New Clarks CRS brakes

They looked great, right up to the moment I spotted the disc sizes; 180 and 160. 😔

I've seen these before under a different name, pro3 or something like that, available in several colours, some American guy with a YouTube channel had some purple ones from Amazon or AliExpress.

They look a bit of a bargain!! 203mm rotors available in the bike radar blurb.

Aye looks like these and in nice colours 🙂

￡9.96 30％ Off | ONIRII M4 4 Piston Hydraulic Disc Brake Bicycle Brake MTB AM HD 820/1450mm Mountain Clamp Brakes CNC Tech Mineral Oil AM New
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EHvhqet

Yeah, they're not new just re-branded lllPRO E4 brakes off Amazon, they look just like them, Wolftick videos on YouTube tested them, you can get them in a variety of colours pretty cheap as I said earlier.

The C4 caliper is very Hope'ish

CNC machined single piece caliper
16mm pistons x4
Piston bore caps look the same
Weight is roughly the same
Lever has tool free reach adjustment (no BPC adjuster though)
Use mineral oil rather than DOT oil though

Wonder how it would compare to a Tech 3 E4 brake?

A pair of Clarks C4's cost roughly the same as one Hope Tech4 E4

Interesting.

I often buy Clarks rotors, pads and gear cables as they are priced similar to no-brand stuff and I assume a certain level of QC. I've not been disappointed in the quality.

So they've probably picked this design up from a Taiwanese factory which makes brakes for other brands anyway?

Can someone who usually rides (and loves) Shimano 4-pot brakes get some and report back on how they compare please?

😀

I'm intrigued to see how these perform too. £160 (with discount) for both brakes and rotors seems great value, albeit the rotors won't be useable for most serious folk.

Quite tempted

But I may as well just get my mono m4s rebuilt by hope, and hopefully they'll last another decade!

The proof of the pudding is what 2nd hand ones eventually sell for.Previous clark models, you need to pay someone to take them away.

However, hydraulics have been in use for some25+ years now, so if you cant get a product right after that length of time to perform, well then forget them and stick with ones that do.

I had a set of the 2 pot versions from onirii/z-race. there are a few others on aliexpress that do them in all sorts of colours. They look nice, look very trick, but also have the relative performace similar to those trick cnc-ed brakes from the 90's. they work, yes, they are a little underwhelming. probably could improve with stiffer hose, and definately replace the stock pads.

The 4 pots are OK though apparently.

consdering clarks other brakes are rebranded Meroca chinese ones, I'm not surprised these are about.

the meroca M4 is a much better brake btw.

I have Shimano 4 pot on the front and Meroca 4 pot on the back which cost £28 from eBay. Difficult to tell the difference in performance once original pads were replaced. More of a faff to bleed but no complaints at the price.

I have Shimano 4 pot on the front and Meroca 4 pot

Swop them around. That will give you a better idea of performance as a back brake cannot really be compared with a front.

They look pretty decent and that is surely the most important thing 😎

Watching the promo video was interesting too, glad I’m not the only one that can’t get any decent air off those jumps. About as smooth as me round the berms too.

A few people had them here;

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/chinese-disc-brakes-2-pot-and-4-pot/

Obviously I did the only logical thing and bought a whole new bike instead 🤷

I bought some of the 2 pot ones, so will report back when fitted. I was getting annoyed with the random bite point on the Deores on my Krampus.

£20 discount + a £20 Halfords voucher I had, meant £90 for the set 👍

I'll use them with the 180/160 rotors already fitted and the Clarks 160 rotors can go in the spares box.

They look pretty nice, well finished. Come with spare fittings, bolts, rotor bolts, olives etc. But no brake adaptors - I suppose they assume most bikes are post mount these days.

First ride out on the C2s tonight.

I really like them 👍
Fitted them with 180/160 rotors.

Very easy fitting, and I shortened the rear hose, fitted a new olive, and didn't need to bleed them.

Clamp fitting us a bit fiddly, but secure once done up. I like the fact all the bolts on the clamps are Torx.

Very comfy lever shape for 1 finger braking.

Needed very little bedding in - a few hard stops and I was then able to easily lock up the rear.
Stock pads seem ok - assume they're Clarks ones, which I've always found to be decent.

Good modulation - definitely not as on-off as Shimano brakes, more similar in feel to my Hope Tech 3 X2s.
Plenty of power though, easily enough to stop my 14ish stone on steep singltrack.

TBH they just worked, and I didn't really have to think about them. So a good buy IMO.

I might try the C2 on the DJ bike. They can't be any worse than the SRAM crap that came on there.

My Xt rear brake has shat itself(caliper borked)

Time to take a punt £110 for set of 2 pots. 15% off if you spend over £100.

I’ll report back 😎

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-parts/bike-brakes/clarks-crs-c2-cnc-2-piston-hydraulic-disc-brake-set-824806.html

Watching this with interest!

Time to take a punt £110 for set of 2 pots. 15% off if you spend over £100.

I’ll report back 😎

I'd spend the extra on the 4 pots. If you find the 2's underpowered you're stuck with them.

I’m a bit of a sucker for lighter parts on my Mtb 🙂 Only ever used 2 pot brakes I’m no downhiller 🤷‍♂️

Meant to take some pics today, but I didn't, so there 😉

Took the brakes out for a proper test today - did a few of the DH/Enduro Triscombe trails and some more natural (but still steep and rooty) stuff on the Quantocks.
No drama or issues, and they do stop very well for a set of 2 pots.

Definitely prefer them to the Deores that they replaced - more power and better modulation (and no variable bite point!). They look nice - understated but quite bling too.

Fitted mine and tested last night. Impressed with the finish on them for the money. Maybe Clark’s have done a bit more QC on them before they leave the factory ? Only issue is the fiddly lever clamps as mentioned. Stop well look good 🙂

Begs the question are we being ripped off by hope et Al 🤷‍♂️

Begs the question are we being ripped off by hope et Al 🤷‍♂️

Stuff nailed together by a 4 year old on the far east, bought in bulk from a catalogue and re-branded, with variable QC, costs less than stuff made in UK with impeccable back-up service. Shocker. 🙄

Ripped off isn’t really fair is it. Hope clearly have much higher costs. You have to decide whether spares availability and the performance is worth what Hope charge.

If it matters I own Hope hubs but no brakes

As above, comparisons to Hope are a bit unfair and naive.

Shimano's Deore 500 and 6000 series brakes would be more applicable IMO.

I got a pair of the excellent 4-pot 6120s for £110 I think (then about another £20/pair for my chosen rotors).

Would the 4-pot Clarks be cheaper?

Would the 4-pot Clarks be cheaper?

£98 including tax and shipping (and finned pads) on AliExpress (badged as iiiPro E4).

£98 including tax and shipping (and finned pads) on AliExpress (badged as iiiPro E4).

OK cheers, so they'd be a bit cheaper that way, but without the warranty (or a more faffy one).

I'd be really interested to try them, but I think they'd have to be significantly cheaper (for me).

Given you can often get Guide REs (the old code caliper with a guide lever) for around £50 an end, I’m not sure I’d try these when the cost is the same

I've taken an ancient set of Tektro Draco's up the hills (albeit on my Dew) and never had any issues, I wouldn't expect anything newer to be worse.

Stuff nailed together by a 4 year old on the far east

In Taiwan? Doubtful. BTW you do realise how statements like that come across right?

The rest of your point had merit but is completely undermined by that ignorant opening.

That said

with variable QC

Have you read the Hope thread? Guessing not.

As an aside anyone else notice the 'promo' video on the website was filmed at Cannock?

Also 4 pots are down to £160 & 2 pots £110 at Halfords with the online 'send & save' - added to basket at checkout.

Sorry not having a dig at Hope. Had hope brakes over the years and always had good service(when brakes played up) however I can’t afford the prices now 🙁

These Clark brakes look the part and work well(ok longevity to be decided) but they have 2 year warranty 🙂

As an aside anyone else notice the ‘promo’ video on the website was filmed at Cannock?

Probably because Clarks are a Birmingham based company.

Given you can often get Guide REs (the old code caliper with a guide lever) for around £50 an end, I’m not sure I’d try these when the cost is the same

Yea..... but:
It's the cheap R lever, not that the Clarks is any better, but it's not the cam/linkage driven version.
They'll suffer from the same issues as all SRAM brakes, the lever piston swells and jams meaning you then have to go to ebay/aliepress and order the metal pistons from China anyway (and have some very long/thin circlip pliers, I had to sacrifice a set on the grinder to make the nose thin enough)

TBH I'm disappointed by the durability of most modern bike parts apart from suspension. Derailleurs, brakes, BB's, all seem significantly worse (or at best, more variable) than they used to be.

Actually looking at price of hope 2 pots on sale £155 an end and rotors on sale £53 each that’s £416 !!!! Christ the caliper has been literally the same for 10 plus years(less r&d) ok lever gets few mods every few years but **** me.

Not 4 times better than the Clark’s 🙁

£416 that’s 2 weeks wages to some folks !!

Pants pulled down indeed

Hi,a friend and me have been testing the crs4 brakes since last August extensively on both our bikes, pleasantly suprised how good they are, new brakes will always feel good from now but these carried on being as good as the day we fitted them through all sorts of conditions,from dry dusty trails to axle deep puddles and thick mud, they just miss a beat and never failed to have a bite when you needed it most, very good modulation and bite, not as harsh as my XT brakes and massively better than Sram brakes, can't recommend trying these enough, they just work and work very well.

@ericwilcock
By testing - do you mean they were provided free of charge to you by Clarks? Just for the sake of transparency

Actually looking at price of hope 2 pots on sale £155 an end and rotors on sale £53 each that’s £416 !!!! Christ the caliper has been literally the same for 10 plus years(less r&d) ok lever gets few mods every few years but **** me.

Not 4 times better than the Clark’s 🙁

That's not how anything works, A Bugatti isn't 5x faster than a Ferrari, isn't 5x faster than a Mondeo. Making marginal improvements is always expensive. It probably costs Hope about the same R&D budget to test a different seal size/configuration/material as it does an entire caliper. Making incremental improvements is always a case of diminishing returns.

Usually I'd agree, but it only irks me when people act like there is no viable alternative. Like magazines only testing £7k bikes, or fork manufacturers not offering anything with an RRP less than £500. We all know £100 brake sets exist and can compare apples to apples. I also accept that Trickstuff, Hope, and to a lesser extent the higher tier SRAM, Shimano, Hayes, etc all make brakes that cost more (sometimes considerably) and work incrementally better. Even if that increment was just someone at the higher end firm testing umpteen caliper piston seals back to back and deciding that seal 4c with it's +5 thou and +2tou minor and major diameter gave just the right feel to flicking the lever.

£416 that’s 2 weeks wages to some folks !!

I think people working part time on minimum wage probably have more pressing money issues than the affordability of high end mountain bike brakes.

The Hopes are expensive, you don’t need the Hope discs either necessarily, my Tech 4s work perfectly well with SRAM discs.

Additionally, there’s no reason why a new set of Hope X2s won’t still be working absolutely fine in 20 years time. I’m pretty sure they still sell spares for the old Mono Minis. Want more power? You can buy an upgraded calliper separately. Issues with them? Speak to someone on the phone, from the U.K. I sent my leaking brake back to them. Should it leak? No not really, but within a week I had a freshly bled and rebuilt brake back, with new calliper and hose.

And secondly, look at the residual price of Hope brakes compared to almost everything else. They always sell on the used market, often for 50% of the new price. They’re definitely not perfect, but I don’t think the price is unreasonable for what you get.

Yes they were free of charge, we were asked to run these on our bikes and run them through everything and give our feedback on how they behaved, few minor tweaks to the reach adjustment but find no issue with them throughout and still behave as they were when new, I'm no magazine tester or product tester that gets paid, I'm just a normal rider that was asked to try them and see what issue we came across, is that transparent enough?

Additionally, there’s no reason why a new set of Hope X2s won’t still be working absolutely fine in 20 years time. I’m pretty sure they still sell spares for the old Mono Minis. Want more power? You can buy an upgraded calliper separately. Issues with them? Speak to someone on the phone, from the U.K. I sent my leaking brake back to them. Should it leak? No not really, but within a week I had a freshly bled and rebuilt brake back, with new calliper and hose.

Ish...

Quite a few years ago (probably close to a decade) I was after a replacement crown race for a 1-1/8" Hope 'Enduro' headset from about 2002 or so - named back when enduro meant riding round a field for 6 hours.

Got in touch with Hope - "we don't carry spares for those any more". Similarly you can't get replacement freehubs for Hope XC hubs.

So I wouldn't bet on 20 year life personally if anything wears out.

Well thisisnotaspoon I've used Hope brakes since my early twenties when I was earning a little more than minimum wage and had my own flat to pay for, those were the days, literally impossible now.

Hope cnc caliper. Clark cheapie - check

Hope anodized finish. Clark cheapie - check

Hope pimp cnc lever. Clarks cheapie - check

Hope floating rotors. Clarks cheapie - check

Hope 2 year warranty. Clarks cheapie - check

Only hope extra is few extra colours 🤷‍♂️

Ok few more quid on qc but still not seeing the extra value.

Like ericwilcock I was given a set of the CRS C4's foc to try out and provide feedback to Clarks. I've been running them since last September in all sorts of conditions and they've been faultless.

They replaced a set of SRAM Guide RS brakes that I've never had an issue with. The Clarks brakes work as good, if not better than the Guides. They look really good, the finish is excellent and they still look as good as the day they were installed.

I'm running 200mm front and 180mm rear rotors and I've never been short of braking power. They've always been quiet even in really wet conditions.

If I needed to buy a set of brakes I'd go for another set of C4's. Great looks, performance and really good value.

How does one go about getting such freebies?

How does one go about getting such freebies?

Start a YouTube account where you say "Hi guys welcome back to the channel" while wandering around a trail centre car park with a selfie stick before filming a pov of a trail that's already in 900 other videos. Tell everyone that your new *insert name of free product* is an absolute game changer.

It's the future of MTB media.

Don't forget to like and subscribe.

Like or subscribe.

Well thisisnotaspoon I’ve used Hope brakes since my early twenties

You must have had deep pockets, because even way back when I was 20 they were £144. Although admittedly way back then you got a disk included for that price.

https://web.archive.org/web/20010718122648/http://www.woollyhatshop.com/acatalog/main_page.htm

Few rides on these and they are superb. Great feel at the lever. Look way more expensive than they are and can lock up with one finger.

https://postimg.cc/gallery/V5v2KVy

Few rides on these and they are superb. Great feel at the lever. Look way more expensive than they are and can lock up with one finger.

Only minor gripe is entry port to caliper is fixed so can’t move it slightly to suit 🤷‍♂️ But for the money you can’t really complain.

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I've a a pair of crs4 on the way.

I won a competition on the clarks Instagram page and ever the sceptic wasn't sure if these prizes ever got delivered but 2 weeks after being told I'd won I've a dpd parcel on its way

Anyone died using these yet

Im well kitted out for brakes but tempted topit them on the trail bike just to try them

no idea if I have any warranty with them been a prize but I've cheekily asked the question
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so the only people using these brakes got them for free 😆

£76 a pair on aliexpress, worth a punt I suppose

so the only people using these brakes got them for free

Nope, I bought mine (though I got £40 off at Halfords).

Still liking them. Overall power of the 2 pots is not quite on par with Hope X2s, but they have a nice feel to them, and look cool.

Stop my 85kg fine on a 29+ Surly.

I'm going to try swapping out the OE pads to see how that feels.

In the instructions is there a recommended bleed kit?

I'm tempted by a pair  but would need to remove lever to feed the hose through a frame and will inevitably need a bleed and a new olive/insert. I guess the latter parts are not included?

will inevitably need a bleed and a new olive/insert

There's a couple of olives and inserts I'm the box.

Mine arrived today look excellent

Mine came with spare olives and Inserts

Not had time to fit them due to work commitments but will fit the  tom and report back

I've also ordered some galfer pads as I've been advised the std pads aren't great but we will see

<p>David - did you go for two pots or four pots?</p>

4  pots

To those that bought and fitted these, how are they holding up over time? Had any issues?

These are on my list for my daughters bike, what sort of adjustment is there with the lever? Can you get them closer to the bars for small hands?

Same question as above^^

A year on has anyone got any feedback on these brakes?

Yep, still got them.

They're on my daughter's bike, and doing sterling service.

Levers adjust nice and close to the bars, otherwise they've just worked well, no dramas.

Good to hear.
Just got my rigid hardtail commuter out after a summer hanging in the shed and the rear SLX caliper has sprung a leak ?
So I need a cheap set of brakes and saw the CRS 2 pot brakeset with rotors on Amazon for £74.99.

I have some of the 4-pot ones.

They look nice but my 4-pot Deore brakes are better/more powerful. I found the bite point on the rear brake kept moving until I traced it back to the reach adjuster knob unscrewing itself on every bumpy descent.

And Clarks customer service is utterly atrocious - no response to numerous emails. I won’t be bothering with them again.