What's inside mountain bike brakes?
As part of our Bike Project: Europe we take a close look: What goes into each component - and where is it made? The brake system is one of the smallest components on a bike. All hydraulic disc brakes are built according to the same principle: the master piston in the brake lever is connected to the slave piston in the brake calliper via a line. Mountain bikes usually have two or four of these Slave piston for use. The bodies of brake levers and callipers are made of aluminium, magnesium, plastic or carbon. Forged aluminium is predominantly used for brake callipers due to the heat generated. Brakes contain numerous small parts such as bearings, seals, plastic parts, levers, pistons, cylinders, pins, springs, valves, pins, olives, banjos, screws, covers and, of course, brake fluid. Most manufacturers use mineral oil or DOT as the brake fluid.
Of course, the brake system also includes the brake disc, which is attached to the two wheels with the help of a two-part Shimano centre lock screw or six individual Torx screws. Then there are the four or eight Brake pads for the front and rear brakes, which include carrier plates, springs, bolts and locking pins in addition to the actual pads. Screws, washers and adapters are required to attach the brake system to the frame or fork.
In total, the components of two brakes add up to hundreds of small parts. Brake manufacturers do not produce all of these parts themselves, but purchase most of them from suppliers. Similar to Suspension forks and dampersmany of these small parts come from Asia. They are produced there in large quantities at low cost. There is no such thing as a complete brake system that originates 100 per cent in the EU. But there are products that come closer to this utopia than others.
BIKE Project Europe - a look at the list
It's actually sobering: four manufacturers have yet to make a list. But it's the reality of the BIKE Project Europe - and a globalised industry: Braking only, Formula (both Italy), Magura and Trickstuff (both Germany) build complete brake systems in the EU. Of the 27 member states of the European Union, only two produce hydraulic disc brakes for mountain bikes. Hope manufactures its well-known CNC-milled stoppers in the UK and therefore in geographical Europe, but not in the European Union. Brakeforce One (Germany) no longer builds brakes. The manufacturers of accessory products in the brake sector can also be counted on one hand.
European raw material prices for the steel required for brake discs have been extremely high, and not just since the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis. Only Brakestuff, Intend (both Germany), Carbon-Ti, Braking (both Italy) and Galfer (Spain) produce brake discs in the EU. The discs from Formula, Magura and Trickstuff currently come from Asia. Even if some brake pads are produced in the EU, their backing plates almost always come from Asia. Capgo is one of the few manufacturers whose new brake pads (available from October 2022) are 100 per cent made in Europe. Danico-Biotech produces brake fluid from renewable raw materials in Worms. The brake fluid based on German vegetable oil is also used in the lines of Trickstuff brakes. In Regensburg, under the umbrella of OAK Components, retrofit brake levers for Magura brakes come out of the CNC milling machine.
These brakes and accessories are produced in the EU
Our list for the BIKE Project Europe is not exhaustive and we look forward to your additions. Do you know where other brake parts are produced in the EU? Then please send us an e-mail: eu-projekt@bike-magazin.de
Manufacturer / Company headquarters / Production site / Remarks
- Brakestuff / Amtsberg (DE) / Amtsberg (DE) / Brake discs
- Braking / Etoy (CH) / Brake and discs
- Capgo / Leinburg (DE) / DE / Brake pads
- Carbon-Ti / Brescia (IT) / Brescia (IT) / Bress discs
- Danico-Biotech / Kelkheim (DE) / Worms (DE) / Brake fluid
- Formula / Prato (IT) / IT / Brakes
- Galfer / Barcelona (ES) / Barcelona (ES) / Brake discs and pads
- Goose-Bikeparts / Kernen (EN) / EN / Tool for pushing back the pistons
- Intend / Freiburg (DE) / DE / Brake discs
- Magura / Bad Urach (DE) / Hengen and Hülben (DE) / MT5 and MT7 models partly from DE
- OAK Components / Regensburg (DE) / Regensburg (DE) / Brake lever for Magura
- RG Components / IT / IT / CNC brake lever for Formula
- Trickstuff / Freiburg (DE) / Freiburg (DE) / Brakes
Our solution in the BIKE Project Europe
On our EU project bike, we rely on an MT7 Pro brake system from Magura. The powerful four-piston brake stands up to the Alutech Fanes enduro bike with Pinion gearbox and Intend chassis good face. Magura bears its origins in its company name: Founder Gustav Magenwirth from Bad Urach. We visited Magura in the Swabian Alb to find out how much Europe is actually behind these traditional stoppers. You can read about our visit in BIKE 11/2022.
As a German-Taiwanese hybrid product, the Magura MT7 Pro is perfect for our BIKE Project Europe. After all, the bike that we are building for this project should also be an explanatory piece. It should show which small parts really come from the EU and which do not. The fact that Magura, like all other European brakes, is not a 100 per cent EU product is therefore pretty much in line with the aim of the project. How European the bike industry actually is should be discussed in times of globalised and sometimes highly sensitive supply chains.
In the specific case of the MT7 model, the "Carbotecture SL" brake levers are made from plastic reinforced with short carbon fibres at the company's own factory in Hülben. The steel bolt in the lever and the plastic lever piston also come from Germany. The seals come from Europe, the slave pistons destined for the European market from Germany. The brake calliper is assembled at Magura in Hengen in the Swabian Alb. The hydraulic oil and brake lines are also German. The suppliers for brake pads are located partly in Europe and partly in the Far East. Aluminium parts, such as the forged brake caliper of the MT7 and the Storm HC brake discs, come from Taiwan.
Jan Timmermann
Editor
