Mine are still great after a year!
Just built up another bike with some Shimanos and they feel seriously underpowered in comparison
I had a good look at my brakes last night and couldn't see any evidence of leaking. The annoying thing is the floating rotors. They're both just a tiny bit out of true which makes it impossible to get them running silently.
My new front brake is fine, I did finish off a set of the green pads in the rear after some Torridon bog snorkelling though, I got 300km out of them! This place eats pads for breakfast!
I've said a couple of times already but we've got 3 sets of of Tech 4 E4's and, touch wood, haven't any issues. Oldest nearly a year old, newest maybe 6 months.
For those experiencing issues.
How brass a neck do you have ?. I'd press Hope for some sort of disappointment offsetting freebie 🙂
So I had zero issues with my brakes in my 2 week trip with about 5000m of descending and 200km.
Just pulled apart my spare tech 4 lever (which I might add, is a literal 5 minute job!) and the main seal has a bit of a nick in it so that's why it wasn't holding pressure.
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I'll get a replacement master cylinder/seal kit ordered and it'll go on my hardtail.
. I’d press Hope for some sort of disappointment offsetting freebie 🙂
Good idea. If mine start leaking I want trade pricing on a HB.916.
Hope's staff purchase pricing is literally the only thing I miss about my old life in the bike trade.
Sadly I was in Wharny today and they were working perfectly. I do need a bleed kit for them though so I can keep them in good order.
I’ll get a replacement master cylinder/seal kit ordered and it’ll go on my hardtail.
They used to have a tool to help you get the piston back into the cylinder without damaging the seals. it was a small alloy tube you loaded the piston into, placed it against the cylinder opening and pushed the piston in. It pretty much held the seals in a bit so they wouldn't catch on the lip and get nicked.
I must admit I havent sen one with any sort of kit for many a year, and maybe it was limited to the early 90's brakes, so the ones I have wouldnt fit the newer brake bores.
But the idea/concept of how it works does seem a good idea given the initial fitting of the piston seals into the cylinder is fraught with the risk of catching the edge.
GOOD NEWS
Brakes have completely failed today. 6 days ago they were brilliant, though felt oddly spongy after the short drive home.
Checked and aimed for a quick bleed last night, no air came out. Still full to the brim with fluid.
Farmer John's today and felt spongy again after getting here, little fiddle and got working ok. 2 runs, feeling spongy again and more travel on the lever. Bike upside down to have a look at the caliper and no obvious leaks. Back on its wheels and suddenly the lever goes all the way to the bar and no brake at all. Back is almost the same but still grabs a little bit.
Very poor, there was another couple of lads here who came to get their brakes sorted at the dirt factory shop. Tech 4 V4 with exactly the same issue.
I'll be getting in touch with hope tomorrow, screams to me there is an issue with the levers.
You'd think with those symptoms there must be air in the system.
I'm home and giving them a bleed now. Seems to be plenty of air in the back brake. What I don't understand is why it suddenly became an issue after multiple rides out.
Have you had the bike on its side when transporting it? That would do it. Had similar with my tech 3 recently. On its side in the car for days on holiday then when I got it out to ride the back brake pulled to the bar. I wound the reach and bite point all the way out pumped it back to life. Bled it recently and there was a crazy amount of air in it. Felt totally fine before though as it's always upright.
That's exactly what has happened. First few times riding with them it's been local so the bike has always been upright. Monday we drove to a local hill and when we got home the front was crap.
Drove to farmer John's today and started off ropey, bit of fiddling got it ok but then put the bike upside down to check the caliper (started getting crap) and then when put back upright it was gone to absolutely nothing.
Got back home and the back had done the same.
I've just bled them both properly, lots of air. Didn't do this prior to riding just did it from the lever as I expected them to be good from the factory.
Hopefully they stay ok, I'll probably leave it a few days and then put it upside down for a while and see what happens.
Interesting thread. Had the exact same issues with the calipers on my Tech 4 V4s (and one of the levers was faulty too). Had to return them to Hope, they replaced a lever body and caliper seals. When I got the back the lever was ok, but the caliper piston leaked again after a few rides.
The front caliper pistons had then also started leaking. Hope sent me a seal and piston kit as I wanted to ride quickly. I replaced all seals and all pistons (didn't notice anything wrong with them either), and lo and behold, after a few rides leaking again.
Hope acted as if they'd never seen this before. Apparently they have though, reading through this thread. I've returned them for a refund. Quality control absolutely terrible.
Also, something else weird I noticed: the T4 lever has quite the wandering bite point. Or mine did at least. Squeeze it a few times in succession relatively fast, and the bite point moves out away from the bars by more than a centimeter. Quite noticeable. Wait a second, and the bite point is back further in again, where it originally started. Etc, etc. Very consistently so. Super annoying.
I'm getting a gobbling noise from mine currently but no noticeable power loss. It feels/sounds like pulsing caused by the rotor shape (hope floating) causing variable bite from the pads. Going to swap to the red pads and see if it goes away.
Anybody getting issues with losing lever pressure when bike is transported or stored anything other than bolt upright?
Following on from last week's issue of brakes not working even slightly, did a full bleed and got a lot of air out the system. Hence I didn't contact hope thinking all would be well.
Today, after not using them since said bleed 7 whole days ago, I've got the bike out to test it. Turned upside down, press lever a couple of times and the lever goes straight to the bar. I've since read that this shouldn't be done with any brake. But I've done it with every brake I've ever owned and never once had an issue. Can't be drawing air in once all fastened as there is no sign of leakage. Unless the process of putting the top cap of the reservoir back on also dumps loads of air in I'm at an absolute loss. This basically means I won't be able to transport the bike anywhere for fear of any trapped air that I can't bleed out finding it's way out of its trap and causing me some issues.
Unless the process of putting the top cap of the reservoir back on also dumps loads of air in
Hope’s instruction to roll the rubber over the master cylinder’s full reservoir is specifically to avoid air getting in and should prevent the problem you are having. If you have air in there then you have a problem either with the process followed or the brake.
It definitely sounds like people have air in the master cylinder reservoir- so it's not in the "active" fluid that's doing the braking, and it doesn't get pulled in usually in normal use as it's on top, but once the bike's on its side or upside down it gets in. These all basically come down to faulty bleeds, but some brakes are much harder to get a perfect bleed than others, or have weird additional requirements to prevent it. Anything motorbike-style ie with a removable top is far more likely to get it than anything you bleed enclosed (ie most dual-syringe bleeds).
It's a bit of a work around, but if transportation is the problem, cut some sections of inner tube or similar and tie the levers in a closed position.
That way, the active fluid is separated from the reservoir.
(Use a pad spacer if removing wheels)
I’m pretty sure that’s exactly the issue, air in the reservoir going back into the system and causing problems. I’ve done 6 brakes bleeds on the Tech 4 E4 and X2 combinations and they seem very sensitive to how you do it.
I’ve had some success with bleeding them off the bike, with brake pads out and a thick bleed block placed in the calliper. The. followed by topping up the reservoir until overflowing and rolling on the rubber diaphragm in the direction they show on the videos. You lose some fluid, and it spills everywhere but it’s the only way I’ve found to keep the reservoir totally full. It stops any air getting in at all.
So far, so good. All the brakes have a good lever feel and seem totally consistent. The Hopes are definitely more work to bleed than some, but I’ve been bleeding motorbike brakes for years so the process actually baffles me less than messing around with syringes.
I can press my levers on both my trp dh evo and magura mt7 with the bike upside down and they fedl great I can then flip the bikes back over and they still feel great ,I can transport the bikes in my car in any orientation I desire and they work great ,none of the above was possible with any of my 5 sets of faulty hopes .when I did send them back to hope I asked them to make sure they were bled correctly from them, when I got them back simply turning the lever upside down and having the caliper raised caused the lever to loose all power, this is completely unacceptable.
I'm a massive hope fan and have used there previous brakes with great success but the new tech 4 is absolutely joke.
They still look insane but just wish they would work .
I'll place this comment here that they at some point in the near future recall them .
Following my last post up there about all of ours being great, the rear on my hardtail is doing the same as ta11pau1's with the leaver pulling to the bar slowly. As soon as you release it there's bite again.
Did replacing the seals sort it @ta11pau1?
Going to try a bleed and if that doesn't work they'll be going back to Hope.
I thought that my rear was going on the blink with the lever pulling to the bar, but it turned out that the pistons had started to push out unevenly as the pads wore. After a little fiddling with a screwdriver it's right as rain, and so easy to do with the new slippery pistons. might be worth a go for anyone worrying about their fancy brakes.
Ps. They work so bloody well!
Did replacing the seals sort it @ta11pau1?
Initial impressions they seem to appear so, yes. It's now fitted to my hardtail, haven't been for a ride on it yet but it's holding pressure.
Thanks, it's a bloody bizarre feeling when it's sinking to the bar as you descend. I'm going to give it a bleed, though doubt it'll sort it, if not Hope can have a look for me.
Should probably leave it, might teach me to drag the brakes less 😂
So just to follow up on my issue. I decided to take the master cylinder to bits and have a look myself and sure enough, there was a small nick in the primary seal, just like ta11paul. Ordered a couple of seals so I've got another back up, fitted, bled and all working as it should again.
It's a pain in the arse but at least they're really easy to work on and the replacement bits are cheap.
Has anyone got the new/latest v3 one up remote to fit directly on to the hope tech 4 e4 lever? Or is it a band on only scenario? Can’t see anything on google to suggest it’s doable but thought I’d ask here
Im getting a bit of squeaking off the front. Only got the front fitted at the mo so thats annoying. Possibly the alignment.
Only did the loose fit, squeeze lever, tighten it well up but it spun freely so i think alignment wise its ok. Mine is the Tech 4 lever on the tech 3 V4 so without the stainless pistons.
Certainly works well, but as reported you need to put more pressure on the levers than you would with say shimano, but it feels like theres plenty of power there and i've yet to really squeeze he lever hard.
Overall the lever has good feel to it.
Has anyone got the new/latest v3 one up remote to fit directly on to the hope tech 4 e4 lever? Or is it a band on only scenario? Can’t see anything on google to suggest it’s doable but thought I’d ask here
Yep, you need the base dropper lever with no clamp, then you'll need the Hope tech 4 SRAM shifter mount.
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Best lever out there IMO, light action and you only need to press it a tiny amount for it to actuate.
Ahhh brilliant!!! Your a star!
yeah I had a feel of the new v3 lever today on someone’s and it felt so much smoother than mine on the same one up post!
Much lighter action than the v2 - just didn’t want the band on version keep it neat
so just buy the v3 dropper remote on its own then purchase a hope tech 4 sram adaptor and it all just bolts on no messing?!? I assume the adaptor is an official hope one?
https://rushcycles.co.uk/m87b0s666p12441/HOPE-Tech-4-Sram-Direct-Mount-Shifter-Mount-HBSP426
just to confirm is it this one? Obviously left hand side version?
Yeah that's the one, then the dropper lever described as 'no clamp' and you're sorted. The Hope mount bolts to the tech 4 lever, then the dropper lever to the mount.
I’m on the same One Up / T4 set up as above, works a treat.
Excellent info @tallpaul appreciate that, thank you
and great @razorazoo great follow up info glad it’s all working shall get it all ordered 👍
I just put this on another thred, my very noisy Tech 4 V4’s that work perfectly otherwise went pretty much silent yesterday after soaking the pads with water. So now am really confused as traditionally wet pads are noisy????
are you using the greens, I definitely find them a bit noisy, the reds are fine tho
I've had trouble with the green pads that came fitted in some V4's.
I didn't do the install so can't say for sure but I think the pads may have been contaminated when the brakes were fitted to a new bike.
Tried to clean them up and also used fire on them but they still squeal like a stuck pig when they get really hot.
Same brakes work fine with red and purple pads in.
V4's with 2.3 rotors.
are you using the greens, I definitely find them a bit noisy, the reds are fine tho
Yes green pads not tried the red yet. Started as a chirp and built over the weeks to a screech. Now silent after soaking in water. Bizarre! Wonder if they will stay silent?
How many spare sets of pads do you reckon I'll need for 10 days of riding in the Alps? Non bike-park stuff, more backcountry riding, but we will be doing the mega route on one day, so plenty of descending!
I killed a barely worn set of green Hope pads in Torridon on a single, particularly boggy and wet ride.
I've got fresh pads in now, with 2x spare sets, all green pads. I'll also take 2x sets of the purple e-bike pads, and might stick them in the rear as I know I'll probably dragging the rear brake a lot!
Are the master cylinders all the same on the Tech 4 brakes?
I've currently got a set with X2 flat mount calipers but thinking of trying some E4's for a new build. It would save a healthy chunk of change if I can just swap the calipers rather than buying complete brakes.
Just upgraded from Tech 2 M4 to Tech 4 E4 s ahead of an alps trip. Cut the hoses, bled and test rode them last night and my, what an upgrade in power - might actually take a bit of getting used to to stop locking up on gravel.
Just reading above stories of lots of air getting in, possibly from lying the bike down on a car journey and what I really noticed doing the bleed, was that the fluid reservoir is sloped - unlike the Tech 2- when the bike is in the stand and the lever brought up to be level. "Well that's obviously going to leave lots of air in there when I roll on the diaphragm" I thought - so I got my son to tilt the frame so I could brim it as I've always done.
Could it be people are leaving lots of air in due to the reservoir shape and this is what goes into the system when the bikes on it's side?
Full Member
Are the master cylinders all the same on the Tech 4 brakes?
I’ve currently got a set with X2 flat mount calipers but thinking of trying some E4’s for a new build. It would save a healthy chunk of change if I can just swap the calipers rather than buying complete brakes.
The calipers have upgraded pistons, stainless hybrid rather than phenolic. However, it's the lever that really makes the difference due to the smaller master cylinder and revised pivot location.
when the bike is in the stand and the lever brought up to be level
Its the reservoir that is supposed to be level not the lever which would achieve the same thing.
Thanks for that @Onzadog I might just grab a full set in that case.
Now I just need to decide between the X2's and the E4's. I think the X2's with 180mm rotors might be enough for my riding.
Just back from a few days in Morzine. Tech 4 E4s performed flawlessly, plenty of power and very consistent lever feel (200mm SRAM centreline rotors). Put in a set of standard Galfer sintered pads before going out and bedded in, not a peep from them and rode in all weathers and plenty of pad life left. Others didn't have such a good time, we had a set of wandering bite point Saints and Formula's, plus. broken Magura clamp (fortunately the mechanic tent in Chatel had a spare in a bits box).
Bike travelled in a bag and no issues with lever feel on rebuilding. It's been sat in the bag since I've been home, so will see if this is replicated on the way back.
@ta11pau1 probably not much help but last year I got through a week (6 days riding) in Les Arcs with White Room without needing to change pads and they lasted another month or so when home. That was green front, red rear. Going for the same this year, with a second set of both bedded and ready to go.
Put in a set of standard Galfer sintered pads
Actually the standard pads are organic. Just checked, standard Galfer Black pads.
I've read quiet a lot about 'long leaver throw' and it being down to 'poor bleed/air in the system'.
Some users have suggested rather than a traditional Hope bleed, a reverse bleed (from the calliper up) is better for dislodging air.
Any views or experience here?
And if you guys would recommend a reverse bleed, what process are you following? Same as I'd do for Shimano? I have the Hope bleed kit.
Cheers!
Is this any good? www.totalbleedsolutions.co.uk/collections/hope/products/genuine-hope-brake-bleed-kit-tech-4-no-brake-fluid
I haven't bled mine yet and I've got a tin full of mucky old syringes which I don't want to touch anymore.
For the tiny minority of us that have managed to get your Tech 4 V4s to run silent, what rotors and pads are you running?
Green pads, vented rotors. Not ridden them in proper filth yet though.
My E4's aren't silent, but they are more quiet. TRP R1 2.3mm thick 203mm diameter rotors, hope/galfer red pads.
Was on hope floating rotors and various cheap pads previously.
One of mine needed a bleed straight out the box, absolutely useless, quality control needs looking into. All good otherwise.
I dropped 175ml through my front and 140 through the back before I was vaguely happy with the lever throw on my tech4/V4s. In the end strapping the levers up under pressure with the bike in the stand for a few hours fixed it. I’ve had shimano do similar before. But not hope.
One of mine needed a bleed straight out the box, absolutely useless, quality control needs looking into.
didn’t you need to shorten the hose/bleed anyway?
Just thought I'd add that my V4's survived nearly 30,000m of descending over 8 days in the Alps with ease, just a reset of the pistons required most days to get the bite point back to normal thanks to pad wear.
I initially used the green pads but with the huge amount of brake dragging I was doing they really didn't like that amount of heat so I swapped to the purple e-bike pads and these were awesome, only complaining on the longest, draggiest, steepest trails (where, I might add, several other 'lesser' brakes either boiled fluid, or lost all braking, or levers went to the bar, or all the above). The tech 4 v4 just kept on trucking!!
yeah i will add that too - only just recently noticed it and it makes a huge difference
reset your pistons very very regular! if you dont the lever feel quickly diminishes to almost squidgy, randomly i was giving them a good clean a few months back, and reset the pistons as part of the clean.....night and day difference, i was thinking it was really odd as the pads were getting worn but now all of a sudden the braking felt like i had new pads in (which they werent and they were pretty worn)
so i kept an eye on them, felt ace for a while, then same again, so did the clean/reset and even with low pads now they still feel awesome again
now this is something ive never ever ever ever done on any of my previous brakes, so was a bit freaked out by it tbh, but it really does work, if you lever feels a bit crap and squidgy or not like there much bite there, i will very much imagine its like mine and the pistons need resetting
is this a normal procedure on hopes? never once did anything like this on my codes and i ran them almost down to metal sometime and the lever always felt the same
to keep them running with a good feel now i think it is a must to do this pretty often!
Not something I've ever needed to do on a lifetime of various Hope brakes daung back to the C2 Pro.
Trying to get my head around what's going on inside for this piston reset to make a difference
I was having to do similar most days in the Alps, 4-5,000m of descending a day. I do it occasionally at home, maybe every 4-5 weeks which is probably a similar amount of descending. No idea what causes it but they did just keep on working!
@fathomer - niceeee! hope you had a great time mate! ahh yeah its not something im used to doing nor knew i had to do, but damn they feel ace again (like new pads) when you do it, glad its not just me then ha!
@onzadog - yep no idea, ive just kept doing it maybe 2 times a month perhaps, its incredible the difference in feel, no idea if i did something wrong bleeding initially for it to be like this now, but once i do it they do feel like new again even with worn pads
I don't think it's anything more than pad wear + sticky pistons caused by getting covered in dust all day long then that brake and dirt dust getting baked on at whatever temperature they get up to! 4-5000m a day is equivalent to either a VERY heavy week in Scotland or the lakes, or about 2 months normal local riding.
Hopes are very sensitive to set up, a fraction of a mm in pad gap can mean a big difference in feel at the bar.
I've just taken off my rear purple pads, I used them from day 3 onwards so 6 days of riding, this is Vs a brand new green pad... 😲 If you were using green pads all trip they would have worn faster. This was a brand new purple pad.
Tom Howard, yes a did need to shorten the hose anyway but with all the leaky pistons talk I thought I'd check before internally routing, makes it easier to put back in the box and return to Hope when it's not threaded through my frame, anyway there was zero signs of leaking so proceeded with the routing and shortening, thanks for your question, not sure what your point was, shouldn't they be good to go from the box, or are you just poking for kicks.
4-5000m a day is equivalent to a [s]VERY heavy[/s] normal week in Scotland for me.
😉
I'm just back from a week in the Alps and I found the purple pads somewhat lacking.
Only had them in the rear with reds in the front and after the first day switched to green front red rear.
Was much better.
TBF we did some really slow speed steep stuff on the first day and everyone was struggling by the end of the ride.
Just felt like the pads weren't gripping the rotor on the slow endo switchbacks trails. Felt fine on faster more open stuff.
Did 3 days dry riding in morzine on green pads and all good. Need to pop out the pads and check them but impressed with stopping power. Mates E4s overheated and a piston got seized as a result but that may have been due to old fluid/lack of bleed maybe.
Anyone know if the V4 calipers (just the replacement full caliper, not the whole brake) comes with pads?
No it doesn't just bare caliper
One ride old Tech 4 V4 and i've got leaking pistons on one side....wish I'd had a read of this thread sooner.
How are all the people who've had them serviced getting on now?
Mine have been fine for about a year now. It will either be an improperly installed o-ring or out of spec machining in the caliper. Mine was both.
I ended up phoning them after replacing the seals a couple times, and after insisting there was something wrong they measured the calipers and found they were out of tolerance.
Cheers @wr404 Good to hear they'll sort it one way or another.
Yeah, two seals were twisted on the same side when I popped the pistons out, hopefully thats the only issue. Hope are sending out a seal kit and a set of pads for me. Also spoke to Tredz who said if that doesn't sort it they will send them back to hope FOC for me. Thumbs up for both Hope and Tredz customer service.
Mates E4s overheated and a piston got seized as a result but that may have been due to old fluid/lack of bleed maybe
Clearly an old thread, but this makes me wonder. Hope obviously make lovely products but they seem a bit service-sensitive.
I've been to the alps, found terror in Madeira, and ridden in Britain without a flush or full bleed on SRAM guide Rs that came with my bike. They work. And I fear I am a bit brake-heavy as I bimble down the trails. But no boils, no fails, and as much stopping as I want.
The only brake that has boiled and failed on me was a Hope mini.
Clearly an old thread, but this makes me wonder. Hope obviously make lovely products but they seem a bit service-sensitive.
I've got a set of Tech M4's currently on my ht that are 12 years old that have been through multiple bikes with only a couple of bleeds and lots of pad changes. The Tech 3 E4's on my current fs are 2.5 years old and have had a couple of fluid refreshes and I'm on the 5th set of pads on the front. That's all with a 120kg+ rider doing occasional enduros and uplift days on a 130mm trail bike. The only time either set has misbehaved was when the pads were running low and the pistons didn't seem to retract cleanly, Pushing them back in and fresh pads fixed it.
I am currently thinking of getting a set of Tech 4 V4's after trying a mates for the fs and moving the E4's onto the ht but it's hard to justify the cost when the old brakes work so well.
Swings and roundabouts though really. Despite having an issue with these hopes I've had plenty of issues with Sram brakes in the past. I've had 1 set of guides that the lever pistons went swollen on each side, a set of codes that were decent but then another set that have been crap. The benefit being Sram brakes out of warranty are pretty much landfill and even during getting SRAM to sort them is a nightmare, whereas Hope said sent them in and we will sort them this week or we can send you bits to do yourself. Despite only needing 2 seals they send 2 rebuild kits and 2 sets of pads.
I've got some Code RSC's at the moment which I'd like to launch into oblivion. Both pad contact adjusters are seized and I can't get a satisfactory bleed without backing them off. You need a special tool (obviously) to dismantle the lever and sort them out. This tool is completely out of stock in the UK.
They need to survive a few more months until they get switched for a set of E4's.
@sharkattack those adjusters on SRAM brakes are a pain. Mine have always been ok but K's are seized - it does't take that much dust/mud/a tiny bit of wood.
But what's the tool? I was looking into doing a rebuild on a SRAM lever and the kit seemed to come with everything you need (here on amazon)
Yeah that weird shaped red thing in the middle is what you need to extract the lever guts. I was in the LBS trying to order one and they couldn't find it listed anywhere. I can get one online but I'm going away and I've ran out of time to mail order it from Europe.
I just hope the brakes survive Morzine without daily faffing. Then I'll do the rebuild and probably fit the metal pistons. If that doesn't vastly improve the reliability I'm be binning them.
I've got one here. It's part of the rebuild kit.
Could you get it to Sheffield in 48 hours?
