Hey!
Been tweaking my bike a little recently. Was running an old avid elixir brake earlier but recently changed to a 4 piston Aliexpress brake. Felt a big upgrade but seeing how much better it feels now I think it could feel even better with a new brake.
I’m 191cm and 95kg so quite big and want something with a good feel and that can handle my size.
Thanks in advance!
Hope Tech 3 v4
Or Shigura(Shimano lever+Magura Piston)
What Levin said is good. Always depends on how much money you want to spend. With your size, having more brake power is always better. Shigura is the cheapest option at 100-150€, Lewis CNC from China is also pretty good I’ve heard and comes around 250€, hope is a bit more expensive but has been on the market forever and is probably most reliable
I rode the aliexpress Pro E4 brake for a while, it works but I was burning through a set of brake pads every month and the stopping has the on/off feel of Shimano. I switched to a Sram Guide RSC and has more stopping power and more modulation.
i was using shimano xt for a while but they were too on/off like scallionbatallion said, hardly any modulation. i have friends who use them and love them but they weren’t for me.
i switched to tektro orion 4 pots and they are great, my favorite brake. not very expensive and tons of modulation. i’m not sure about availability where you are but you can find them new for around $80 usd over here.
I can only give an opinion on hope brakes as I have used almost every caliper and master cylinder combination they have made since 2003. I used them extensively for bike trials back in the day and have used them exclusively for the last 10 years of bike polo.
I have tested various four pot hope brakes over the years on the front of my polo and trials bikes and I have never felt a noticeable increase in stopping power. My assumption has always been that this can be explained by the fact that the master cylinder used across both 2 and 4 pot systems displaces the same amount of fluid meaning that the force is spread across a larger pad area resulting in greater modulation but only marginally more friction.
My recommendation is to use a hope tech3 x2 with organic pads on a 180mm rotor. I’m not the largest lad weighing pretty much exactly 80kg so perhaps if I were less meagre I would think differently about the marginal increased stopping power of a four pot caliper. More than likely I would opt for a larger rotor instead.
I love my Hope brake. It does exactly what it’s supposed to do and I almost never fiddle with it except for adjusting the reach as the pads wear. I can’t imagine ever moving away from my current setup. As someone who one finger brakes I never feel hand fatigue even after long tournament days.
Hope for life.
Yup, four pot and two pot calipers don’t really differ much in power. That’s because most manufacturers will use smaller pistons on the four pots, resulting in about the same piston area. That means you will have equal brake power at equal pressure.
The advantages of four pot systems lie in better modulation, even wear of pads and improved heat management. I believe the modulation of crucial for polo, the heat not so much but that’s just guesses.
anyone running Shimano Saint ? I just heard of them and they seem kinda nice
Yes I do, I changed 2 years ago frome xt to saint. The xt lever broke pretty quick, some parts in there are made out of plastic… Not on the saint, stays strong till today, and I had quite some crazy falls with it. Just never tighten the lever to hard ;)
post already exist , on this type of forum its nice to searchbar before creating a new post
Riding a Shimano slx since 2015, 57€ back in the time.
A few hose, a shit load of metallic pads and slx disc, it’s all it costs, and a good maintenance (clean your piston before pushing them back in for new pads!)
Never failed me.
Was planning to upgrade it with a Shimano 4 pistons caliper and 180mm because I felt the need compared to others and the dynamic they imposed with better breaks and/or being lighter (I’m 1.95/80kg)
I’ve installed the 180mm, and it’s awesome.
I feel the 4p caliper will hold on in the packaging for a while…
I mean, except if you like to pimp or burn cash, expensive brakes aren’t necessary.
I love hope brake, I run them on my daily bike because I had a good 2nd hand price and that they are less exposed to problem, and after 12 years I could still change the piston and seals. That’s lovely for our planet because they will probably last another 12.
But I wouldn’t put them on my polobike, there is to me no price/performance advantage whatsoever.
Cheers.