[Closed] Hope V4 Set-up Faff

When new I just bolted them on so they’re centred with the disc. When I change the pads I clean and lube the pistons, push them back so they’re all flush with the caliper body, put the new pads in and that’s it.

Thats what i thought. Just changed the pads and again half an hour to stop the grind and ting.

Are your discs bent?

It could be that your post mounts are not perfectly square. As the pads wear, they self face and line up with the rotor. Fresh pads need those faces cutting again.

Discs - new. But They’re never perfectly true out of the box.

Mounts hmmm….maybe. Thats one consistent thing as the brakes and mounts have all moved from old bikes to next new frame. Guess thats like the discs - manufacturing tolerances and not a lot i can do on that other than try buying new ones.

Without fail my pads always wear unevenly. The pistons on the hose union side always push out more than the other. Maybe bleed needed 😒

I set the caliper up with the pads out using a feeler gauge to get the gaps even between the rotor and the calipers rotor slots at the front and back, then use the screwdriver behind the pads trick to even the pistons out, sometimes it takes a couple attempts, I'll take the pads and wheel out to push the pistons back then start again, I dont touch the caliper bolts again, sometimes I'll put a rubber glove on and push on the rotor while squeezing the lever to tease it over a fraction.
Rotors never seem perfectly true out of the packet, I always end up tweeking them with a rotor tool.

I feel you pain. I bought a pair of x2 not long ago and it took me an age to get them centred and moving evenly and not rubbing. Maybe it will be easier next time 🤔

I'll reserve judgement on whether they're worth it once they've endured the grim winter riding. Oh and they make a slight high pitched squeal which hasn't gone away yet, despite plenty of bedding in.

All the above and I open the pad spring out a little more in the vain belief it pushes the pads away from the disc with a little more force...

My pads wear unevenly on both the caliper sides. They also have a little taper end to end too.

Conversely mine are fine albeit running on Avid GS2s. The back admittedly doesn't feel as good but performs well which is all that matters in the end.

And that squeal is what makes owning a Hope worthwhile, embrace it!

in the vain belief it pushes the pads away from the disc with a little more force

Unfortunately all those springs do is push the pads back against the pistons no way are they pushing the pistons back

that squeal is what makes owning a Hope worthwhile, embrace it!

I thought it was SRAM that were infamous for their turkey warble, very christmassy though

Sounds like its not just me being a muppet then!

@davros every brand has their forum issues and so on so worth it….only you can say that! mine have done 3x gritty winters and other than pads (and faff) have been fine. Better than the rest of the group i ride with. They’re on shimano xt’s / slx and their pad wear translates to full lever travel & no brakes. The hope’s….they just keep on going and maybe a tweak of the bite point. And power doesnt go too much either when the pads are fubar’d.

I prefer my e4’s so wouldnt get the v4’s again. But would definitely stay hope. Even just for the colours and repairability. If you can get the parts at some point again!

Thanks for the comments folks.

When new I just bolted them on so they’re centred with the disc. When I change the pads I clean and lube the pistons, push them back so they’re all flush with the caliper body, put the new pads in and that’s it.

If I do this then inevitably one side of pistons moves more than the other and it just bends the disc every time you pull the lever. I've never found a way to consistently get any brake to be properly aligned. 😭

Double post

I 3D printed a tool that fits over the rotor to align the caliper on my E4's, makes a big difference in set up time.

Someone sells one for not a lot but I forget the name of the website.

But then once aligned, how do you deal with the pistons not moving equally?

Uneven piston movement is my big problem. Across all my e4’s and v4’s its the same. But worse on the v4’s presumably due to bigger caliper / pistons. And because there’s 4 pots its worse than twin pot because if they’re not all equally lubed and free moving you get a front / back uneven movement to boot.

Thats where i then always end up faffing to get the alignment to compensate.

Even with a proper pad spacer shim i get the set up perfect until i remove it and that eneven movement settles with it all out of alignment. Again!

Maybe the answers to just go back to twinpots! Simples. Only one axis to align.

Most of the time, screwdriver behind pads carefully, if needs be take the wheel and pads out to reset them all the way back.

I while back I was having give my front brake regular attention and the rotor was pretty worn, once I fitted a new rotor it's all behaving nicely.

I’ve got brand new rotors but rush cycles did say that the v4’s seem to run better with the thicker DH rotor or whatever it is. Couldnt justify the £90 or thereabouts each so stuck with standard.

Wonder if the thin rotors leaves too much clearance which makes it worse to set?

I did experiment with zip ties on one side to hold the pistons in whilst the other side pushes out but they just seem to have a preset balance that needs caliper angle adjusting. Regardless or where i set the pistons, they always reset to their own preferred position!

Although once never owned Hope brakes (many other brands but would probably buy Hope next time as I don’t like how disposable Shimano, etc are) I always assumed that you just did up the calliper bolts so they’re almost right and then squeezed the lever to centralise the calliper and then nip them up tight (recently be given a Birzman clam tool to assist this but not used it yet). Are Hopes really more complicated than other brakes or should I have been doing all the other things you guys do with all my 2 and 4 piston brakes?

Ideally any make of caliper should be perfectly centred with the pistons pushing the pads equally them returning sufficiently with no rub. In my experience, whatever brake, they tend to push slightly unevenly resulting in uneven wear, rub or the rotor moving (flexing).

Squeezing the lever to align is the simplest method which can work well, but can also result in the caliper being off centre. But it's also hard to align perfectly by eye, hence these alignment tools mentioned above.

You do need to keep the pistons lubed to ensure that they operate smoothly, annoying but part of high end kit.

They perform so well its worth a couple of hours in the garage from time to time.

leegee Full Member
I 3D printed a tool that fits over the rotor to align the caliper on my E4’s, makes a big difference in set up time.

Someone sells one for not a lot but I forget the name of the website.

I think you're thinking of these? I've got one and lining them up is now a 2 second job!

https://www.r3pro.co.uk/collections/bike-accessories/products/caliper-alignment-tool-for-hope-e4-v4-calipers?variant=31722714497107

Most of the time, screwdriver behind pads

Im pleased I'm not the only one who has not invested in high quality specialist tools...

I’ve always used a screwdriver or tyre lever to pry the back. And every now and then a little lubrication if pistons are stuck.

“ Although once never owned Hope brakes (many other brands but would probably buy Hope next time as I don’t like how disposable Shimano, etc are) I always assumed that you just did up the calliper bolts so they’re almost right and then squeezed the lever to centralise the calliper and then nip them up tight”

Hope recommend centring the caliper on the disc by eye, rather than using the squeeze lever and nip up method. I’ve had three sets of Hope 4 pot brakes, still have two sets which are eight (E4) and three (V4) years old and I’m baffled by all the complex fiddling I’m reading about here! Both sets have floating rotors but I think that’s the norm for
Hope brakes. They’re very easy to ignore, which is my goal with most (all?) bike stuff…

1) watch the hope vids. Repeatedly
2) note that even the guys in the vids look p’d off….hinting multiple takes to their video “ just do this”
3) remove old pads

4) Remove hope brakes and rotors, put on ebay, its someone elses problem.
5) Fit Formula Cura's, cheaper, more powerful and zero faff (don't buy the 4 pots)

@sirhc i have most definitely considered that!

First ever disc brakes 20 yrs ago were formulas and loved em. Saw the cura’s and tempted. Are they that good?

Chiefgrooveguru…you may be baffled by the fiddling and so am I! My V4’s out of the box have had totally uneven piston movements which leads to all the faff. I used to use pure silicon oil from my rc cars shocks to paint the pistons every month which made fork hall difference. Now i just use a silicone spray every month. Still makes fork hall difference.

Stops them siezing completely but that seems to be all the good it does!

@sirhc i have most definitely considered that!

First ever disc brakes 20 yrs ago were formulas and loved em. Saw the cura’s and tempted. Are they that good?

- More than enough power
- Great modulation
- Cheap
- Light
- Little to no maintenance, they dont seem to get grumpy when you change pads or the pads get low

I have XT's on the moped and the rear has started having that wandering bite point. Its going back next week for a raft of warranty issues, hopefully they refund me and I dont have to mess around chasing that perfect bleed.

Is there anywhere UK based you can get the cura’s atm?

Nothing via google searches.

@fathomer

How does that widget work? It looks like a solid block of plastic. Is that all it is?

Solid block with a groove for the disc. So sits on the disc and sets the caliper at the right angle.

Still doesnt sort the uneven piston movement.

Was chatting to leisure lakes about it today. Hopes are apparently known to have a side bias in terms of piston push out. And apparently they’re well aware of the faff!!

Bounce suspension are round the corner from me. When they were still doing workshop repairs he’d said “folks come in for a hope bleed. Outwardly i smile and say sure. No problem. Inwardly i’m screaming and cursing.”

Never thought much of it till last nights pad change!

Here's my caliper alignment toolfor E4's Printed from ABS

Serious question, what's all this alignment stuff? Loosen capliper screws, pull lever, tighten screws and release. Worked on every PM brake I've ever owned, beats the shit out of washer roulette on IS.

that only works if both pistons move equally. Hopes often do not ( as do all calipers but hopes seen more prone) so the correct way is the hope way - align the caliper then the pads. Takes 5 mins

Hope now do a 2.3mm thick rotor at normal price that might work better with V4's, saves forking out for the £90 vented ones.

Thats fairly new isnt it?

Typical. Only just bought new floating rotors for my Forge build. Went 183/203. Probably should have gone more standard!
🙄🙄

Si barone.

Hope recommend centring the caliper on the disc by eye, rather than using the squeeze lever and nip up method. I’ve had three sets of Hope 4 pot brakes, still have two sets which are eight (E4) and three (V4) years old and I’m baffled by all the complex fiddling I’m reading about here! Both sets have floating rotors but I think that’s the norm for
Hope brakes. They’re very easy to ignore, which is my goal with most (all?) bike stuff…

@chiefgrooveguru I am also baffled by the faff. Since I got my first "proper" MTB 10yrs ago I have run Shimano brakes and just fitted them, squeezed the lever to align caliper, and then rode the bike. I didn't even know about the bedding in process and never had any issues. With my newer builds I moved to Magura on one and Hope E4 on the other, and have not had one ride yet where everything has been good. Many hours of faffage followed by an elongated bedding in process and I still get squeals, vibrations, ting......ting......ting.. It is mighty frustrating. So much so that for the new bike I am dropping the hope brakes off at a bike shop to have the hoses cut to length, bleed and pads bedded in rather than bashing my head against the wall again.That said, they look good and unlike Shimano they won't pi$$ oil all over my rotors and need replacing every 2 years.

I’ve come to the conclusion its just 4 pots. My twin pots - pad out. Squeeze pustons back. New pads in. Undo bolts and squeeze lever, tighten and go. Thats it.

Just spent yet another half hour faffing with new pads on the v4’s.

I’d like to see a hope video that sets up used parts. Not brand new pristine. And as for centring the caliper thats marvellous if the natural position for the pistons is to be centred. It is not. It is always hose side further out than the other side regardless of screwdriver or spacers or anything else. I set em, recentre the pistons, squeeze the brake and pistons sit offcentre and rub. Awlways. So the only way to not rub is to offset the caliper.

I’m lazy. Want fit and forget like it was before I switched to hope!

New twinpots on the way. Hope on ebay soon!

I set em, recentre the pistons, squeeze the brake .

In truth this wont always happen. You can find that the pistons dont move equally and favour the hose side as thats where the fluid goes into first.
I prefer to set it up approximately, then look through from the top and watch how the rotor behaves as you apply pressure. You can se if the pistons on one side deflect the rotor any as it makes initial contact.
When the pads contact the rotor equally and dont deflect it one way or the other then you know its exactly centered.

that only works if both pistons move equally. Hopes often do not ( as do all calipers but hopes seen more prone) so the correct way is the hope way – align the caliper then the pads. Takes 5 mins

Nope, this is Hopes I'm talking about. Worked fine on my V4's.

Owned many sets of V4s and E4s. There is a fair chance I have performed more pad changes on 4-pot Hope brakes than anyone on the planet (15 years of Alpine bike guiding, mostly on 4-pot Hopes! We get through a LOT of pads).

Here's my pad change procedure.

1. Stick the bottle opener on my multitool in between the disc and pads to push the old pads back. Don't even bother taking the wheel out.
2. Remove old pads and replace with new.
3. Squeeze the lever a few times and go ride.

Never have any problems.

I will agree that they do tend to line-up off-centre and this can make the pads rub. I adjust the caliper centring on the first day or two with a new set of brakes and that's it. Occasional reset every few weeks if necessary.

Occasional reset every few weeks if necessary.

I've had this with other brands. It would be ok until the pads were about half worn and then the wear would be uneven on one side and I couldn't stop them rubbing. Using shims on the rear brake to move the block a fraction inwards solved the problem.

I had V4s for maybe 18 months and no matter how much I faffed with them they were never "right". I was going to make the same comment as SirHC up there but replace Formula Cura with Hayes Dominion. I really wanted to like the Hopes. They were supposed to be the last set of brakes I ever bought but I came to the conclusion that they're wildly overrated trash and the price:performance ratio is terrible.

Solution
1) Unscrew and remove caliper
2) Unscrew Lever
3) remove V4’s
4) remove wheel
5) remove hope floating rotor and replace with shimano rotor
6) bolt Cura 2 caliper onto bike
7) bolt cura 2 lever to bars
8) reclip all hoses
9) centre caliper over rotors and tighten bolts
10) spin wheel and listen to the instant silence.

All up took less time to do that than a pad change, piston lube and caliper set up on the V4’s.

And what a novelty to have true rotors out of the box. Across 8 hope floating rotors not a single one has been true. Every single one has wobbled like a tramps night out! Shimano’s - straight as a die.

Dont think I’ll be going back.