What adaptors / bits do we need to put hope calipers on an orange rx9

To set expectation, the RX+ brakes are good, but they’re not T4E4 good…

Not sure if you need anything for shimano levers, but my sram equivalents didnt need anything extra

Thanks - do I literally unbold the Shimano caliper - unbolt the line and rebolt / reconnect the hydraulic line ? Then bleed and re align the caliper ?

Don't mean to hijack, hopefully more of a reinforcement as I'm looking to do similar on a Camino.

However, for the extra umph I'm looking to go 180 up front.

Does your fork have a little flippy mount that's 140mm one way and 160mm the other?

What I'm hoping is that I can have that mount in the 160 position, then add a Hope Rear +20 caliper to it and run a 180 rotor.

Are the forks rated for a 180mm rotor?

"Are the forks rated for a 180mm rotor?"

Good question. The rotor is only 12.5% bigger. If my forks can't manage that with in the factory of safety they were designed for, I don't want to ride them at all, even with a 160.

It's a personal choice though.

You need to fit the (included) connector at the caliper end, but don’t need to buy anything else.

Thanks  Tom!

I may treat myself , as a treat for finishing the marathon today

And just to confirm I just need flat mount options not post mount ? No adaptors needed ?

Go onto the Hope website and look at the fitment charts, all the options are on there with the measurements needed to select.

Indeed they are but I was hoping if someone could tell me the difference between flat and post mount ?

Your frame will either be flat mount or post mount. Looking on the orange website it doesn’t seem to state it anywhere - but looking at the pictures you have flat mount.

With the Hope rx4+ the smallest rotor size you can use is 160mm.

I tried them and found them a right pain in the arse. Messy to bleed and you have to work really hard to get all the air out of the caliper. Then they’re fussy to keep the 4 pistons all working together. Then I had the piston seals start to leak on one caliper and the other randomly sprang a leak a couple of times where the hose connected to the caliper. In the end I got rid and went back to Shimano Ultegra. Less power but sonfsr they just work and are consistent every time.

Personally, if I try a non Shimano experiment again I’m going to try Magura mt8 flat mount road calipers.

If you want to try them I’d actually pay a decent bike shop to fit them - give someone else the bleeding nightmare. A mate had a bike shop do his - he still had some issues and has had a couple of new calipers under warranty before they actually got them working properly.

Why do you need extra power and the poster wanting 180mm rotors on a gravel bike, how much weight are you loading it up with to need that much stopping power?

You'd need to finesse the brakes a lot to put that much power through the skinny tyres. Is it just because you are used to MTB brakes and haven't got used to "road" brakes yet?

You’d need to finesse the brakes a lot to put that much power through the skinny tyres. Is it just because you are used to MTB brakes and haven’t got used to “road” brakes yet?

+1

I realised that no way would my gravel bike ever get near the braking ability of my +200mm rotor / super-soft enduro tyred full-sus, so ride to the brakes (SRAM Force) it has.

And then just before Christmas I bought a s/h rim-braked road bike, even less braking ability (especially with tyres half as wide) 🙂

Lots of gravel bikes will take a 2" tyre. That is no longer "skinny" and isn't going to struggle with traction. Most drop bar levers feel less powerful from the hoods than they do from the drops.
Given kinetic energy is ½mv², going 10% faster produces 21% more energy to dissipate. Larger rotors cool faster and require less hand effort. Why not run 180 up front?

Didn't we have the same conversation 20 years ago when no one needed disc brakes because everyone could lock a wheel up with cantilevers?

My Decade tripster has run 165 hydro discs since before the birth of the gravel bike so I'm familiar with how they work and what they offer, certainly enough to know a little bit more wouldn't be a bad thing.

Didn’t we have the same conversation 20 years ago when no one needed disc brakes because everyone could lock a wheel up with cantilevers

I think the point is not if you can lock a wheel rather than you definitely will lock a wheel

Indeed they are but I was hoping if someone could tell me the difference between flat and post mount ?

Hope will tell you.  get a rule and measure it up, all the dims are there so be it flat, post or IS they will tell you which mounts (or not)  you need.

people say they’re hard to bleed, I didn’t find that the case at all.  I followed the instructions and they bled up perfectly, I have 3 bikes running them.

Slight hijack (but maybe relevant), has anyone tried both and have an opinion on whether rx4s or servowave levers make more difference?

@aidy good question