Hope Mono M4 Brakes

Hope mono M4 hydraulic disc brakes are sold as ‘all mountain’ which we presume means suitable for a little bit of everything. Out of the box it is immediately obvious that the CNC machine work is of a high standard, the bolts are a perfect fit and the rotors are nice and shiny with no trace of cutting lubricant. A sealed plastic bag contains the required spacer shims. Previous experience of brakes has resulted in us selecting 180mm rotors as we are no lightweights and we want to stop when we apply the brake.

Fitting the rotors to hubs is straightforward with a drop of threadlock on each bolt. Fitting the callipers is not quite as simple, the callipers need to be shimed or spaced from the frame to centre about the rotor. This is not difficult but it either takes 2 minutes or 1 hour depending on how lucky you get.

How do they perform? The stopping power and modulation is absolutely fantastic. The only downside once the brakes are fitted is that replacing the pads is a fiddle job which needs the wheels to be removed and the use of long-nose pliers. This in itself is not too painful but it is unnecessary when compared to the very simple pad change processes of HAYES and AVID. The brakes can squeak when wet but this always goes once the rotor is dry.

Fantastic breaking power and modulation, pads are widely available 8 out of 10, a telephone call to HOPE provides detailed answers to any question. A redesign on the pad change process and the mono M4 would be 9 out of 10.