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Two or four pistons? Thick or thin discs? With or without cooling fins? If you’re a lighter rider, you’ve got plenty of choice. Heavier riders need to take a closer look and find out more in our new Brake test, allowing them to surrender themselves without hesitation to the exhilaration of the depths.
We have selected ten brakes, priced between 110 and 515 euros and weighing between 280 and 500 grams, for testing. Eight of these are robust four-piston designs designed for gravity riding. Whilst there are no groundbreaking innovations to report, attention to detail can make all the difference.
The only way to gain insight is to try things out, so we put the test brakes through their paces on our tried-and-tested, high-performance test bike and our demanding test track. Once again, we found the most striking differences to lie in the stability of the brakes.
You can find the full comparison test of the 10 disc brakes in the downloadable PDF from BIKE 5/2021.
This is what our subscribers get. Because quality journalism comes at a price. In return, we guarantee independence and objectivity. This applies in particular to the tests in BIKE. We don’t get paid to carry them out; quite the opposite, in fact: they cost us money – tens of thousands of euros every year.
- Formula Cura 4
- Hayes Dominion A2
- Hope Evo Tech 3 E4
- Magura MT7 Pro
- Shimano Deore 6120
- Shimano XTR 9120
- SRAM Code RSC
- Trickstuff Piccola
- Trickstuff Piccola HD
- TRP DH-R Evo
This is how we carried out the test:
It is in extreme situations, above all, that we see what brakes are truly capable of. We have pushed these braking systems to their limits, both in real-world conditions and in the laboratory.
In practice
Our tried-and-tested route in Bolzano was unavailable due to the pandemic. We switched to the braking test track run by our sister magazine, TOUR. A 230-metre descent with an average gradient of 13.8 per cent, reaching a maximum of 25 per cent, is used to test modulation, braking power and stability. The test procedure: first let the brakes bed in, then perform vigorous intermittent braking, and finally an emergency stop from 60–65 km/h on a steep descent. Braking is carried out using the front brake only. Two riders (weighing 75 and 100 kg) each complete one descent. Surprisingly, even though the scenario does not seem particularly demanding, it proved too much for some brakes!
In the laboratory
In the BIKE laboratory, the brakes are gradually pushed to their limits. The test procedure comprises 200 braking manoeuvres, ranging from the initial run-in phase, through the determination of wet and dry braking performance, to the final three-stage fading test. The loads are based on real-world data, with a fan on the test bench simulating the airflow. The braking and hand forces measured are used to produce the characteristic curves in the technical data sheets. Temperature measurements help in interpreting the force measurements. This enables us to identify the conditions under which fading sets in. Both practical and laboratory data are incorporated into the final assessment.
¹ Prices and weights are for one brake, including a 180 mm disc
