Embedded Files
Something about the Hope Tech components littered sparingly around the Enigma showroom had clearly pierced my subconscious, particularly the way the anodized orange of these gorgeously crafted components sat so well against grey and even better against raw titanium. Understated but functional bling I'll call it. Conveniently forgetting my 'stealth' oath might be another way of looking at it...
Well known in the altogether more technologically advanced world of MTBs, Hope quality is held in high regard and if not cheap, delivers high value through serviceability. You try replacing anything in a Shimano caliper and it's going to take a fair bit of fishing around the internet. Hope? Everything is off the shelf. Pads, pistons, seals, even the plugs that screw into the caliper bodies to allow the pistons to be extracted.
Whatever, I started looking and then I saw something that could not be unseen; the Hope RX4 flat mount caliper. This link is now the updated '+' version, but I'm not sad enough to consider upgrading as none of what is new impacted my fitment to my bike. YMMV.
Now whilst I'll admit to being bling lead, there was a technical aspect of the RX4s that intrigued me and this comes from my years of motorbike ownership and especially the phase when I was a track day hooligan. There is simply no question that four smaller pistons per caliper out-brake two larger ones. More importantly, when the four pistons are different sizes (the leading pair in terms of disc rotation are smaller) you get a lot more feel and a lot more progressive braking. On a motorbike this means more power for less fingers used and a lot more feel at the lever - You can simply feel with your fingers when the front tyre is about to say enough!
Technically, there is zero reason why this should not also apply to road bikes and as a motorcyclist, I have always been completely underwhelmed by road bike disc feel from any of the big three groupset manufacturers. The reviewers are simply wrong. Some may be better than others and successive generations may be better than the last, but they're all relative levels of crap. You never see an opposed twin pot caliper on the front of a motorbike but they're the norm even in top end grupos. I guess they're saving something to sell us further down the line...
Then I saw something else a motorcyclist would take for granted and as a heavy bloke, piqued my interest more than a little - The Hope CL Rotor. A proper full-floating disc. A full thickness steel disc riveted on to its aluminium carrier. Riveted suggests a rigid connection and it is laterally, but there is room within the rivet to expand in dimension with heat build up. They make a really nice buzz when you're anchoring uo hard, just like a motorbike too.
Now, I will accept there are theoretical shortcomings to these discs. Anything with drilling to aid cooling or gaps for any other reason is simply not aero. Shimano Ice Tech is the clear leader in this regard, full stop. Also the drillings are more prone to picking up dust/grit and giving you a ting-ting-ting as they rotate, With respect to the former, I'm not physically aero enough to worry about it and the latter tends to be cleared the next time you apply the brakes.
Aside from the fact the whole combo (in my eyes) looks sexy as; how do they perform? As disc brakes should. Forget the other peripheral stuff a brake is there to stop you as safely and as hard is required. Contingent with that is that is that you should be able to feel exactly how much brake you can apply through your only contact point - The brake levers.
Once properly bled and I won't lie, this is a faff with Hope calipers, the first thing you notice is the lack of travel at your [Shimano] levers. There is much less dead travel which may not be what you are used to, but is the way it should be. Just after you start to apply pressure, you can tell the pads are starting to bite. Not in a grabby kind of way, but the lever feel lets you know the brakes are working. Progressive pressure bites progressively harder and like any good [motorcycle] brake, you can feel the grip of the front wheel modulating through the lever and letting you know where your tyre/road grip is at.
Ifg you've ever heard the term 'wooden brakes' and this applies to rim brakes as much as discs, then these are not it. Whatever you've had before will require tucking at least one extra finger away otherwise you will feel like you are grabbing at the brakes. One finger braking with the rest safely gripping the bar is the way it should be.
I've learned that the divide is both greater and less than I thought it was between road and MTB since I bought these brakes. Less because the number of people I've cycled with on spotives, etc have immediately spotted the Hope brakes, but greater because those same people who tend to own Hope stuff on their MTBs didn't know Hope do road stuff.
It's like there's a deliberately ingrained divide that even the people who straddle it are not aware of...
NEXT: I finally ordered carbon wheels!
Google Sites
Report abuse