Hope Tech 4 E4 Brake Review | Beautiful UK-made stoppers with maximum feel


The not-so-minor details

Product

Hope Tech 4 E4

Price

$419 AUD (per end)

Weight

270g (front brake)

Positives

- High quality construction & finish
- Beautifully light and smooth lever action
- Masses of power & modulation
- Impressive weight for the amount of power on tap
- Spare pads included in the box
- Fully rebuildable & customisable

Negatives

- Bulky levers won't be to all tastes
- More finicky to set up
- Ergonomics will vary depending on shifter/dropper setup
- Accessories are quite pricey

Flow reviews the Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes

With over 25 years of experience manufacturing disc brakes out of its Barnoldswick factory in the UK, Hope Technology is well known for producing beautiful CNC machined components that place a strong emphasis on serviceability and long-term durability. Hope also anodises those components in-house, allowing it to offer a broad spectrum of colour options across its product range. Looks aren’t everything, but it sure makes for a refreshing change from the boring blacks and greys we’re used to seeing from the likes of Shimano and SRAM.

As pretty and as nicely engineered as Hope brakes may be, we’ve always come away a little dissatisfied with the performance of previous iterations. The main issue has been a lack of overall stopping power, particularly when compared to key rivals. The UK-based manufacturer is aiming to turn that around with its new range of brakes, which have been totally reengineered to offer greater power, improved lever feel and better consistency. To find out if they hit the mark, we’ve been putting a set of the latest Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes to the test for the past few months.

hope tech 4 e4 brakes
The Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes feature an all-new construction that is claimed to offer more power, a lighter lever feel, and improved durability.

An overview of the Hope brake lineup

There are four main offerings within the Hope mountain bike brake lineup.

First is the XCR, which is a purpose-built XC brake that features a two-piston calliper and a unique lever design that’s based around a radial master cylinder and carbon lever blades. The XCR is the lightest brake that Hope offers.

Then there are three brakes within the Tech 4 range. The ‘Tech 4’ part refers to the lever design, which is shared between all three brake models. The secondary number and letter in the model name then refers to the calliper;

hope tech 4 e4 brakes
The E4 calliper features a beautifully CNC machined one-piece alloy body and four pistons.

The brake that we have on test is the middle option in the range. It’s the Hope Tech 4 E4, which has perhaps the widest use case of all the brakes in the range. It’s built to go up against the likes of the SRAM G2 and Code, and four-piston Shimano XT and XTR brakes.

The new Tech 4 lever design

The big story with the Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes is the new Tech 4 lever. It replaces the previous generation Tech 3 lever, and it features an updated construction that is all-new from the inside-out.

hope tech 4 e4 brakes
The Tech 4 lever is all-new from the inside-out.

Hope claims the new design offers a 30% increase in stopping power, which has been achieved via updates to both the mechanical and hydraulic leverage ratio. The lever blade is longer than its predecessor, and the master cylinder piston diameter has been decreased from 10mm to 9.5mm. The goal here is to give your fingers more leverage over the pistons in the calliper.

The entire master cylinder has been redesigned with a larger surface area to help reduce the overall height of the brake levers. They still look very moto-esque, but they’re flatter and less bulky compared to the older Tech 3 levers. A move to a hinged bar clamp also makes them a little easier to install and adjust.

Inside the master cylinder you’ll find redesigned seals and a PTFE bushing to reduce friction. Sealed cartridge bearings have also been added at the lever pivot to provide silky-smooth actuation. Thanks to all of this friction reduction, Hope has switched to a lighter return spring, further lowering the effort required to engage the brake levers.

hope tech 4 e4 brakes
The hinged clamp is more user-friendly, and it gets a machined pocket that accommodates a special adapter for direct-mounting your shifter or dropper post lever.

Refreshed callipers

It’s not just about the lever though, with the E4 calliper also getting an update on the new Tech 4 brakes.

These continue to be CNC machined from a single block of alloy, and they still use four matching pistons per calliper. The hybrid pistons are new however, with a phenolic body that’s now wrapped in a stainless steel outer sleeve. This sleeve is purported to be harder wearing for improved long-term durability, while offering a smoother surface to reduce friction. The steel surface is also said to better resist drying out, so in theory they should require less maintenance than the previous all-phenolic pistons.

hope tech 4 e4 brakes
The green ‘Racing’ pads use a softer compound that offers a higher friction co-efficient that increases bite across a wider range of operating temperatures.

To go with its Tech 4 brake series, Hope has developed a new ‘Race’ pad compound. Featuring green backing plates, these pads use a softer material that’s designed to provide a higher friction co-efficient, particularly at lower operating temperatures. Previous Hope brakes needed a decent amount of heat in them before full power would be available, and these new Race pads aim to address that. The downside of the Race pads is durability. Handily, Hope includes a set of the Red organic pads in the box, which are claimed to last longer at the expense of a little braking power. Given spare pads will normally set you back $40 per end, this is a nice touch, and is something you won’t encounter with a set of SRAM or Shimano brakes.

Hope Tech 4 E4 price & specs

The current sticker price on a Hope Tech 4 E4 brake is $419 AUD per end. That puts them at the premium end of the market, though they’re actually priced quite competitively alongside other high-end stoppers like the Shimano XTR M9120 ($380 AUD) and SRAM Code RSC ($454 AUD).

hope tech 4 e4 brakes
Our test brakes feature a silver finish with red anodised highlights.

Unlike those competitors, the Hope Tech 4 E4 is offered in either an anodised black or silver finish. You can then choose from a variety of highlight colours for the reservoir caps, adjustment screws and piston bore caps. This includes red, blue, orange and purple, though you can also go for an all-black or all-silver finish if you prefer.

Completing the setup, we received a set of Hope Floating rotors in a 180mm diameter. These utilise a two-piece construction with an alloy carrier that’s riveted to a laser-cut stainless steel brake track. According to Hope, the floating design is said to better manage changes in temperature as the rotor heats up and cools down.

hope tech 4 e4 brakes
Hope’s floating rotors use a two-piece construction with an alloy carrier that’s offered in a variety of anodised colours.

The two-piece rotors sell for $115-125 AUD per end and are offered in an enormous range of sizes from 140-225mm. You can also get standard stainless steel rotors for $90-100 per end.

Installation

We had the opportunity to install the Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes on two different bikes during the test period; Wil’s custom Tor Mullock hardtail, and Ben’s Reeb SST. With their fetching silver and red finish, the Hope brakes offer a complimentary aesthetic to these elegant steel frames.

reeb sst hope tech 4 e4 brakes
Ben’s elegant Reeb SST.
tor bikes steel hardtail
We also fitted the Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes on Wil’s custom Tor hardtail.

Paired up to the 180mm rotor, the front E4 calliper mounted directly to both a Fox 34 and RockShox Pike with the included bolts. We had to use a SRAM 20mm post mount adapter for the rear brake, since both bikes utilise a 160mm post mount standard. Hope does produce its own brake adapters, though they’re fairly pricey at $45-50 AUD a piece.

The levers are easy to install thanks to the new hinged clamp. Because of the longer lever blades, you’ll likely need to run them a little further inboard, especially compared to a Shimano brake.

hope tech 4 e4 brakes
With a 180mm rotor, the E4 calliper mounts directly to the new generation Fox 34 for a clean setup.

It is possible to direct-mount your dropper post remote and shifter to the new Tech 4 levers with specific Hope adapters. Again, these are pricey at $50 AUD per side, though they are beautifully machined and are said to offer more adjustability compared to previous versions.

Unfortunately we weren’t able to test out Hope’s adapters, so we made do with separate clamps. Even still, Ben had no issues fitting the Tech 4 levers outboard of his e*13 dropper remote and XT 12-speed shifter. Wil on the other hand struggled to get his SLX 12-speed shifter into an optimal position around the brake clamp. If you’re particularly fussy about shift paddle placement, it may be worth looking into the direct mount adapters.

Once fitted, the Tech 4 lever reach is simple to adjust thanks to the large alloy dial. There’s also a separate Bite Point Contact dial for tweaking the amount of freeplay before the pads engage, and it offers a useful range of adjustment. Mind you, both of our testers set the BPC dial to the minimum setting and left it there. Each dial is indexed, and along with the chunky machined construction, they offer a high-quality feel.

hope tech 4 e4 brakes
The two dials give you tool-free adjustment for both lever reach and bite point.

Bleeding the Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes

The Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes come with comically long hoses from the factory that will need trimming down for 99.9% of the bikes they’ll be fitted to. Thankfully an extra barb, olive and copper washer are included in the box, which you’ll need to fit to the end of your freshly chopped brake hose.

After refitting the hoses, we got our hands on the Hope Easy Bleed Kit to give each brake a thorough bleed. For $69 AUD this is a fantastic bit of kit that’s made to a similarly high standard as the brakes themselves. It comes with a big reservoir, fittings, a bottle of DOT 5.1 fluid and a hose for evacuating waste oil out of the calliper. You don’t necessarily need it, but it does make the whole gravity bleed process much easier and potentially a lot cleaner too.

hope tech 4 e4 brakes bleed kit
The Hope Easy Bleed Kit is a very nice tool that makes bleeding the Tech 4 E4 brakes a lot easier and cleaner.

We did find both brakes required a couple of bleeds to rid them of every last air bubble. And patience is required when rolling the rubber diaphragm back in place on the reservoir so as to avoid introducing any fresh bubbles when fitting the top cap. If that happens, those bubbles will eventually find their way back into the lines whenever your bike is upside down.

While we were able to achieve a much sharper lever feel after bleeding, the brakes still weren’t as responsive as we expected. On top of that, we were struggling with pad retraction on the front brake, which was causing some annoying rotor rub.

Two things solved this issue. Firstly, lubing up the pistons with some DOT 5.1 brake fluid and working them back and fourth helped to free things up quite a bit. Secondly, opening up the pad springs put more force on the pistons to ensure they were fully retracting.

Following some quality time in the workshop, there was an immediate improvement to the feel of our Tech 4 E4 brakes. The rubbing was gone, and the lever provided a silky smooth actuation. While we don’t know if every set of brakes will be the same as ours, we’d certainly recommend giving them plenty of attention and going through a proper bleed procedure to get them feeling tip-top.

Hope Tech 4 E4 weight

With the hoses trimmed to a moderate length, our Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes came in at 270g for the front and 281g for the rear. That weight is without rotors, adapters or calliper mounting bolts.

hope tech 4 e4 brakes weight
We were surprised that the Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes weighed in at less than 300g per end. That’s nearly XTR weight!

Here’s how the weight of a front brake compares to Shimano and SRAM;

Given the chunky construction of the Tech 4 E4 brakes, we were honestly surprised that they came in under 300g per end. Indeed the fact that they’re just a few grams within an XTR brake is impressive, especially considering their on-trail performance.

Performance

Throughout testing we’ve been thoroughly impressed by the effortlessly light lever feel of the Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes. The silky smooth actuation brings a significant improvement over old Tech 3 levers, and there’s also noticeably less resistance compared to a modern Shimano Servo Wave brake.

tor bikes steel hardtail hope tech 4 e4 brakes
The E4 calliper fitted up fine with a SRAM 20mm post mount adapter, though Hope makes those as well if you want to keep things matchy-matchy.

With the BPC adjuster set to its minimum setting there’s a short amount of dead stroke before the pads engage the rotor. We found the bite point easy to distinguish, but it’s worth noting that it isn’t as solid as a Shimano or SRAM brake. It’s slightly squishier, and there’s a bit more lever movement available as the power builds throughout the stroke.

The result is less initial grabbiness, with the Tech 4 E4 delivering a steadier and more linear increase in power. We loved this quality, as it gives you plenty of room to modulate the brakes to maintain tyre grip on loose and risky sections of trail.

Thanks to the super-light lever feel, your fingers receive higher quality feedback from what’s going on down at the callipers in these sorts of traction-poor scenarios. Combined with the linear power curve, we found braking performance to be predictable and very easy to get used to.

hope tech 4 e4 brakes
The combination of a sealed cartridge bearing in the lever pivot, new internal seals and a PTFE bushing leads to a silky-smooth lever feel.

Four-piston power

Squeeze the lever harder, and the power builds smoothly and gradually. As you move deeper into the stroke, the Tech 4 E4 unveils its incredible stopping might. While we don’t have a brake dyno at Flow HQ, our experience points towards them having more overall power than the SRAM Code RSC and Shimano XTR 4-piston brakes.

What’s most impressive about the Tech 4 E4 is that it offers this power alongside gobs of modulation. Despite the very dry and dusty summer conditions we’ve been testing them in, we had no instances where we accidentally locked up a tyre.

hope tech 4 e4 brakes
There is heaps of power on tap from the E4 callipers. Unless you’ve got a DH bike of a heavy e-MTB, these will likely be plenty powerful for most Aussie mountain bikers.

The new Racing pad compound surely deserves credit here, with its ability to provide plenty of control even at slower speeds. Fade resistance has also been impressive. Of course we’re not exactly blessed with huge alpine terrain in Australia, but we’ve found the Tech 4 E4 brakes to be totally consistent throughout testing, with zero change to the bite point.

While the stock green pads will likely work well for most Aussie mountain bikers, we’ve heard they can be a bit noisy in the wet. If you ride in a wider range of conditions, it’ll be worth trying out the red resin pads. These offer a slightly softer initial bite, along with greater durability.

Any downsides?

As mentioned earlier, our Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes required more attention during the bleeding and setup process compared to an equivalent Shimano or SRAM brake. Even after tweaking the pad springs and lubing up the pistons, the E4 callipers don’t provide quite as much pad clearance, meaning you’re more likely to encounter rubbing if your rotors aren’t perfectly true.

hope tech 4 e4 brakes
Spreading the pad springs, lubing the pistons and going through a thorough bleed process were all necessary to get the Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes to perform as good as they look.

In terms of ergonomics, not everyone is going to get along with the Tech 4 levers. The machined alloy blades are quite tall and they have a fairly blunt profile that means your finger has a bit of material to wrap around. Machined dimples provide some texture for your fingertip to grip on to, but these holes can be a little too noticeable on bare skin.

Otherwise there is very little to complain about when it comes to the performance of the Tech 4 E4 brakes. They certainly aren’t cheap, but they are premium stoppers with a very high quality construction and finish.

We love the fact that they’re serviceable and rebuildable, with a long list of spare parts available to purchase separately. Hope also provides full schematics on its website along with handy how-to video guides on YouTube. It even offers free downloadable files to 3D print small brake service tools.

hope tech 4 e4 brakes
The drilled levers offer good purchase, but the edges are a touch sharp on bare skin.

Hope Tech 4 E4 vs Tech 4 V4

One question that has been posted to us while testing the Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes is how they compare to their bigger sibling; the Tech 4 V4 brakes.

We’re yet to test the V4, but by all accounts it’s an absolute monster of a brake. While it features exactly the same Tech 4 lever, it does get a significantly beefier 4-piston calliper. This incorporates a larger diameter trailing piston, which is claimed to increase overall power by more than 10%.

Given the extra power, and the fact that the chunkier calliper only adds an extra 15-20g of weight per end, why wouldn’t you choose the Tech 4 V4?

To sum up, the Hope Tech 4 V4 is primarily designed for e-MTBs and downhill bikes. For everyone else, the Tech 4 E4 is likely to provide more than enough power.

For a start, some frames may not offer sufficient clearance for the bigger calliper body. Hope even states that the calliper isn’t compatible with some 180mm direct-mount forks when paired to a 180mm rotor. In these instances it recommends upsizing to a 200mm rotor and adapter.

Also, because of the change in the hydraulic leverage ratio, the Tech 4 V4 brake is said to have a longer lever throw and a slightly softer bite point. We suspect this is less of an issue on a downhill bike, but it will potentially feel more vague on a lighter weight trail bike.

And lastly, the Tech 4 V4 brake is more expensive at $449 AUD per end.

To sum up, the Hope Tech 4 V4 is primarily designed for e-MTBs and downhill bikes. The extra power is also likely to be appreciated by heavier enduro riders who are running 200-220mm rotors and are regularly bombing very fast and long descents. For everyone else, the Tech 4 E4 is likely to provide more than enough power.

hope tech 4 e4 brakes
We’ve been impressed with the on-trail feel and consistency of the Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes.

Flow’s Verdict

With its redesigned lever and updated pistons, the Hope Tech 4 E4 has elevated the performance bar by some margin over the old Tech 3 brakes.

We have found them to be a little finicky in terms of setup, but once properly bled and aligned, we encountered zero issues with rubbing or noise throughout testing. Indeed they’ve been overwhelmingly consistent, with no wandering bite point issues or fade on extended descents.

Most impressive is the effortless lever feel and linear power delivery. There is a heap of brute force available, though it’s the exceptional modulation that makes these so intuitive to use on the trail, especially when things get sketchy and loose. Along with the silky smooth action, we experienced very little hand fatigue overall.

The Tech 4 lever ergonomics won’t suit everyone, and neither will the industrial finish. There’s no denying the high-quality construction however, and we love that they’re totally rebuildable. Hope seems to have plenty of spare parts available, and it’s great to have an additional set of pads included in the box. Add in the fact that they’re lighter and cheaper than a set of Code RSCs, and we have no qualms in recommending the Hope Tech 4 E4. Indeed these are now up there as one of the best mountain bike brakes on the market.

reeb sst hope tech 4 e4 brakes
The Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes are very much at home on Ben’s Reeb with its titanium cranks, Industry Nine hubs and Cane Creek IL coil shock.
hope tech 4 e4 brakes
If you’re after a powerful disc brake with oodles of modulation, the Hope Tech 4 E4 might just be one of the best options out there.

It appears you're using an old version of Internet Explorer which is no longer supported, for safer and optimum browsing experience please upgrade your browser.