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So back in 2023 I bought a set of these brakes and reported how good they were.
I received a barage of abuse about my choice in brakes, which in my opinion was a cowardly and pathetic response by people who had not even used them.
So now the Intense factory racing team are using these brakes, are all those who got abusive going to admit they were wrong and apologise?
My brakes are a year old and still going strong. Absolutely love them.
If Intense are will to use them then you know they are some of the best brakes around.
Sp
I think the general consensus wasnt if the brakes were good or not, it was more the fact they are a direct copy of Trickstuff.
Rather than the company making their own set-up, they have just copied someone elses hard work and development.
If you pay a team enough money, they will run whatever product you like. So whilst i am sure they are excellent (they should be, they are a copy of some very good brakes), i wouldnt use a pro team as a benchmark.
But its good that you like them.
PS, i have no issue with the brakes themselves. There are many copied products in this world, you pay your money, you take your pick.
I remember that thread.
Not so much the abuse... But there was a lot of heated discussion was not around them being good brakes but around them being a direct ripoff of good brakes. Not sure why having a factory race team use them changes that fact in any way, certainly doesn't make anyone else suddenly wrong.
I received a barage of abuse about my choice in brakes, which in my opinion was a cowardly and pathetic response by people who had not even used them.
So now the Intense factory racing team are using these brakes, are all those who got abusive going to admit they were wrong and apologise?
Oh mate, I've just had a really bad couple of weeks, but this has just made me laugh out loud.
Hope you find the closure you need.
I will save folk the time:
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/lewis-brakes-any-good/
And
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/lewis-brakes-pink-bike-review/
And
This thread.
"Bee in your bonnet" would be the phrase my old gran would have used.
"Cowardly and pathetic"
😆
Bless your heart. Don't worry about what people think, just enjoy riding your bike, at the end of the day it's just a big toy for playing in the woods.
Read into that what you want.
I think they’re astroturfing. OP, are you astroturfing?
Brakes are for girls anyway
OP, I for one would like to put my hand up and apologise.
Your choice to define your online identity based on some Chinese brakes is totally validated by a factory team (current average team rider ranking, 160th) using them.
Do you feel better now?
Hi , I'm Andrew Tate and when I ride, I ride with Lewis Brakes.
Doesn't matter to me how good they are or what team are using them, I just don't fancy having anything called Lewis on my bike. Sorry.
The ethics, environmental aspects and human rights of the people making these brakes is still the same if Intense are running them or not.
Lewis (or their UK distributor) had clearly paid youtubers to use/review them without declaring it so it seems likely.
Indeed. I certainly saw a number of 'gram accounts make videos about the new amazing Lewis brakes they were trying. There was a degree of hype about it and no one was declaring they got them free. Maybe heavily discounted?
Many of those people have subsequently posted bike builds and shots that don't show them using Lewis brakes.
Read into that what you will.
Intense using the brakes does suddenly make it wrong that people called them out for copying trickstuff. I've never seen so much hate directed at a company.
No way would a top race team risk their reputation or riders life by running some knock off brakes.
And to the person that mentioned closure, yes, it's given me closure. I was over the moon when I saw Intense running them, because it was clarification I was right and the folk that won't try these brakes for "ethical" reasons are pethetic.
Finally to the guy who asked is the thread going as I expected. Yes it is and I love it.
Are you astroturfing?
I didn't comment on the original thread, but I did read it. I stand by the thoughts I had at the time, and I refuse to apologise for them.
Reported for astroturfing.
Same thread, same person, same brakes.
Matlockmeat is the biggest advert AGAINST Lewis brakes on the whole internet.
Does it really bother you that much?
I also bought a copy of 'Digital Marketing for Beginners' by Neil/Fruit/Tango.
Looks like you haven't read the last chapter.
Are you astroturfing?
Lewis Spamilton
[/img]because it was clarification I was right and the folk that won’t try these brakes for “ethical” reasons are pethetic.
We're all riding very expensive toys around in giant circles in the woods for fun...I think you might be overthinking it. And if you are astroturfing for Lewis, you're doing a terrible job for them.
I do hope the OP (Mr Lewis) isn't actually affiliated to them, as he's doing them more harm than good.
I'm not gonna buy any even if they were being used by a actual top race team, rather than Intense, for the same reason I didn't buy a pair of Jordans I saw on a market stall in Spain for 25 euros....
Intense using the brakes does suddenly make it wrong that people called them out for copying trickstuff.
It changes absolutely nothing and I have no idea what logical gymnastics you are doing to think otherwise.
Intense are not risking their reputation at all because a lot of people have never heard of the brand they copied. Intense know this and they took the risk that the backlash would be minimal.
because it was clarification I was right
Only in your head. Here in the real world - at risk of laboring the point - nothing has changed.
Well other than you being an excellent advert for every brake brand that isn't lewis - especially now you are calling everyone who disagreed with you pathetic and cowardly. Your words says a lot more about you than your choice of brakes but you really are not selling them. -100 internet points.
I hope the OP is getting paid for this.
.
Who tf is Lewis?
Has anyone apologised yet?
The downside looks awfy similar to the trick stuff. I'm happy on my hopes. I'm glad Matlockmeat is happy on their Lewis (knock off or not). I think that's all the internet and real life needs.
Coming back on and throwing the toys out the pram seems a bit childish.
Why is everyone arguing with a bot?
No way would a top race team risk their reputation or riders life by running some knock off brakes.
How about sanding the logos off tyres and painting the logo of a sponsor on instead (because the sponsor's product wasn't as good.) Or repainting a different frame to look like a sponsor's bike?
Or, in F1, just copying a rivals car (and having points docked for being caught?)
Of course they'll run knock offs if it gets them across the finish line faster.
No way would a top race team risk their reputation or riders life by running some knock off brakes.
It won’t threaten the Intense reputation. I don’t believe anyone has suggested that performance wise - they are a bad brake and using them will risk someone’s life. The latter is a more of a flight than an epic leap of logic.
was clarification I was right
Dude, it is just a factory team using Lewis brakes - it is no confirmation of anything. You do realise how little factory riders use or rely on their brakes? Also, there is every chance that whilst their brakes look externally identical - they may not functional similarly. A good example of this is suspension. I have been lucky enough to own several pairs of high-forks and rear shocks - but I don’t imagine they functional identically to those on the enduro circuit.
I am very glad that you find the performance and reliability of these brakes excellent. I don’t think anyone would want otherwise.
I did not comment on the original thread - as I did not have anything unique to offer. This time around, you seem to be making a lot of assumptions of peoples motivation to respond on your original thread.
If folk that won’t try these brakes for “ethical” reasons.
Surely that’s their choice - it doesn’t make them pethetic (sic).
In the press release they're all on TRP brakes. When did they switch?
By the way I run all brake brands on my bikes. I have bo affiliation to any.
This started from a thread asking for reviews, which triggered a lot of hatred for the brakes. I wouldn't have continued posting if people hadn't have kept posting negative comments.
It highlights there are some very sensitive indivuals who can't scroll past a post if they have nothing positive to say.
I stand by the brakes as being one of the best I've tried.
If somone is too pig headed to try them, then that's their loss.
I have bo affiliation to any.
Craiiiggggg Daaaavviiiiidddd
By the way I run all brake brands on my bikes. I have bo affiliation to any.
What bike are your Trickstuff brakes on?
I stand by the brakes as being one of the best I’ve tried.
Why haven’t you waxed quite so lyrically about the other best ones?
I hope the OP is getting paid for this.
I hope Lewis kept the receipt.
ethical” reasons are pethetic.
Ethical = IP protection and supporting UK manufacturing (as per my posts on the original thread where you could have bought Hope for the same money). UK manufacturing also equals fair human rights and environmental responsibilities.
If you worked in UK manufacturing you'd realise the importance of these points and that it's hardly pathetic but you are free to stick with your Alibaba / AliExpress knock offs and taking money out of the local economy and handing it to China.
I don’t think people have commented on them not being good. IIRC it was the fact that they looked like Chinese knockoffs of Trickstuff brakes AND that they were still a lot of money to spend on an unknown brand of Chinese made forks AND that all the YouTube and social media ‘reviews’ of them looked mighty suspicious.
They might well be great, but a year ago £335 was a lot of money to spend on an unknown and untested make of brake (when an extra £130 got you Hope Tech 4 V4s and Shimano, Hayes, SRAM, Formula, etc were cheaper) that appeared to come from a Chinese company that mass produced knockoffs of other stuff. Also they looked very much like many other brakes on AliExpress.
No one knew (or knows) what the customer support/warranty would be like, how long they would carry spares and parts, would they honour warranty, would they dissolve or fail at a critical moment.
Only the OP knew all of these things apparently.
Still is given that a set of SLX 4-pots is about half that.
The price always did seem a bit steep for knock offs, no matter how well made they are
I love a bargain , but Id rather spend a bit more on Hopes(which I did) , if I want cheap and cheerful the Deore M6120 4 pots on my hardtail are pretty amazing and they are £200 quid less!:
https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-deore-m6100-m6120-front-and-rear-disc-brake-set-213641.html
being honest my hopes are not 2.5x better than the deores, but Id buy them again because I know the support Ill get from the Hopes is pretty much lifetime & I love having some Hope brakes on my bike and Im not even sure they sponsor a DH team
matlockmeat
Free MemberAnd to the person that mentioned closure, yes, it’s given me closure. I was over the moon when I saw Intense running them, because it was clarification I was right and the folk that won’t try these brakes for “ethical” reasons are pethetic.
This is not healthy. I still feel bad for having argued a bunch with a person on here who always seemed like he was just an arsehole but in the end turned out to be deeply unwell, with hindsight it should have been as obvious as it is here.
A good point Northwind.
current average team rider ranking, 160th
That’s because the brakes are so powerful!
Are you astroturfing?
a neighbour of mine had a terrible lawn. Full of weeds. They replaced the grass with astroturf. Now the weeds only grow around the edge of the lawn.
I just don’t fancy having anything called Lewis on my bike.
Although to be honest, having brakes with 'Hope' written in big letters on them sounds a little optimistic ;o)
I was riding in Samoens last week, it's proper steep and a rocky rooty mess. I'm 105kgs and my Magura MT5's we're amazing, and they only cost me about £160 for the pair!
With this development, my opinion of Lewis brakes hasn't changed. But my opinion of Intense has gone down.
The name lewis ....for anyone who cares comes from high end road bike brakes from them70,s
Rather boutique and we're very sort after and the Lewis bought the rights to use it and use the original logo on the paper card packaging
Lewis or anyone else for that matter could make a similar brake and seek the relevant licensing and pay trickstuff a fee ,aka pivot do this with Atherton bikes .
Dt swiss (trickstuff owned) didn't want to get involved and as the patents and design had elapsed Lewis or anyone else can use the design
I don't have a problem as there's quite a few design improvements been made and no one moans when aldi lidl blatantly rip,off recognised branding food and make millions doing so
I personally don't care but when people get on there high horse about copying a design of a product you can rarely buy anyway whilst often quoting China this china that all whilst on there iPhone that's made in china
Whilst eating a lorry wheel drinking cola cola
Eating a lo
Funnily enough, on Monday Bikerumour did a piece about how DT Swiss/Truckstuff are now making the brakes freely available. No more 2 year waiting list. Now in various black or silver combos with kevlar hose.
Wonder if that's really why this thread popped up again
They all mention who the original idea came from. As did everyone who used an FSR Rear end for 25 years.
Paid a licence fee to Horst Lietner / Specialized
Where can you buy Trickstuff in the UK? A quick google makes it look like you can only get them from abroad, from most of the shops that wont ship to the UK anymore.... unless i am missing something?!
All the bikes had a sticker on saying it was an FSR rear end though. Most used it as a selling point, same with all the various DW iterations.
The more these sorts of threads keep popping up, the more I’m thinking copying TS look was purely to generate attention, nothing to do with performance. If they looked different to everyone else’s, they wouldn’t have had 10% of the exposure they’ve had so quickly, regardless of how good they are. No such thing as bad publicity and all that.
Where can you buy Trickstuff in the UK? A quick google makes it look like you can only get them from abroad, from most of the shops that wont ship to the UK anymore…. unless i am missing something?!
I haven’t looked for a while, but I think most German sellers sell to the UK if over £135? Which TS orders tend to be?
It highlights there are some very sensitive indivuals who can’t scroll past a post if they have nothing positive to say.
I have bo
HTH
If somone is too pig headed to try them, then that’s their loss.
I would try to explain to you the difference between pig headed and principled but.......... 🙂
Well you learn something new everyday.....
I thought they still ran TRP brakes!
Even though I blatantly missed them when I was looking at their bike at Fort William (just looked back through my photos) ......
I received a barage of abuse
I work in a school. If you think the original thread here is abuse I suspect you haven't been in a school for quite some time.
At the garage getting my over tight wheel not sorted the other day the apprentice ( 5"4, maybe 16) couldn't undo a bolt. A (6" 20 something muscly) bloke did it for him. The apprentice got a barrage of good humoured abuse. All of which would have seen people get a ban on here.
Reading the original thread back, I can't see anything anyone has said that looks abusive.
Glad you are enjoying your brakes.
How far have your ridden on them, have they needed a bleed in that time?
Well to add some context Intense Factory Racing actually disbanded and had no plans to go racing in 2024.
Joe Breeden was left without a team and quickly threw his own program together.
Once he'd accomplished this and had a team ready to go on Intense frames, they were adopted and rebranded as 'Intense Factory Racing'.
It's not like Jeff Steber personally hand picked all the components. For all we know the Lewis brakes were a last minute Alibaba purchase for Joe who was desperate to keep racing world cups.
^ ah, that's interesting @sharkattack. I couldn't figure out why they're listed as a GBR team, it (sort of) makes sense now.
So where did the race truck come from?
Intense, or something Joe Breeden put together?
So, how are Sick! Bikes doing these days...?
Is that a reach, or is there some link?
They all mention who the original idea came from. As did everyone who used an FSR Rear end for 25 years.
Paid a licence fee to Horst Lietner / Specialized
IIRC apart from Nicolai as Karl actually invented it when working at / for Leitner.
Is that a reach, or is there some link?
No, Jordan’s in the low/no alcohol craft beer game now.
I was wondering about this, as I was sure Aaron Gwin had some affiliation/part ownership of TRP. I hadnt seen that he was not with Intense anymore, so I assume he's taken TRP with him to his new team.
Although saying that, Gwins new bike is pretty much a Santa Cruz rip off, so maybe the Lewis brakes would go nicely....
They all mention who the original idea came from. As did everyone who used an FSR Rear end for 25 years.
Sorry, my irony meter just went out of calibration due to the needle bending off the scale.
There's a whole lot of controversy around who actually originated that idea between Horst, Dave, Tony and Mike, and the answer is Mike has the best lawyers, Tony throws the worst tantrums, Dave gave up begrudgingly and joined up with the other Dave, and no one talks about how it all looks like Mert's design anyway but he was working with Yeti, motocross bikes and para-athletes and too cool to get involved in the arguments.
I was wondering about this, as I was sure Aaron Gwin had some affiliation/part ownership of TRP. I hadnt seen that he was not with Intense anymore, so I assume he’s taken TRP with him to his new team.
TRP is the posh division of the gigantic Tektro. Turns out people won't pay top money for Tektro unless you hide the name.
Speaking of... is anyone making Trickstuff top caps for Lewis brakes yet? Asking for a friend.
Is that a reach, or is there some link?
I'm merely taking the piss.
No, Jordan’s in the low/no alcohol craft beer game now.
Where I'm sure he's absolutely got a product developed, scaled up and ready to go - and not just a load of ripped off marketing, ancillary merch and superficially convincing flannel...
It was on sale at Bespoked. The “Beer” that is, not the tat
organiser said they weren’t aware of the connection.
TRP is the posh division of the gigantic Tektro. Turns out people won’t pay top money for Tektro unless you hide the name.
Yeah, I know, but I'm sure he was doing some developement work with them for brakes and drivetrain stuff I think. I could well be completely wrong though!!
It was on sale at Bespoked. The “Beer” that is, not the tat
organiser said they weren’t aware of the connection.
Strange that Jordan didn't mention his previous work within the industry - it would have been a great ice-breaker.
I have zero affiliation with Lewis Brakes and they have never paid me a dime but...
"Lewis Brakes are the best in the world, i cant believe how good they are. Take two brakes into the shower? not me. Its Lewis brakes all the way for me now. And they are a real bargain too"
Lewis McLewison (not a robot)
So, how are Sick! Bikes doing these days…?
Heady days.