[Closed] Hope Race Evo stealth brakes, anyone using them..?

I'm waiting for the Hope Race Evo Stealth g-Ti Turbo Supremes - due early April 2013 😉

(sorry, nothing actually useful to add, just enjoyed the marketing)

From what I can make out the Stealth brakes are the same as the Race Evo with green bore caps, but fitted with STEALTH black caps instead. I have the Race Evo X2's on my NP Mega with 180 rotors and 150 forks. I love the feel and predictability of them. Powerful enough to stop, with the sort of feel that lets you get the maximum braking without locking up. 🙂

That sounds good Fivespot, cheers

If I understand correctly the new 'Stealth' versions are supposedly 15% more powerful so from what you say X2 front and rear should do the trick

I think thats a typo on Hopes website, the 2012 Race Evo's (the first evos) were 15 percent more powerful than the non-evo's, including the stealth/special edition or non-special edition/stealth brakes. The 2013 ones are no different mechanically than the 2012 ones bar the gunsmoke bore caps which look worse than the green IMO. They should have gone with gold. The only 'real' difference is the new V4 brake which on all accounts looks like a pretty sweet successor to the V2.

Personally I'd go with a Race M4 on the front and a Race X2 on the back - 180mm rotors front and back (203 if in the alps or downhilling), sintered pads and Castrol SRF for fluid. Don't use organics as they are ****ing shocking in the wet in terms of power, not only that, 3 days in a very wet and muddy glentress pretty much wore my v2 pads to the metal backing. Lastly, BLEED them. Hope's run really really sweet if you do your own bleed on them. People who don't like them are those that just wanted something that they didn't have to do anything to out the box and so they end up fawning over Shimano, trust me, once bled they are loads nicer on the trail. The better modulation really does help you scrub off just the right amount of speed. My 2 pot V2's have better modulation than the 4 pot saints I've tried! LOL! Defeats the whole purpose of having 4 pistons!

get a set of brake levers reservoir covers and some matching bore caps in a different colour to make them really pop.

[img] [/img]

mine ended up like this. 8)

Are those the new V4s? 😀 They look bigger than a standard set of M4s!

nope standard m4s. The bores in red might make them look bigger, being brighter.

very easy to do with the tool.

I see, the 15% hike in power came with the Evo version then.

Wanted to keep weight and price to a minimum really and riding will be mainly trail centre focused with a bit of peaks action too, hence the intention of of going with the X2's. The bike is very much a stealth theme so naturally the name appealed...

Stealth edition EVOs are the same as last year's EVOs, other than colour and some fancier laser etching on the caliper.

I've got Race EVO M4s front and back on 183mm rotors with sintered pads and love'em. Loads of controllable power and effortless one-finger braking.

The difference in weight if memory serves between a Race X2 and a Race M4 is ~60g, with the M4 being about 7~10% more powerful than the X2... almost the difference of going up a rotor size. So M4+160mm front with X2+160mm back would perform and weigh about the same as X2 front+back with 183mm-F/1600mm-R. Or could even have M4 front+back with 160mm-F/140mm-R rotor? 😆

The only thing I would say about going for an M4Fr, M4Rr is that means carrying two sets of pads. For the small weight penalty, I'd go for M4 front and rear.

New Hope V4 is lighter than the M4 and uses same rotors with a lot more power. So you could save weight by running 160mm rotors front and back as well.

Hope V4 is lighter than the M4 and uses same rotors with a lot more power. Hope V4 is lighter than the M4 and uses same rotors with a lot more power.

You sure it's lighter than the M4?

 

Yep, all reports state it is and they are chatting about them over on mtbr forum. This is if you are using the same hose type.

Just realised my typo, should say m2rr 😳

Not keen on the Tech lever and the Race lever is compatible with the X2 and M4 only iirc.
Pretty set on pair of X2's now on 180F/160R, if I find I'm struggling for power I can always up the rear rotor size or even swap the front calliper for an M4.

Another question I have is how is the wear life of the Race lever - particularly the lever blades/pivot as the inevitable play and wobble on the older Mono lever (which looks very similar) used to drive me mad!

Had a set for few weeks. No where near the power of my XTR Trail's but fine for general lightweight trail duties.

They are lovely things for sure though, with uncut hoses, ex rotors they were 206/212g so good weight. I so much prefer the minimal Race levers compared with the agricultural Tech levers.

Might be intentional, but my 'stealth' anodizing on the calipers actually looks very dark blue in certain lights, definitely inconsistent with the jet black of the lever assembly.

To confirm, they are just a black version of the green ones, which were 15% betterer than the older grey non Evo ones.

Am I right in thinking that you can't adjust the bite point on the fly with the Race levers. One of the things that really bugs me with my Avid Elixir 5 brakes is that it's almost impossible to accurately set (let alone adjust) the default distance from the pads to the rotor. When everything is clean they are lovely and powerful, but ride through a few bogs and they grind link a grindy thing. So, I love the idea of being able to turn a knob on the levers and quickly back the pads off and I guess this isn't possible with the race levers.

I'd echo the point about different pads too. a M4 front X2 rear setup may be ideal in terms of optimising power and weight, but if it means carrying two types of pads then is it really worth it?

Cheers,

Andy

The V4's only lighter than the Tech M4, the race M4 lever is considerably lighter than the tech lever. Although I guess you could use the extra power to run much smaller 160mm rotors.

TBH the Race X2 evos are bloody powerful.

They are lovely things for sure though, with uncut hoses, ex rotors they were 206/212g so good weight. I so much prefer the minimal Race levers compared with the agricultural Tech levers.

How are they agricultural? The tech levers have better feel (in terms of bite) than the race levers and the bite point adjustment is just about the only one on the market that actually works! Unlike shimano levers there's also no play in them!

Roverpig, to answer you. The Race levers feel like they have a lot more consistency in bite point compared to other, as in you don't have to change it mid-ride when the oil heats up etc. I also feel that the race X2's levers have a softer feel/better modulation than my Tech V2's especially on the rear, they are like having ABS.

Lastly, yes I think the M4's worth carrying around different pads as is modulates even better. Which is great when using the front brake in a wet rock garden!

Had a set for few weeks. No where near the power of my XTR Trail's but fine for general lightweight trail duties.

Dyno tests disagree with this, the X2 evo's re more powerful but the power comes on later (you need to apply more force to the lever, so they feel softer and modulate better)

[quote=[url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/hope-race-evo-stealth-brakes-anyone-using-them#post-4332505 ]Anthony[/url]]Had a set for few weeks. No where near the power of my XTR Trail's but fine for general lightweight trail duties.

To reiterate an earlier post... have you bled them properly?

I have Race Evo M4s on my Soul, with 183F/160R. Been on there since March, still on the original organic pads which have done about 1000 miles in all weathers. Maybe the organic pads need to be well bedded in to last and perform in wet muddy conditions? Amazing brakes, like having ABS. I've compared the recent Shimano brakes (which are admittedly much cheaper) and although they feel like they're more powerful at first, they don't ramp up anywhere near as much, so they're harder to modulate and ultimately less powerful.

[b][u]bwaarp:[/u][/b] Roverpig, to answer you. The Race levers feel like they have a lot more consistency in bite point compared to other, as in you don't have to change it mid-ride when the oil heats up etc. I also feel that the race X2's levers have a softer feel/better modulation than my Tech V2's especially on the rear, they are like having ABS.

Thanks. I was thinking more of the situation where you ride through some muck and the rotors get dirty. That's when it would be handy to move the pads a bit further from the rotors (which I'm assuming the bite point adjustment on the Tech levers does) to stop it rubbing.

Lastly, yes I think the M4's worth carrying around different pads as is modulates even better. Which is great when using the front brake in a wet rock garden!

Think I'd still be tempted to use M4s at both ends then, to avoid the need to carry two different types of pads.

Cheers,

Andy

I don't think the bite point adjustment moves the pads, it just changes when the lever starts to push brake fluid. And there's no bite point adjustment at all on the Race levers - however they're slightly more powerful than the Tech levers on the dyno tests and reviews suggest they have better feel too (simpler and therefore less lossy system with greater mechanical advantage?)

I thought Shimano were easy to bleed, but looking at that video above, it seems impossible to mess up?

If the bite point adjustment just changes how far the lever moves before it pushes fluid then how does it help when the brakes overheat? I thought it had to reduce the pressure in the system somehow, which would move the pistons back a bit. But I guess I need to do a bit more research.

Cheers,

Andy

[quote=[url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/hope-race-evo-stealth-brakes-anyone-using-them#post-4333687 ]Scamper[/url]]I thought Shimano were easy to bleed, but looking at that video above, it seems impossible to mess up?

No syringes, pushing/clamping/pulling/whatever on them (*cough* Avid *cough*) and bled in pretty much exactly the same way as motorbike and car disc brake systems (same fluid too, if DOT4/5.1). Simples!

Lol, so in order for my Race X2's to feel as powerful as my xtr's, I need to pull the lever harder?

So in the real world, surely that means my XTR's are more powerful because I don't need to pull them as hard?!

Dyno 'power' and real riding 'power' for me, must differ, for my girl like fingers anyway!

Naturally pad compound and conditions play a major part in comparisons.

I love the both though, don't get me wrong.

Lol, so in order for my Race X2's to feel as powerful as my xtr's, I need to pull the lever harder?

So in the real world, surely that means my XTR's are more powerful because I don't need to pull them as hard?!

Dyno 'power' and real riding 'power' for me, must differ, for my girl like fingers anyway!

Naturally pad compound and conditions play a major part in comparisons.

I love the both though, don't get me wrong.

You have no idea about phsyics do you? From what I gather... basically with a light pull of the brakes the shimanos will apply more power than the hopes, then later on with a hard pull (say between 100-150nm, or the kind of force you use for an emergency stop) the Hope's will produce more power. So the Hope brakes have a more progressive power curve whilst the Shimanos produce power very quickly then the rate of increase in power trails off beyond a certain point.

The Hope way of doing it is better for control, it gives you better fine control over braking forces. But ultimately if you REALLY need to stop, the Hopes still have more power at emergency braking lever forces ....as at this point they produce more power for the same lever force (albeit by a tiny bit).

In reality this means that when you do a car park test with the brakes, the Shimano's will feel like they brake a little more suddenly as the initial bite/power is a little quicker. Personally, I don't like this.

At the end of the day the X2's are also almost as light as an R1 setup whilst being more powerful and cheaper than either an XTR or R1 setup. Win - win.