Elixirs or Hopes?

hoolabloom
hoolabloom Posts: 164
edited May 2010 in MTB buying advice
Well it appears i ve got enough cash to get some new brakes.

Ride trail centres and local trails and off to the alps for august for some fun in les gets/chamonix so a brake upgrade is in order to replace my juicy 3s on my Pitch Pro

I like the look off hope M4s and elixirs so would like a few opinions from the masses!

MOst of the reviews seem to place elixirs above hopes with a few saying the hopes are noisy?

Help greatly taken

Ta in advance

Comments

  • jay12
    jay12 Posts: 6,306
    hopes are great, don't get me wrong but elixirs are AMAZING! hope seem to be overpriced for what they are. my friend had hope before, then he got elixir r brakes and he says they are a lot better and he would buy them again. but it's also prefrenece. some people like the feel of the hopes compared to the avids. personally i would get elixirs as they are cheaper and i have the elixir 5s and i'm amazed at the power and feel of them and simplicity of setting them up. i had no problems with mine so far
    KINESIS PHA5E WIP

    FREE KONA KULA WIP
  • M6TTF
    M6TTF Posts: 602
    hope are beautifully made and work well, but you can get a set of elixirs for the same price as one hope - and the avids are lighter.
  • peter413
    peter413 Posts: 5,120
    Get the Elixirs.

    I am a bit of a Hope fanboy :lol: and already have a cheap Hope Mono M4 on the front of my bike and am now in need of a new rear brake so got an Elixir 5.

    So that means I will be running both the Hope and Elixir :twisted:
    Transition Patrol
    Cube LTD 29er

    Glentress Trailfairies
  • benpinnick
    benpinnick Posts: 4,148
    Elixirs... I was Hope all the way until I got a bike with Elixir Rs on it. Won't go back now!
    A Flock of Birds
    + some other bikes.
  • stubs
    stubs Posts: 5,001
    If you want a great set of brakes that are everlasting and can be totally rebuilt with all spares available relatively cheaply with fanatastic aftersales service (if you ask nicely, if you are snotty with them forget about it) then go for Hope. I recently completely rebuilt a set of 8 year old Hope Minis for a mate, the parts came to £36 and they were like new when I finished.

    If you want a great set of brakes that are a lot cheaper with a similar feel but forget about spare parts go for the Elixirs.

    They are both great brakes it comes down to cost and wether you want to keep them for years. I have Elixir CR and I think they are great but would be equally happy with the Hopes.
    Fig rolls: proof that god loves cyclists and that she wants us to do another lap
  • hoolabloom
    hoolabloom Posts: 164
    So about 4 to 1 in favour of elixirs at the moment.

    Mmmm almost unanimous

    Thanks for the time guys. Will let you know which way I go but its looking like the Elixirs at the moment. Trouble is I love the engineering on the hopes.

    :lol:
  • snotty badger
    snotty badger Posts: 1,593
    Let us know what you think of the elixirs over the Juicy 3s- I have a Pitch Pro too, feel happy with the braking but do wonder just how much better an upgrade could be!?
    08 Pitch Pro
    14 Kona Unit
    Kona Kula SS
    Trailstar SS
    94 Univega Alpina 5.3
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    I was just in the same position as you, except I was considering XTs and Formula RX as well.

    In the end I went for Hope X2 with 180mm floating rotors.

    The main reason I went for the hopes is reliability. Am I pleased with them? Well yes, but I preferred the look of the Avids and Formulas, but I have more faith in the Hope and they are so well made. They are also slightly heavier.

    But, it doesn't matter how pretty or light a brake is if it doesn't work or fails when your out riding.
  • jam1e
    jam1e Posts: 1,068
    I've got Hope X2s running 180/180 on one bike and Elixer 5s running 180/180 on another and there's no comparison - X2s all the way. They feel much stronger, stopping power is streets ahead and they have loads less lever/body flex etc.

    There's nothing wrong with the Elixers as such, just when you ride them back to back with the Hopes they feel a bit cheap and cheerful.
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Have a look at our braking charts for power - the Elixirs were a good 50% up on the Hope X2 for a given lever pull.

    Though the X2 may feel better modulated to some.
    GT ZASKAR CARBON TEAM

    VOODOO CANZO

    Come and see me at https://www.facebook.com/biketyke/
  • blister pus
    blister pus Posts: 5,780
    funny. I've just bled my new Elixir Rs and i nearly shattified myself at the before and after.

    edit: ooh. and they're very nice too.
  • dave1653uk
    dave1653uk Posts: 259
    Hope.
  • big2000dave
    big2000dave Posts: 60
    I'll go for Hope, i have Tech M4's on my Orange 5 and Santa Cruz Nomad, i split the master cylinder seal on one rear brake. Sent it away on a Monday to hope (with the form off their wedsite) and it was back on the Thursday fully rebuilt and they replaced the pads for free (they do that for all brakes) and all i paid was £4 postage to get it to them. Cannot fault Hope one bit for performance, quality and service!
    Orange 5 SE
    Santa Cruz Nomad
    Orange 5 Diva
    Boardman Team Carbon
    Bianchi She

Categories