason people remember that is it’s been so rare an exception to the reliability.
Yeah it's easy and not expensive for sure. Just annoying that they're a bit fragile. I rammed one lever of the Dominions straight into a tree first run in high speed, not even a scratch hehe. But a valid point for sure, I tend to keep a stock of old blades from buying broken levers and old take offs.
I have MT520 on my older bike and M8120 on the newer one. The latter got the wandering bite point eventually, but only after I replaced both levers because I damaged them in a crash. I think I got on top of it with a half-arsed gravity bleed, still using the OEM mineral oil, but if not I'll do a more thorough one. Having said that, "wandering" made it sound (to me at least) like you don't know what you're going to get with each lever pull, but the behaviour seems to be very predictable. The same crash resulted in...
Issues: Brake lever blades snap to easily, occasionally had problems with wandering bite point (but always fixed by doing a full bleed or switching to putoline oil). Enjoyed: Super easy to work with and bleed, consistent, good power and lovely lever feel. Recently I got the Dominion A4s on a new bike. Ran them for 2 months but the overall...
Turns out dead on with 160mm cranks. I mean absolutely bang on! The post is slammed as far as it can go, and the saddle is EXACTLY where I need it, match made in heaven!
We’re conducting a survey and would appreciate your input. Your answers will help Vital and the MTB industry better understand what riders like you want. Survey results will be used to recognize top brands. Make your voice heard!
Five lucky people will be selected at random to win a Vital MTB t-shirt.