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I know the Race lever gave ax more powerful brake than the tech 2 evo for any given caliper. That was the reason there was never a Race V2, the lever didn't push enough fluid. There was even a pdf from Hip that confirmed all this although I can't find it now.
However, how has this changed, if at all, with the Tech 3 lever? One would imagine there has been a performance increase from Tech 2 evo to Tech 3 but how does it compare to the Race? I assume the Tech 3 still pushed nor fluid so it can run the V4 caliper, but with E4 or X2, does the Race lever still give a more powerful brake?
If so, how does a Tech 3 V4 compare to a Race E4 in terms of weight and power for a given rotor size?
I know Hope brakes have their lovers and haters but can we please try and stick to facts and figures on this rather than tails of dramatic failures and how deore piss all over them for pennies. I like Hope brakes, I'll be speccing them, I'm just researching which ones.
Didnt think the race lever gave a significantly more powerful brake - it gave a lighter one with less adjustment and the reason it wasn't specced on V2 calliper was (as you say) because it couldn't move enough fluid (as the pistons were so large)
Not sure on the tech 3s lever but again, I thought that the tech 2 evo lever just adjusted the modulation / bite point and made it more consistent (and slightly more powerful) than the tech 2 lever
Based on those points and that the caliper changes from m4 to v4 / e4 now give you two distinct braking surfaces then I would also make the assumption that the tech v4 would be significantly more powerful than the race e4 as it is stronger and better designed for harder braking (as the large / small Pistons would give better control at higher speeds than the small / small of the e4)
In my mind id say tech 3 v4 for most power and then tech 3 e4 and then race e4 for weight but then just factor in rotor size and other colour malarkey and unless you weigh 20 stone then you'll probably be ok with whatever you choose
It's hope - it just works
The race lever was specced on the Trial caliper (trialzone) which has bigger pistons than any of the other calipers so I wouldn't agree with the fluid argument.
My LBS said the difference between Race Evo and Tech 2 was the leverage. Tech 3 had the same leverage as Race Evo, just with moar knobs. I went with the Race evos fwiw.
might have been to do with heat dissipation then rather than power
I do remember that the race lever wasn't suitable for the V2 caliper for downhill tho
Thought the Hope blurb was less adjustment & lighter weight (and better looks IMO).
I have the race levers, i've never really liked the long Tech levers before.