Whether you’re a Hope Technology fanboy or not, there really is no denying how stunning these E4 brakes look visually and after a good few months on the bike, I don’t think I’ll be going to anything else anytime soon!
Let’s get straight to it then shall we?
Hope Tech 3 E4 Brake Review
Lots of lovely colours? Check.
Beautifully CNC’d? Check.
Huge amounts of easy adjustment? Check.
Amazing aftersales support? Check.
Seriously reliable performance? Check.
So on the face of it all, there really isn’t much that the Hope e4 doesn’t offer and the only thing that will put most people off is the price. At £140-160 per brake, it does take some convincing to move away from the likes of Shimano or SRAM’s offerings but when you look at the actual RRP of the Shimano Saint (£180) or Shimano Zee (£140) the Guide Ultimate (£250) or Guide R (£120) there actually isn’t all that much in it. The only real difference is that Hope Tech parts are very rarely in the sale!
Right, that’s great. Price is dealt with, how do they perform?
Good. No, that’s not fair… flipping fantastic! The amount of control and power that you get from the Hope Tech 3 E4 brake is outstanding. You can set the bite point and reach on the lever to exactly how you want it and then from there you can start feeling just what a difference it is to other brakes on the market.
The distance between just touching the disc rotor and fully locking on seems to be forever but in a good way. You can seriously modulate your speed without feeling your tyres start getting skittish but you can still pull some cool skidz in the carpark to show off to all your mates.
Reliability has been flawless so far – you can cut the hoses down to fit your bike and you don’t even need to give them a bleed. How cool is that? It’s actually something that Shimano claim you can do with theirs, but I never had it properly work.
Bleeding is an absolute doddle too. Here’s a handy little video showing you exactly how to bleed a Hope Tech 3 brake.
I’ve gone through a couple pairs of pads for these brakes now and as brilliant as the Hope ones were, I much prefer the Race Matrix compound that UberBike have – plus, they’re a fair bit cheaper! I’ll do a full review on brake pad comparisons another time if you’re interested in that?
Compared to the Zees and Guide R, these brakes are in a completely different league. While I’d argue that the Zee may have more power, it doesn’t have anywhere near the amount of modulation or reliability that’s being offered by Hope. Similarly, they outperform the Guide Rs (which I previously loved) and the drastically better durability means that I’ll probably end up taking these brakes onto my next bike.
Should you buy the Hope Tech 3 E4?
These really are aimed at the enduro/big mountain/ all mountain/ aggressive trail type riders… so basically if you ride a bike fast and hard then these are geared for you. If you love hooning down a mountain and leaving any proper ground stopping type braking till the last minute then without a doubt, yes these brakes are for you.
Performance is flawless, reliability is brilliant and the looks are stunning. Yes, they may be a little bit more expensive than some of the others out there but you’ll probably end up using them on your next 3 or 4 bikes… trust me, they’ll last!
