Hope Announces More XCR Pro Brake Options

Jan 19, 2024
by Hope Tech  
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PRESS RELEASE: Hope

Our lightweight brake now comes with more options for customisation. After 2 years of silver and black the XCR will now be available in all 6 Hope colours: Red, Blue, Orange, Purple, Silver & Black.

As well as colours, we've added the E4 caliper to the XCR line up, enhancing performance and adding a downcountry twist. Meaning the XCR brake will now be suitable for a range of options from cross country race rigs to burlier trail builds.

photo

XCR Pro

​​​​​​​The minimal, radially configured, master cylinder maintains our simple bleeding process with its conventional reservoir yet still offers reach adjustment and a new hinged handlebar clamp for reduced weight and easy installation. Lever bushes provide reduced friction and super light lever action all finished with a carbon lever blade.

E4

The E4 caliper utilises hybrid style stainless steel pistons with a phenolic insert. This allows for smoother movement and less maintenance, while still being able to manage high temperatures without heat transfer during extreme use. Supplied with the racing compound pads. They are designed to offer impressive performance straight out of the box with little bedding in required, they are also more resistant to fade than standard organic pads.

X2

The X2 caliper features aluminium backplate pads. and a sleek, low profile crimped connector. A conventional olive is retained at the lever end to allow for easy hose shortening.

Key Features

>> Lightweight minimalist design
>> Carbon blade and titanium hardware
>> Lever reach adjustment
>> Hinge clamp for easy installation
>> CNC Machined from high grade forged aluminium billet
>> The XCR has 10% Power increase over Race Evo lever
>> X2 Postmount and Flatmount Caliper Options available // E4 Postmount
>> Crimped hose design on caliper
>> Rigid CNC'd one piece caliper
>> Lightweight aluminium backed pads for X2 // Green Race pads for E4
>> Compatible with all current Tech 3 shifter mounts
>> Available in Silver, Black, Red, Blue, Orange & Purple
>> Available with black hose only
>> Weights without fluid: 182g for X2 // 236g for E4

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RRP
XCR PRO X2: £200.00 / €250.00 / $253.00
XCR PRO E4: £225.00 / €285.00 / $285.00

photo


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Reviews and Tech Press Releases Brakes Hope Hope Xcr Pro


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102 Comments
  • 42 3
 Have the XCR X2s on my hardtail and love them. Also a 6 year old set of T3E4s that is on bike number 4 and they still feel better than anything else I've used.

These are $25 less expensive than some Sram Level Ultimate Junk, I really don't know why anyone wouldn't just get these.
  • 5 5
 I’ll give u 50 for ‘em and a lil sack too
  • 1 1
 How's the bleeding process? Tools?
  • 6 1
 @FUbob: No tools, take off the top cap and tip dot oil in. Use a bit of old tubing to take the old oil away from the caliper end. Super easy.
  • 1 1
 @noahhowes: Thanks!
  • 10 1
 Sram needs to overcharge to support all their warranty claims. HOPE on the other hand puts out an honest, high quality product, made in the UK and they will sell you spare parts. I know which brand i'm supporting.
  • 3 0
 @FUbob: You use tools found in a regular toolbox to bleed. Not syringes and stupid fittings that change every few years (i.e. sram..)
  • 2 0
 @zyoungson: Couldn't agree more brother, been running the same Hope hubs and brakes since 2018. I perform basic annual maintenance and no issues to report!
  • 25 3
 What is it about Hope that seems to inspire such dramatic opposition of opinions; fanboys and haters in equal measure?

The Tech3 era of brakes worked really well when in fine fettle, they had an annoying habit of getting sticky pistons which was a pain, and certain pad choices are prone to getting a bit squeaky, but that's user fault.
The Tech4 generation have got some QOL changes to the lever end of things and they've clearly been working on fixing the sticky pistons at the callipers, this is just the rollout of this generation for an existing product line. There no imitation or corporate subterfuge going on, nor is it a gift sent from the heavens.
You can climb down off your soapboxes and high-horses folks. They're just brakes.
  • 3 4
 Agreed, my v4 worked good when they weren’t having piston issues. Would have to spend 30 minutes cleaning and centering otherwise. No more for me
  • 11 17
flag nickmalysh (Jan 19, 2024 at 15:16) (Below Threshold)
 I always surprised that people adore hope, they make colorful stuff which is cool, however would not say their products far superior then competitors within same price range.
  • 11 6
 It's usually the brands that are either truly crap, were crap in the past (Manipoo jokes), or have lots of fanboys (Apple) that get the harshest comments. Hope probably belongs to the latter. They make great stuff, but their fans often make you believe they make faultless godlike objects that are miles above other brands. This over-appreciation then gets over-criticism in response.
  • 4 3
 @Mac1987: I mean the tech 3’s stunk but they’re back on form with the new tech 4’s. They’re not faultless but they’re definitely up there as one of the best. Anything you buy will be made to the highest standard, probably last forever and if not backed up by incredible customer service. When it comes to places to spend your money you can do much worse.
  • 4 1
 @senorbanana: the new v4 is really good. So powerful if not too powerful for me! My mates just bought the tech4 v4 and they’re crazy strong. Make saints feel average. Too strong for me though.
  • 4 2
 @thenotoriousmic: sure, I agree they usually make excellent parts. I was just explaining the sometimes overdone extreme praise they get also results in the sometimes overdone extreme damnation they get in response. The two often go together. That doesn't take away from the quality they usually deliver.
It's a bit like iPhones. Apple makes excellent phones, but so does Samsung or Huawei. However, Apple fans sometimes pretend there's no other serious option, that Apple makes perfect phones, and everything else is total crap. This results in other people pretending everything Apple makes is total crap.
  • 6 1
 @nickmalysh: Really? Code RSCs look and feel like a child's toy compared to V4s, and don't work half as well
  • 6 1
 It probably has something to do with making very good products and and having one of the best, if not the best after market customer support in the industry. They support their products for years longer than the competition and most of their stuff is user rebuildable if there is a problem. Also it’s not all disposable junk like Shimano brakes which were always dirt cheap but no spares so once they start to go wrong they are destined for the landfill.

Something like that anyway.
  • 5 1
 @CustardCountry: yup, that's what made me a Hope fanboy. Got Mono 6s for a low price in 2018. I sent them for a service in 2019, 10 years after they were sold. Try that with Shimano.
On the downside: they were about as powerful as a 2-pot SLX from 2019. Big Grin
They look just much more dope, and since I added the Tech4 lever they are actually great.
Spent too much money on Hope brakes, but I would do it again.
  • 4 2
 "What is it about Hope that seems to inspire such dramatic opposition of opinions; fanboys and haters in equal measure?"

The dramatic opposition I think is a legacy from previous models/generations of Hope brakes. My experience is that previous generations stopped you fine until their limit, then they didn't. So if you weren't at their limit, they were great - lovely modulation, enough power. Over their limit, no amount of lever pull helped you stop faster.
  • 5 3
 They're SHINEY. The fanboys want to pretend the shiney wasn't what swung it for them and overstate the performance....the haters don't want to believe something so shiney could be good.
  • 2 2
 from what I read most people were happy they could buy spares for the brake they bought in 1995 I got my xcrs still in a box they were replaced by Magura Sl,s
  • 1 1
 @nickmalysh: I'm not a Hope fanboi. Never bought a Hope product before.
To me, the best brakes over the last 8 years or so have been Shimano XTR. IMO, nothing else comes close to the power, light action, and soft touch that describes an XTR brake.
Till now...
I went with Tech4V4s on my latest build and they are extraordinary. Take an XTR and add the most amazing progression I've ever felt in a brake, and you have the T4V4. The only issue is that they are very fiddly to adjust. You have to sight them in rather than the standard "loosen the bolts, squeeze the lever, tighten the bolts" that make Shimano so simple. Aside from that, they are a pretty much perfect brake.
  • 4 0
 @roxtar: you have to do that with all brake’s including Shimano. Shimano has loads of clearance so you can get away with just pulling the brake and tightening the calliper bolts especially with the two piston callipers but the calliper won’t be perfectly aligned, they’d still need a final tune like any other brake.
  • 2 1
 @thenotoriousmic: True but the difference is that Shimanos will actually work fine that way, even if the pistons aren't centered perfectly. Hopes will drag unless adjusted to the gnat's ass. There's just no room for error.
This was a problem for my wife, who has tiny hands and requires a very close lever. After much gnashing of teeth I finally gave up and put her back into XTRs.
  • 2 0
 It's not hope it's pink bike. It's the community this place attracts.

I remember in 2017-2018 everyone was all over mt5 brakes here. They are as good as saints, the levers are plastic but definitely don't flex they said. I spent 600 on them to get them imported from Germany. They were Flexi weak garbage. Now how are mt5s considered? Entry level $70 trash. You couldn't say a bad word about magura or mt5s here because Danny mac uses em. After all it was the same performance as the mt7 they said... Lol. The lack of objective reviews leads to a community that emulates.

This is why I started going to vital for product reviews. Seems much more oriented towards people my size, weight and age.
  • 1 0
 @roxtar: Still needs a final tune to get the absolute best out of your brakes. Couldn’t recommend it enough. Best way of telling if your calliper is perfectly aligned is to look down the rotor and pull the brake and if the rotor flexes your calliper isn’t straight and one of the pistons is hitting the rotor before others.
  • 2 0
 To me the selling point wouldn't necessarily be that they would be faultless (as I don't expect any product to be faultless) but just that they'll be able to provide you with replacement parts years down the line. So I suppose if you buy them once and you're happy with how they perform, you can keep them forever and might have to change some small parts every now and then. Not sure whether that'd be possible with the biggest OEM suppliers (Avid, Shimano and Hayes).
  • 1 0
 @vinay: while Hayes generally do pretty well in the spare parts department, I'm under the impression they're far from the third largest OEM brake supplier, with at least Magura and Tektro both being bigger.
  • 2 0
 @Mac1987: Fair. Tektro/TRP is probably the biggest out of all of them and obviously Magura is huge too as they properly and timely jumped on the e-bike train. Either way, I didn't intend to provide an exhaustive list. Just that brands who specialize and optimize for pumping out large quantities may not have efficient (hence worthwhile) logisitics to offer you every tiny component as a spare. I'm not too sure about the more recent MT series of brakes but Magura did indeed streamline their series into cleverly sharing calipers, reservoir caps etc between Gustav, Julie, Louise and Clara brakes (whereas Marta kept everything exclusively hers) but I think brands like Hope really go into the tiny stuff which the big OEM brands just can't deliver.
  • 18 8
 "maintains our simple bleeding process" uhhhh.... you mean the one where you have to take the reservoir cap off completely as opposed to just backing out a little screw and threading in a funnel? You know, the one where you have to fill the rez just right and then lay the diaphragm on just so gently and you still get the dot 5 rising over the ledge. I have Tech 3 on 2 bikes because I otherwise like them but please fix this with the next enhancement.
  • 33 29
 If you really struggle with removing one extra bolt and filling an open reservoir with fluid, you really shouldn’t be bleeding your brakes.
  • 33 5
 @TheGrey724: being annoyed at a procedure is not a lack of ability to conduct said procedure.
  • 11 16
flag TheGrey724 FL (Jan 19, 2024 at 16:19) (Below Threshold)
 @Saucyride: I agree, but he’s saying he spills DOT fluid everywhere and struggles with removing 2 bolts. Then claims his frustrations are the result of a poor design. I’ve had my V4s for 2 seasons now and have never struggled to bleed them.
  • 8 1
 @TheGrey724: I have been using Hope brakes for years now (on my gravel, DH, Enduro and DJ bikes) and won't buy anything else. I can safely confirm that the bleed process is simple, but compared to some of their competitors, it is shite...and so you can't put words in my mouth, what I'm saying is it's crude even when you use the Hope bleed kit! Smile
  • 1 1
 Hope should make their brakes compatible with the SRAM bleed kit which consists of two syringes and bleed adapters. Its much more thorough way of bleeding and less messier than taking reservoir cap off, then attaching your own tubing and syringe to bleed port on caliper. Usually harder to bleed rear caliper vs front since bleed port may not be at highest point depending on the frame and I find syringe method needed to remove tiny bubbles.
  • 6 2
 Are the carbon levers compatible with their tech series levers? A carbon lever for cold weather riding is much more comfortable...
  • 2 1
 They're not, the lever geometry is different.
  • 4 2
 That is the single most understated benefit of carbon levers. Years ago, I had tech v2s, with the aluminium lever with lots of cooling holes drilled in them, and would complain constantly about cold finger tips, my mate had avid elixirs with carbon levers, he would say, don't know what your whinging about, then I had a go on his bike and realised, his levers were literally 10° warmer than mine. Since then, I've always wanted carbon levers, but never been in the position to run them.
  • 2 1
 I found that dipping the lever blades in liquid polyurethane ("plastidip") takes the edge off the cold.
  • 3 1
 @The-Spirit-of-Jazz: did you ever just try gloves
  • 4 1
 @Compositepro: I tried dipping my hands in plastidip. It's annoying having to wait 12 hours for it to dry before setting out on a ride but boy does it work well.
  • 1 0
 Has anyone ever tried sugru or something like that?
  • 1 0
 @slimboyjim: lizard skins sell little stick on things, and you can get silicone brake lever sleeves on Amazon for like £3, the cheap sleeves are pretty good, only problem they make the hook a lot thicker so it bumps my knuckle, but that's still better than frozen finger tips.
  • 1 0
 @inked-up-metalhead: Cheers bud - I saw those but thought they might slip. They're pretty cheap though so I might have a punt! Better than potentially trashing a lever!
  • 1 0
 I scored some 6 pots from ages ago... put one on the DJ front and the other on the front end of my enduro.... works great as anyone can imagine. The best part is when people see them they trip out, they look like they belong on a MotoGP Bike. I'm all in for the hope family.
  • 5 5
 I tried Hope after hearing great things about the Tech 3 V4. I purchased a new set of Tech 4 V4 and they were awful. I had them bled 4 times by 4 different people/shops. Seemed ok at the shop, got to the top of the mtn, and nothing there. Impossible to get to work. Very frustrating. I didn’t have one good run with them. Sold them, bought Magura MT7 and they are amazing.
After reading some comments I see they had some issues unbeknownst to me…
  • 10 2
 I had two MT7s fail within the first two rides and Magura were a pain in the ass about it. Now Tech 4 V4s are going on my bike.
  • 3 4
 agreed, hopeless...
  • 3 2
 @Nobble: hmm it seems everyone has different experiences with any company. I have 3 bikes with mt7s for the past two years and only ever had 1 issue with a master early on. Sent them a photo showing no physical damage and had a new setup in a few days.

The only thing I wish they had was a more adjustable option for mounting shifters and dropper levers
  • 1 1
 So what was wrong with them, what specifically did not work?
  • 4 2
 The issue likely wasn't them needing a bleed then, if 4 different shops couldn't solve it by bleeding. Did you speak to Hope about it? Their customer service is by far the best I've ever experienced. Sounds like there was some other issue, which they would have fixed if you'd asked.
  • 4 1
 Hayes Dominion. Problem solved.
  • 3 2
 @ratedgg13: Only if the problem was "where can I buy brown brakes?"
  • 2 1
 @TimMog:... They also make them in black?
  • 2 2
 @GZMS: they lost all pressure once you started descending. They were grabbing fine at the shop, but as soon as gravity was involved the there was no lever pressure and they went straight to the bars. Every part of the system was checked for any issues or mistakes in install, nothing found.
  • 2 2
 @TimMog: that’s fair. No I didn’t contact Hope, after having them worked on so many times and losing riding time I didn’t want to lose more so moved on.
  • 3 4
 @TimMog: bleeding rarely ever is the issue and it wouldn’t have been with a new set of brakes with fresh dot oil, at the very most it would have needed a lever bleed. You’d only ever need to do a full bleed on a set of hopes once the dot fluid needs a refresh and that’s 12 months at the earliest in most cases. Unlikely to have two bad brakes, one possibly. Most likely explanation is it’s another pinkbiker who doesn’t know how to set up their brakes. Ironically if more people adopted the brake mounting system of the hb160 nobody would be able to incorrectly install their brakes and they would work much better.
  • 2 3
 @thenotoriousmic: "another pinkbiker who doesn't know how to set up their brakes" is unfair, as I said, many others with experience tried. Sounds like an issue with the brakes themselves. I've had shimano, sram, magura, and no issues. Wanted to try Hope, and they just didn't work out for me. Brakes were just not user friendly.
  • 3 2
 @bikerdre: my friend had this exact thing on both brakes! Sent them back to hope they sent them back a week later saying no issue found. The brakes have been perfect since. I’m guessing they fixed the issue but didn’t want to admit it. Either way they’re bang on now and insanely powerful.
  • 1 2
 @bikerdre: in my defence I did say that the mounting system on most brakes is overly complicated and if designed properly in the first place like the hb160 it would eliminate all chance of rider error.
  • 1 1
 I am wondering, for those two have tried both, how does the lever shape compare between the Tech4 and XCR pro? Any preferences?

I was planning on picking up a set of the Tech4s next month for a downcountry-ish build and the Tech 4 lever shape looked pretty big a lot less familiar to me compared to my old Hope X2 race brakes (which have a similar shape to XTR). I am assuming that is the reason for the increase in power?
  • 1 1
 Missed my edit window!
For those who*
  • 1 1
 The lever actually looks ok in the flesh. The lever being longer does increase mechanical leverage but the also changed the bore diameter in the master cylinder which is where most of the power comes from. They’re very powerful now compared to the tech 3 like twice the power!
  • 1 1
 @mikelee: are they grabby, like shimano?
  • 2 1
 @GZMS: no not grabby but very light actuation. The power is huge too. If you pull hard the front will lock up no problem. They have a soft action more like sram as opposed to the solid almost wooden feeling from shimano. The more you squeeze the power just keeps ramping up. Very impressive.
  • 1 0
 Weight without fluid, really Hope? it's like car weights without oil and fluids, what good is that when it can't drive without oil, its not a car then, it's a metal shed with wheels.
  • 4 2
 One of the worst things if not the only one of Hope's brakes... The ridiculous pad pin R clips!
  • 1 1
 Do these share top cap shape as tech 3, I ask because I have a cap adapter for t3’s that allows use of a shimano bleed cup
  • 4 6
 10% power increase is a bold claim. I wonder how they measured that.
  • 16 1
 prob made the lever even longer lol
  • 10 1
 hydraulic pressure, would be my guess.
  • 3 2
 Strain gauge measurement maybe. Those pesky strain gauges are everywhere.
  • 3 4
 Lots of marketing
  • 19 2
 Maths you tit.
  • 5 2
 Making a brake more powerful is not hard, they are pretty much just a lever. Pretty simple math on what lever length and piston size changes result in terms of braking force. (And not hard to come up with methods to measure braking force for a given force on the lever, really.)

The actual hard task is making a brake powerful but also consistent, that's the part that actually is interesting..
  • 1 7
flag Mtbdialed (Jan 19, 2024 at 16:42) (Below Threshold)
 @finnspin: theres other things you can do to make brakes much more powerful....think about the advent of power(vacuum originally) brakes on cars.....now go, how hard would it be to put a tiny brake booster on a MTB brake?
  • 5 2
 @Mtbdialed: really really difficult
  • 1 1
 @Mtbdialed: drank too many of your cocktails eh Nick? What a tool.
  • 2 1
 @Mtbdialed: you do know vacuum servos don’t actually increase overall system power too, don’t you?

When was the last time you suffered from an activation force too high on a mtb brake?
  • 1 2
 @justanotherusername: yes. they dramatically lower the input force from the operator. That is the point. same if you applied it to a MTB brake. if you can cut the input force needed at the lever by 1/4th, then you could ride steep, extended descents with zero hand/arm fatigue. Isn't that what everyone is after when they talk about power and modulation???
  • 1 2
 @atestisthis: we have electronic shifting and seat posts.....it's not nearly as difficult as you might suspect.
  • 3 3
 @justanotherusername: also, man do I get a kick out of how much I rustle your jimmies.....
  • 4 2
 @Mtbdialed: it would entirely remove the ability to modulate the brake as activation force isn’t an issue on mtb brakes and overall power wouldn’t be increased.

Mtb brakes are already hugely powerful, it’s often modulation and feel that’s hard to obtain.

There’s a reason 200bhp motorcycles don’t have vacuum assistance, it’s not because Nick the barman hasn’t let them know it’s a good idea yet either.
  • 2 1
 @Mtbdialed:
There are entire rigs available to test disk brakes that take all the subjective elements out.

This is a very good example. MBUK did a similar thing a few years
enduro-mtb.com/en/behind-the-scenes-disc-brake-group-test

Real world testing has it's place as well however things also become subjective and it is impossible to do blind testing.
  • 1 4
 @justanotherusername: yeah, because a 911 GT3RS has no modulation with its brake booster.


you are a complete f*cking moron that just can't stop arguing with me because you think you know who I am and someone disagreeing with you just bugs the living shit out of you.

I would ask if your mom had any kids that lived, but the answer is a resounding no.
  • 1 0
 @mark-p: this test has discredited itself, did you even look at the numbers?
  • 1 1
 @Mtbdialed: it’s a road car that weighs 1.4 tonnes you utter cretin, not a push bike that weighs 15kg.

Nick your forum name is literally your company name and you told me you are a world famous bartender, I didn’t make that up.
  • 1 0
 @justanotherusername: I love it! yes, my business name is my screen name. good catch! lol

but as far as the rest, its very obvious you have made some connection to someone else you clearly have a hard on for(not surprising, I have deduced that this is your personality....), and can't be dissuaded! so keep on keepin' on brudah!
  • 1 0
 @Mtbdialed: so this isn’t you?

find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13436638

www.portlandmercury.com/Feature/2013/11/13/10981790/hangover-helper

twitter.com/ConOat

‘Think freedom’ brah.
  • 1 1
 @Mtbdialed: your Instagram seems to confirm it is indeed you - unless there is another Nick Keane barman running another Mtbdialed that was in London listed on companies house but now isnt? That would be some co-incidence, huh ‘brudah!’
  • 2 2
 @justanotherusername: damn youre a stalker.. is that your fetish , or what?
  • 3 2
 @GZMS: don’t be jealous - if you want to be as much of a dick head as he is to other people you too can be treated the same.
  • 2 5
 bling but underpowered
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