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Are they accepted to be a good thing, or is it another one of those wheel-size like controversies?
Fitted some the other day to my old Mono Minis, definitely seems to be a big improvement.
Not convinced to be honest
I'm sure you brakes will feel better after you change to braided hoses. You have after all just given your brakes a nice fresh bleed!
Not convinced either. I've used them on a couple of bikes and cannot tell the difference.
They do seem to be a little more flexible though. That can help avoid cable rub and make routing round bar luggage easier.
They were recently bled anyway.
I have a feeling Minis came with some fairly flimsy hoses anyway. They still bite well, but there's more when I squeeze hard. I used to be able to feel the hose expand with my fingers when operating the brakes on the stand.
When they were all the rage back in the day it was commonly said they made a big difference to hopes and little difference to shimano. Might be to do with the quality of the originally supplied hose. Also just make sure it can't rub. They can saw through a frame
Current style hope brakes have decent plastic hoses that perform the same as braided (Hope confirm this). The braided ones are more resistant to damage and are more flexible - hence why they come as standard on the Tech 3 V4 brakes which are likely to be found on a full bounce DH bike which will see lots of crashes.
Stainless braided hoses were a good upgrade from flexible rubber fitted to bikes and cars. Two reasons; rubber hoses are slightly flexible and the line pressures generated in a servo assisted system are somewhat higher resulting in a less than sharp feel at the lever/pedal. I've got two identical sets of Hope brakes on different bikes. One on braided lines the other on the standard black hoses. I can't honestly say there's any difference in lever throw or feel.
D.
I have one set of tech X2's with braided hoses, one without. Both roughly the same length, both bikes have 183 rotors on the same Mavic wheel set . I can't tell any difference between the two in terms of feel etc. but the black hoses look best on the black anodised Canyon and the braided hoses look best on the polished steel bike. I'm happy.
. but the black hoses look best on the black anodised Canyon and the braided hoses look best on the polished steel bike. I'm happy.
Yes I agree braided hoses look good and that's most important.
Doesn't SRAM claim the normal hoses are designed on purpose to flex to give some modulation and feel? I always thought Hope brakes were designed to be used with braided hoses. So that might explain the difference
Why do people claim braided hoses can saw though a frame? MyHopes have a plastic outer so they are as smooth as standard hoses.
And conversely I've had plastic gear and brake hose saw through an aluminium frame.
I think that the plastic outer on braided hose is actually kinder to frames.
Yep, as I mentioned above. I'm particularly thinking of Goodridge.andyl - Member
I think that the plastic outer on braided hose is actually kinder to frames.
as I mentioned above. I'm particularly thinking of Goodridge
I love my goodridge hoses, mainly because of the reusable ends. Look lovely too.
Why do people claim braided hoses can saw though a frame? MyHopes have a plastic outer so they are as smooth as standard hoses.
Cos you get grit in between the hose and frame, and it's that that saws through the frame not the hose itself.
Which would happen with any hose. In my experience the Goodridge hoses, being a bit more flexible, don't rub the frame as badly.Cos you get grit in between the hose and frame, and it's that that saws through the frame not the hose itself.
Of course.
They are certainly nice to handle. One thing that is annoying about the Goodridge ones though is you cannot rotate the hose after you've fitted the end connector. So you have you fit them correctly otherwise you have to put a twist in the hose to get the caliper mounted. This wrecks the routing and looks crap.
I was lucky in that the first one I did happened to be just about 180 deg out so I removed the banjo and flipped it, and it was ok. Doesn't happen with Hope hoses as you can just loosen it off.
Oh sorry, I misread the title.
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I still don't see why Hope bother putting the ****ing braided hose on the V4s.
Without them, they are something like 25-30 g heavier than E4's and 20 percent more powerful. Discontinue the E4 line and just sell the enduroists lighter V4s!
Formula have been doing kevlar braided hoses for years, isn't everyone else doing that? The steel ones look kinda cool but they function just the same as kevlar (which look just like normal hoses) and weigh more.
First came across this whole shenanigans with motorbikin, where people'd replace a 10 year old 1-into-2 hoses set with a 2-2 stainless set, replace the 5 year old brake fluid, give it a fresh bleed, maybe change the pads while they were at it, then declare the braided hoses to be the best thing ever. I bet if you replaced new rubber with steel, and like-for-like, most people couldn't tell any difference (and at least a third of people who said they could would get it the wrong way round...)
My old ones weren't Kevlar, they were just a plastic tube. These are ten years old mind.
As for the bleeding - the fluid wasn't boiling in the old setup and there were still no bubbles in it, so it wouldn't have made any difference. I did fit new pads, of a different brand, but a brand I had used many times before.
To answer my original question myself - yes, it is controversial 🙂