hope m4's rubbish?

nick1986

got m4's on my bike, anyone else think they are piss poor?
not very good when dry, they're even worse when wet, have 2 proper squeeze to slow down they're shockin.

Andy B

What pads?

Bedded them in properly?

Contaminated pads or rotor?

nicklouse

never got on with the Mono M4s.

CraigXXL

Mine are fantastic, couldn't ask for any better.

The Northern Monkey

MBUK wrote:

Loads of user adjustment and control but low power for its weight

nick1986

been using them for a few months, bedded them in ok i think, might change pads see if that does anything. they look like they should be the shiz but they just dont slow me down very well,.

CraigXXL

I'm able to scrub of speed with one finger lock the wheel up with two fingers. I never went through this bedding in routine but aligned the calipers, adjusted the reach on the levers and rode the bike. Only problem I've had is with the rear pistons sticking slightly which I cured yesterday with a bit of silicon spray. If I was to complain it would be the lever shape that could be more rounded for my liking.

turpinr

i like my mono's.they're the best disc brakes i've tried.avid 3's being the worst.

Thewaylander

Had a friend who used to swear by them till he took them to the alps.

Now he isnt so sure, had awful problems with them over heating and virtually pulling to the bar and not working(and yes they were set up very competently) from the mixed things i hear I do get the feelings the hopes can be very hit and miss

joshtp

my mate totaly swears by them, only brake he will use exept the moto v2. he uses his in the alps, on his big bike, everywhere, they are my brake of desire, if i could get anything it would be m4's, does the op fancie a part ex for some ltd edition white Juicy 3's?

no, really, does he?

stunter ant

Best brakes ive ever had!! Never had a single problem with them

pypdjl

If you have low power out of some M4s then there is something wrong with them.

Thewaylander

Not really,

I have heared alot mixed things about hope brakes out on the trails which would lead me to ignore them as an option,.

most reliable brakes out there IMO(though i hate the way they feel) are the hayes 9 because you can't brake them excuse the pun lol. i like my avids for the feel, a bit spongy but tons of modulation

Jimbob_no5

i had the m4 problem on my orange last year, so much fade on them, ran sintered pads, sanded disc for extra and it was still crap,
moto v2s much better

pypdjl

Thewaylander wrote:

Not really,

Not really what? If they are performing as the OP claims, then there is something wrong, pretty much all modern hydraulic brakes have plenty of power when they are working correctly.

VWsurfbum

Thewaylander wrote:

most reliable brakes out there IMO(though i hate the way they feel) are the hayes 9 because you can't brake them excuse the pun lol.

I have Hayes 9 carbons on my Genius, wonderfully powerful but they do break, not when your riding. the little fluid bung on the resiviour pops out, so you lose all the fluid the first time you brake and i had the head of one the titainium bolts drom off when undoing them!

RichMTB

I swore my Hope brakes until a recently got my hands on a set of the new Saints, no i swear at them.

Compared to the Saints they lack power and the lever flop around as well. Although I'm comparing apples with oranges becuase my M4s are getting pretty old

Thewaylander

pypdjl wrote:

Thewaylander wrote:

Not really,

Not really what? If they are performing as the OP claims, then there is something wrong, pretty much all modern hydraulic brakes have plenty of power when they are working correctly.

A stated earlier the M4 are not that modern, and to be honest i have sat on some of the cheaper Shimano brakes and thought the same thing as the OP and they were meant to be fine..

richg1979

i have the tech m4's. tried avid juicy 3/7s elixir cr's hayes stroker/ hfx's and can honestly say they blow everything else away, not so much for the outright power, but for the sheer control you have and there uncookable unlike the avids.

they do lock up if u want them too quite easyly but they never lock when u dont not even on the loosest steepest decents.

and other than pad changes ive never touched them
never had to realign pistons and never ever get disc rub even in the dirtyest muck.

only gripe is the noise and a bit of judder when soaking wet but this goes after a stop or two.

nicklouse

nick1986
as you can see there are three different Hop M4's

the original silver 4 pad version
the black Mono M4
and the Tech M4

so which ones are you really asking about?

ravey1981

I have black m4s and have never had any problems at all...I think they're great

nick1986

nicklouse wrote:

nick1986
as you can see there are three different Hop M4's

the original silver 4 pad version
the black Mono M4
and the Tech M4

so which ones are you really asking about?

tech m4's mate

schmako

I love the ones on my Patriot. Had them since the beginning of 07, finally needing bled.

mr_mills

I've got Tech M4s and was really disappointed when I first got them.

When the original pads wore out (after a couple of months) I changed to sintered ones and now they perform as good as they look.

richg1979

if uve got the tech m4s and your not happy with them then they have problems. poss missaligned calipers, contaminated pads or could do with bleeding.

i only use std organic hope pads and find them superb exactly the same performance with every set, dont last long in crappy weather but for £9 who cares.

they should be super controllable but still be able to lock them up no probs with one finger

pypdjl

Thewaylander wrote:

A stated earlier the M4 are not that modern, and to be honest i have sat on some of the cheaper Shimano brakes and thought the same thing as the OP and they were meant to be fine..

Heh, people use M4 to refer to at least 4 different brakes!

The old M4's were plenty powerful enough however.

Buckled_Rims

My M4's are not as impressive as some I've tried. I've a 203mm up front and 180mm rear. I've had bad squeeling from them, I finally lost my temper and ignored all advice and put a small dab of copper grease on them and that sort it out!

Strangely, the one positive from the poor performance is that they have a "natural" anti-locking feel to them which I like. I can't ever remember me locking the wheels.

richg1979

that anti locking feel is why they are so good. you can pretty much adjust the speed of the bike leaned over in a very fast corner and not have to worry about the brakes grabbing, i couldnt do this with my old elixirs they just locked and tried to highside you into the nearest tree.

scale20

I run the M4 on my bike up front with a 203 floating rotor and I can't fault them. What I like about them compared to other brakes I've used, mainly the Avid range, is the fact they are more or less fit and forget. I've had mine since mid 2008 and only bled them about twice.

clarkson

i have tech m4's which replaced juicy 5's. no comparison. hopes feel so much better, there's miles more control, and power is ok, i've not had a problem with that!!

my only gripe is rotor drag. mine won't go away, calipers are alligned properly just the rotor is ever so slightly bent, and the floating rotors don't really true that well! other than that, well impressed.

MarkLG

I've been running tech M4's for a little while now and they're excellent all round, especially compared to the Juicy's I had before.
I haven't had to touch them since I fitted them to the bike - there's no noise, no rotor rub, just loads of controllable power.
If you think yours lack power pull the pads out and clean up the surface with some emery cloth, clean the rotors and bleed them if the lever feels soft. If you're using non-standard pads then try genuine Hope ones.