With the Tech 4 V4, English manufacturer Hope enters our 2024 brake group test with an authentic piece of CNC art. The British brand’s classy brake retails at a reasonable € 580 and comes in countless different colours. Is it enough to secure victory?
Learn more about this comparison test: The best MTB disc brakes – 14 MTB brakes in comparison
“Made in Barnoldswick, UK” is the first thing you’ll come across when looking for Hope’s website. The British brand have been around for a while, as one of the first companies to make disc brakes and disc-compatible hubs, and they’ve since expanded into making everything from cranks to entire bikes! Hope now have six brake models in their portfolio, covering a wide range of applications, from XC to downhill. The Tech 4 V4 we tested is meant to be the most powerful model in their range and was developed for enduro, downhill and freeride. At 592 g, the CNC-machined braking jewel falls right in the middle of the test field.
The Hope Tech 4 V4 was revised in 2022 and is the brake of choice for Hope’s own bikes. The CNC-machined look and colourful anodised accents make it a great choice for those who like to customise. Lever reach and bite point can be adjusted without the need for tools, using two large knurled screws. The unusual thing is that the bite point adjustment also affects the lever reach, meaning that you should always adjust the two at the same time.
The lever clamp is rather wide but easy to install: just undo the screw, flip the clamp open and remove the lever! The long lever requires you to mount the brake far inwards on the handlebars, which can make it harder to configure the cockpit. We recommend using Hope’s in-house lever mounts, which keep everything tidy and round off the cool machined look. The floating rotors are beautifully machined too, securing the “best looking rotor” award in this test.
Hope brakes use DOT 5.1 brake fluid, which can be harmful on the skin and ruin the paint on your bike, which is even more annoying given that Hope’s bleeding method involves quite a bit of spilling: at the end of each the bleed, you’ll have to overfill the lever reservoir to prevent air bubbles from forming, which makes spillage unavoidable. Aside from that, bleeding is pretty straightforward, with the big equalisation reservoir rendering Hope’s high-quality funnel and adapter plate superfluous.
Hope Tech 4 V4 brake on test
When riding around the car park, the Hope Tech 4 V4 seems to lack bite, feeling a little vague and spongy instead. On the trail, however, you’ll quickly realise that that’s almost irrelevant given the amount of braking power it generates. Even at the slightest squeeze, the Hope decelerates more than you think. If you pull harder, the braking force increases progressively, and you never need to squeeze particularly hard, even on very steep descents. This feeling is also backed by the lab test data, where the Hope proved the strongest brake in test, ahead of the Trickstuff Maxima, decelerating with a brutal 265 Nm of negative torque – under optimum laboratory conditions, of course. The braking performance doesn’t increase noticeably with our Sinter upgrade pads, meaning that Hope’s in-house pads are pretty awesome. Trickstuff and Hope deliver a similar performance not only in the lab but also on the trail, where they provide a similarly soft bite point. With Hope, the lever feel is almost resistance-free. The long brake levers are ergonomically awkward, and provide less feedback to the fingers, especially compared to the short levers of Shimano and Hayes brakes. The BrakeAce evaluation on the trail shows many braking events, though these are amongst the shortest of the test field, undercutting the average braking time.
Our conclusions about the Hope Tech 4 V4
The Hope Tech 4 V4 is a great choice for those who like to customise their bikes with exotic, colourful components. The V4 stands out from the crowd with its powerful performance, both in the lab and on the trail. Despite its massive braking power, smooth lever feel and wide modulation, the Hope misses the test victory because it’s a little too easy to skid the rear wheel.
Tops
- Powerful deceleration without requiring too much effor
- Cool CNC-machined look
- High build quality
Flops
- Soft bite point
- Very long brake lever
For more info, visit hopetech.com
Find the overview of this comparison test here: The best MTB disc brakes – 14 MTB brakes in comparison
All brakes in test:
Formula Cura 4 | Hayes Dominion T4 | Hope Tech 4 V4 | MAGURA MT5 Pro | MAGURA MT7 | Shimano SLX | Shimano XT | Shimano XTR | SRAM CODE Bronze Stealth | SRAM CODE Ultimate Stealth | SRAM MAVEN Ultimate | Trickstuff MAXIMA | TRP DH-R EVO | TRP Trail EVO |
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Words: Julian Schwede Photos: Peter Walker
