... Hope have also chosen this brake to be the first to benefit from their new bubble rotor design, the disc itself being a strange lumpy shape instead of round, for no apparent reason.
The brake is supplied assembled by the factory, so you don't need to worry about getting brake fluid everywhere, ... Read review
Brand New Sealed Paper Poster - Bubble Wrapped In A Protective Postal Tube- Officially ... more
Licensed Poster printed on high quality paper- Please check our other posters! We offer discounted shipping on multiple purchases- [uposters] - what's on your wall?
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Brand New Sealed Paper Poster - Bubble Wrapped In A Protective Postal Tube- Officially ... more
Licensed Poster printed on high quality paper- Please check our other posters! We offer discounted shipping on multiple purchases- [uposters] - what's on your wall?
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Goodridge Hope Mini. Brake Pads - Disc. Goodridge Pads offer the Ultimate breaking ... more
experience. Organic Pads: Goodridge G-Plus ORGANIC pads use a high density organic ceramic compound, which provides superb all-round performance and life. Designed for regular use in Cross-Country, Tr ....
Fibrax Hope Mini System. Brake Pads - Disc. Fibrax disc pads are tested to DIN79-100 on a ... more
specially designed test rig for optimum quality and performance. Additionally, our pads are regularly tested in comparison to market leaders to ensure we continue to offer cutting edge performance. S ....
IXS Hope Mini Disc Brake Pads. Brake Pads - Disc. High performance brake pads X-MiX ... more
compound - a specially developed with sintered metallic and Kevlar fibres Superior noise reduction Increased heat dispersion Improved wear resistance Inherent vibration damping Hope Mini
Goodridge Hope Mono Mini. Brake Pads - Disc. Goodridge Pads offer the Ultimate breaking ... more
experience. Organic Pads: Goodridge G-Plus ORGANIC pads use a high density organic ceramic compound, which provides superb all-round performance and life. Designed for regular use in Cross-Country, Tr ....
Advantages: Stops well, works in mud, doesn't fade Disadvantages: Can be a little trying to get fitted correctly, can be noisy at times
...165mm at the back. Hope have also chosen this brake to be the first to benefit from their new bubble rotor design, the disc itself being a strange lumpy shape instead of round, for no apparent reason.
The brake is supplied assembled by the factory, so you don't need to worry about getting brake fluid everywhere, unless you need to shorten the hose. The brake comes with a hose designed for big monster downhill bikes, so my tiny XC bike ... ...earlier batches of the Mini, Hope were supplying a manual written for their other brakes with only a passing mention of the Mini, which was new for 2001. The newer batches (thankfully) come with a more complete manual, complete with photos and exploded diagrams which goes into more detail on the Mini.
With the brake happily sitting on the front of my bike, time for a ride. At first, braking is a bit dodgy, and you wonder why you spent ... more
[Minor edits. It's around 18 months since I got my first Mini and a month ago, I purchased one for the rear, so I decided it was time for a few updates on the review]
When discs first came out, they were designed with your hardcore downhill riders in mind and largely ignored by the cross country whippets out there, who prefered to spend their money on trying to shave more and more weight off their bikes with titanium this, and carbon fibre that. Anyway, I digress. The fact is that brake manufacturers have been trying to get XC riders to use the things for years, and right now, they're in vogue.
The caliper sticks out less than two inches from the fork leg, perfect for those clumsy fools who keep "bonding with nature" (read: "crashing into trees"), so there's little chance of it being ripped off in an accident. The disc itself is somewhat bigger, with options of 165 and 185mm at the front, and 145 and 165mm at the back. Hope have also chosen this brake to be the first to benefit from their new bubble rotor design, the disc itself being a strange lumpy shape instead of round, for no apparent reason.
The brake is supplied assembled by the factory, so you don't need to worry about getting brake fluid everywhere, unless you need to shorten the hose. The brake comes with a hose designed for big monster downhill bikes, so my tiny XC bike need some modifications to be carried out. Simple enough, spanner to take the hose off with, knife to cut it, and some DOT 5.1 brake fluid from your nearest Halfords (in the car section, not bikes!). As anyone who has ever bled the braking system on a car will tell you, getting the air out is a pain, although as later found out, it goes a lot better if you read the manual first. My front disc took ages to get bled correctly, my rear brake which I bought some time after was bled in minutes with the benefit of hindsight.
Firtting the brake is a little tricky as you'll need to fit spacers to the caliper mounting bolts to make sure that the disc runs central. For the forks that I originally had it fitted to, the spacers supplied with the brake weren't enough and more had to be purchased from that unlikely bike accessory shop, B&Q. Apart from that, unless you need to change the hose length, you can just bolt the disc, caliper and lever to the bike. With the earlier batches of the Mini, Hope were supplying a manual written for their other brakes with only a passing mention of the Mini, which was new for 2001. The newer batches (thankfully) come with a more complete manual, complete with photos and exploded diagrams which goes into more detail on the Mini.
With the brake happily sitting on the front of my bike, time for a ride. At first, braking is a bit dodgy, and you wonder why you spent all this money on something that doesn't really work. At this point it's worth remembering that both rotor and pads are brand new and haven't done a day's work in their lives. Get them both worn in a bit, and the power is where you need it. The lever feels a little strange at first. It turned out this was due to the reach that I had setup on it. Whip out the allen keys, quick tweak and we're sorted. Easy to control and it feels good and positive.
Speaking of controllability, the brake is an open system design. I don't understand all the technical details of this (although if you're that interested, Hope's website will tell you all you could ever want to know about open and closed system braking), but what it means in practice is that the pads will always be a constant distance from the disc. That is, the brake manages to compensate for pad wear, and also for "pump-up", where the fluid expands as the brake gets hotter. And my word, it gets hot.
Having run Minis on the front of my bike for 18 months, and a month or so on the rear, I must say that I'm hooked on these little wonders. During that time, it's been caked in the somewhat gritty mud that troubles us around here, it's hit trees and it's been swimming several times.
My only real criticism of this brake is that it howls. This ranges from a high pitched squeal to a strange mooing sound that I can't really describe. Such is the popularity of these brakes now that many a Welsh Forest can be filled with the mating call of the Hope Mini at the weekend. This has improved dramatically from the earlier models with the introduction of different brake pads, although it's not gone altogether. Several ways have been suggested to fix the problem, the best one involving smearing the back of the pad with copper grease. This can shut the brake up completely if you're lucky, or the alternative is to just get used to it. Personally, I hardly notice. Judging from the way they yell at me, my friends haven't yet.
All in all, apart from the squeeling, an excellent little disc brake which at the end of the day does what it's supposed to, with the minimum of fuss. Many manufacturers are fitting them as original equipment or an option to their bikes now, or the Mini is a worthwhile upgrade to any cross country or trail riding bike.
Advantages: awesome... Disadvantages: none at all...
...fact that they’re made by Hope Technology, an internationally renowned UK company the value is actually good as is the performance. Should anything go wrong, after sales service is excellent and the guys there are always more than willing to help and give advice. The only problems I’ve heard of with these brakes is the fitting of them if the disc mounts on the bike aren't perfectly straight, if this is the case then a local shop will be able to resolve ...
chrisradband 21.10.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Hope Mini
Advantages: Excellent stopping power, good feedback, ouses quality Disadvantages: None
I purchased the Hope mini brakes to replace the Giants own brand type that were on my XTC3 bike, these brakes were ok but the back brake had caused me no end of problems, so I looked on the net and after reading several reviews I decided to purchase the Hope Mini.
I purchased the Hope mini's from my local bike shop for £110 a wheel and the kind gent fitted me them for that price as well. Like any type of brakes they will not be working at there ... ...the Hope mini's are self adjusting and I have found this to work excellent.
I cannot recommend these brakes enough, they ouse quality, they also look fantastic as well. If you are in the market for a brake upgrade then buy the Hope Mini's you will not be dissapointed. ...
fatboyslim 22.10.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Hope Mini
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Advantages: Excellent lever feel, stopping power, durability Disadvantages: when they squeel, they REALLY squeel
I've been mountain biking for many years now and over time I've tried a wide array of braking systems on my various bikes. I was always a huge fan of Avid's braking products and had test ridden a number of bikes with their Juicy discs on before deciding on the right bike for me and taking the plunge into speccing my own custom build. The bike was to be a Yeti 575 and the brake choice came down to the Hope Mono minis (as fitted to my Orange), Avid Juicys and the Shimano XT. I chose Shimano for various reasons and the following review will hopefully outline why I took this course of action over the much hyped Hope and Avids.
Having tested various systems on demo bikes around the country, it seemed to me that there was little to choose between the braking characteristics of my shortlisted products. However, the Shimano just edged it ...
Advantages: Ride quality; Build Quality; Customer Service of Company Disadvantages: Can't ride it enough
. A reasonably light material, with the benefits of a bit of flex. This provides a comfortable ride, negating 'trail buzz', and appeals to the purists who don\'t like the harsh stiffness of an aluminium frame, or the 'cheat' of a full-suspension bike. The design is compact, with a sloping top tube meaning you'll need a long seatpost.
As this is a frame only you can spec up the bike exactly the way you want to (there are also some deals available through Cotic for things like forks and stems). I built mine up with a SRAM 9-Speed system (x.7 throughout, except the front mech which is Shimano XT); Hope Mono Mini disc brakes; wide Easton riser bars; and some great wheels built on DMR Revolver hubs with bombproof Mavic rims.
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blackpuddinonnabike 23.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cotic Soul
Advantages: great stopping power Disadvantages: none!
I have had several Hope brakes in my time including the Enduro, DH4 and mini, can't say I've ever been disappointed by any of them; easy to set up, control and maintain (not that they need it very often). Nevertheless, the brake pads are obviously crucial to the stopping power too and its only right that in my opinion Hope who make the best brakes in the world also make pads which are amongst the best available too... I sincerely believe that given the option it would be a mistake to buy anything else as the power, longevity and relative value for money that these represent is excellent. The only problem I have had with these in the past is that a set glazed over a little which meant I lost a little performance. No problem there, just removes the pads, rough them up a little and push them back in.
Very easy to replace and maintain ...
chrisradband 21.10.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Disc Hope
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