Review: Oak Components Root Lever - An Aftermarket Upgrade for Magura Brakes

Mar 24, 2022
by Matt Beer  
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You may have flashbacks to the mid-2000s when Dangerboy CNC'd brake levers were all the rage, but the Oak Component's Root Lever does more than just look like a sculpted stick of aluminum. In addition to providing more adjustments to fine tune a broader lever throw distance and personalized pad bite point contact on Magura brakes, there are some structural bonuses built into the lever as well.

We've seen a number of World Cup teams, like Specialized Gravity, specifically select Magura's MT7 brakes as their top choice. The riders at Oak Components also prefer those brakes and set out to improve the stopping procedure by creating the Root Lever that works with any of the Magura MT Next master cylinder bodies.

Oak Root Lever Details

• Compatible with all Magura MT Next master cylinders
• Bite point and reach adjustments
• Anti-kink hose protection
• Black or silver anodized finish
• 100% made in Bavaria
• €148 per set
oakcomponents.de
Based in Bavaria, the startup tech company manufactures their own CNC components in house for an incredibly niche product, but builds an impeccably finished product that is available in two anodized colors for €148, per set.

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The Root Lever packs in all of the fine point adjustments.

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The spring wards off energy which could kink the hose at the lever body and is held in place by a small set screw on the additional barrel component.

Technical Details

Bite point adjustments can be cheated by manipulating the amount of brake fluid in a given reservoir, but that's not necessary with the Root Lever. Oak Components call this the Contact Point Adjustment or CPA - basically it's where the lever stops in the travel. A tool-free dial uses detents to set the lever in quarter millimeter increments that can be locked in place via a 1.5mm grub screw. On the back of the dial is a rod that pushes on the master cylinder plunger to moves the pads closer to or farther away from the rotor. The grooved outer edge of the round dial provides plenty of grip to turn, even with muddy or wet gloves on. The throw or Empty Path Adjustment (EPA) of the lever is another tweak that can be set with another screw of the same size and the hex key is included in the box.

You may also be drawn to the spring wrapped around the brake line - something you don't often see on mountain bike brakes. This mechanism relieves and dissipates energy that might be directed to bending the brake hose as it enters the lever body. To secure the spring in place, another one of those tiny grub screws runs through a separate barrel that first slides over the brake hose and butts up against the outside of the master cylinder, held in place by a third screw.

Lastly, Oak Components claim that the lever is stiffer than the stock Magura HC 1-finger lever and is also more resistant to bending in a crash. It's also a touch longer overall than the HC 1-finger lever and has a more pronounced square edge around the purchase area where you'll find further machining for extra grip.

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At this up-close angle, you can see how the CPA dial pushes on the reservoir.

Installation & Setup

To guide you through the installation, Oak Components has created a full tutorial video. Overall the process is fairly straightforward and doesn't require a full brake bleed.

Removing the stock lever is done with a couple gentle taps with a punch to push out the press fit pin with a low amount of force. The pin can slide through in either direction as both it and the lever bodies are symmetrical. The Root Lever can then be installed with little effort to push that pin back into place. Unbolting the lever body from the bar and placing it on a flat surface will be less finicky than trying to do it on the bike.

Next, unthread the compression nut and strip the squished olive to slide the spring and barrel over the hose, then replace everything in the reverse order, finishing with the spring and stopper barrel. Before you unthread the hose, it should be noted that you will need a new olive as the brake line needs to feed through the spring-securing barrel. It would be thoughtful if a new olive was also included with the purchase of the levers. On a side note, I have found that cutting the brake line, inherently making it shorter, isn't necessary if you can pinch the olive enough to split and break it off of the line.

Once you have everything assembled, start with where you'd like the pads to contact the rotor using the CPA, ie: how far away the lever is from the bar when the brake is fully engaged. From there, use the 1.5 hex key to dial in the levers to your desired maximum reach. Oak does include two of those tiny spares, but I did add Loctite to each of these minuscule grub screws for peace of mind. There is some overlap of how the two settings influence each other, so getting things just right takes a bit longer than a SRAM Code RSC brake set.

The range of adjustment can swing from nearly 25mm all the way in to 55mm from the bar with this ODI grip. It takes a little bit of mucking around to get things right, but ultimately, more options means more tinkering. For those who are very particular, they will be delighted to finally have their levers perch and engage at symmetrical distances. It's worth pointing out that the swing-out safety of the stock lever is also lost with the inclusion of the reach adjustment - those will only get you so far and I have never had a stock lever damage the master cylinder because of this.

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Loic Bruni s desired shape compared to MAGURA s HC1 lever shape.
The Root Lever is the same length as the stock Magura 1-finger blade, but straighter like the bronze coloured Loic Bruni signature lever.

Performance

The CPA dial is bar-none, the standout feature of this lever. One little dial that gives you the capability to totally sync the contact point of the brake engaging is a game changer. That also means you can make tweaks to the lever feel as the pads wear. I even had some other long-time Magura fans become startled by the crispiness of the Root Lever. Similar to Shimano brakes, the stock Magura free stroke dial has little effect on the system. Magura's HC3 lever provides this same action, but the usable range is much smaller and the lever blade shape is the most aggressive curve of the bunch.

We've seen some Magura riders, like Danny Hart opt for the longer 2-finger HC lever, which gives more leverage and less sensitivity. The Root Lever could be a good compromise for those riders who want a less curvy blade of the stock HC 1-finger option, but less travel than the 2-finger. I always got along well with the stock 1-finger levers and the only detail I noticed on the Root Lever was a more prominent square edge that your finger has to wrap around.

The protection features built into the component are also a highlighting design from Oak. During the test, I may have touched the dirt once or twice. There was solid evidence of the lie down since I had to scrape mud out of the CNC cut outs. Both the levers and the hose connections came out straight and unscathed, even after a serious tangle in some cleared brush. The ends of the levers are beveled nice and round, however the leading edge does have a sharper edge. I wouldn't call that a problem, but for safety's sake, taking a bit more material off might be worthwhile.

€148 sounds like a lot of cash for a pair of machined levers, but the functionality that the Root Lever brings to an already impressive set of Magura stoppers puts the whole package well above any combination of brake I've tried before. That goes for performance, workmanship, and design. Having that solid connection at each finger tip adds confidence and security of the feeling while braking. They also have zero slop and nothing will unwind or bounce around.

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There is roughly 30 mm of useable reach adjustment.



Pros

+ Wider range of tuning adjustments over stock levers
+ Solid construction with hose protection feature
+ Adjuster dials stay put

Cons

- Need to remove brake line to install system
- Lever blade might be too square for some riders' preference




Pinkbike's Take

bigquotesI've been a fan of Magura brakes for a long time and adding the Root Lever to the system raised their performance even higher. This niche product is on par for pricing with Magura's highly adjustable HC3 lever, but provides a more traditional lever shape. With the Contact Pad Adjustment, you can dial in where you want the brakes to engage on the spot without having to overfill the reservoir and keep that crispy feel for a longer period of use. Matt Beer


Author Info:
mattbeer avatar

Member since Mar 16, 2001
360 articles

145 Comments
  • 81 10
 Now plastic. someone could just do something about the rest of the thing being made of plasic.
  • 24 4
 Now you are not breaking the lever anymore, you're breaking the whole brake
  • 17 1
 @bashhard: ..and replacing it with some cheap Deore levers
  • 13 1
 @bashhard: aren't the majority of their lever blades already alloy? How will this change things?
  • 15 1
 I saw Bavarian and was thinking it would be creme filled.
  • 1 0
 @privateer-wheels: You are right.
  • 7 24
flag chrsei (Mar 24, 2022 at 14:47) (Below Threshold)
 There is an ingenious solution for this- don't use Magura brakes. The other advantage is that you also won't have to bring a torx wrench on your ride.
  • 21 0
 @chrsei: every multi tool worth its salt has a T25 in it. Why? Because rotor bolts.
  • 6 0
 @privateer-wheels: and SRAM lever bolts…
  • 27 1
 @chrsei: You can insert any brake company in place of Magura. All of them suck. Except the ones I run.
  • 8 0
 @singletrackslayer: said every pinker ever.
  • 8 3
 @chrsei: Magura brakes are seriously good. The MT7 is second only to the Trickstuff Maxima etc, but they have a lead time of 18 months. If you go to bike parks have ride 4-5 minutes + descents then powerful brakes really start to shine. I would buy again
  • 5 2
 @drjonnywonderboy: Only Magura calipers are seriously good, not the whole brakes
  • 4 0
 I run Shaguras for that reason. I was tired of their somewhat finicky master cylinder reliability. I had a string of MC failures, which Magura made good on through warranty. But after I snapped a MC on a log during a minor jibbing incident, I swapped to XT MCs and haven’t looked back. The Magura calipers are powerful and have large pads when paired with the CT levers they work incredibly well.
Also the Magura pads wear really fast, I’ve been using Koolstop pads and they last way longer.
  • 6 2
 Fiber reinforced plastics are actually great materials for applications that require light weight and high strength, while keeping costs fairly low Wink
  • 2 2
 @drjonnywonderboy: I sold my mt6 2 years ago, hope things have improved by now. I never got the lever adjusted to my liking and bleeding was messy and difficult. I also really did not like that I had to find a torx wrench each time I needed to adjust them. It was easy to crack the plastic lever screw housing by just tightening them a bit too much on one side sine the gaps are really small at the bracket. I replaced them with XT brakes and now servicing is nothing to get a headache about and they have the same bite. Still use the "royal blood" to prevent wandering brake points.
  • 1 0
 @Mountainbob: and are fantastic at keeping end user at close range so they can keep throwing money at things they didnt even think theyd have to in deyre last 20 something years riding and breaking stuff..
  • 63 3
 How is $148 for brake levers not a Con?
  • 94 0
 That would be a steal. They're €148.
  • 11 0
 @mi-bike: but they are made of aluminum
  • 4 1
 @mi-bike: This comment killed me
  • 6 1
 @bishopsmike They are an aftermarket component, like Magura's HC3 lever, which is a similar price.
  • 10 22
flag thenotoriousmic (Mar 24, 2022 at 14:00) (Below Threshold)
 Wouldn’t say it was a con. Small company, small batches. Time, tooling, materials and shipping etc price seems right just utterly pointless. Reason people buy magura is because they’re really good for how cheap they are but nobody’s going to buy a magura brake plus replacement lever blades that they need to fit themselves when they can just go buy a set of codes instead, have a better brake that they don’t have to mess with and probably works out cheaper anyway.
  • 31 6
 @thenotoriousmic: to replace mt7 with codes you must be crazy
  • 8 0
 @NicolaZesty314: I have to admit my new toy which is kind of a trial on bang for buck biking came with codes I gave them the benefit and they were ok however they have been removed and replaced with mt5s and erm well the codes are designed to the parts bin
  • 2 6
flag thenotoriousmic (Mar 24, 2022 at 15:07) (Below Threshold)
 @NicolaZesty314: Doesn’t have to be codes can be pretty much every other brake that some how manages to design a working lever. I just said codes because they’re the most popular brake despite being way more expensive.
  • 3 0
 @mattbeer: MSRP on the HC3 levers, which I highly recommend, is $125....PER LEVER. lol
  • 3 2
 as someone who is in the composite manufacturing industry, I could make these out of carbon fibre, lighter and stiffer, and sell them for 50 euro +/-, maybe my profit margins wouldn’t be “massive”, but it would be accessible
  • 9 0
 @theoskar57: do it then
  • 3 1
 When a shredder PB editor claims it’s the best brake performance and feel ever, maybe worth it? Definitely pay to play.
  • 5 0
 @mtb-thetown: you know what, I may actually make these, just to prove these guys wrong lmao, give the pinkers a discount
  • 3 0
 @theoskar57: take my money
  • 1 0
 @mattbeer: You can order Magura levers from Germany for $30 for the HC-W, and stock, or $50 for the HC-3. A set of MT5's is $160 and MT7 $320 (2 sets). Stock pads are almost $40 here, and $15 from Germany. The price Magura charge here is crazy, the mark up is nuts. The safety tab on the levers break just by looking at them, broke without crashing, and the third broke the tab and return spring, leaving the stock lever flapping. MT7's were made in Germany, sadly no longer... Rant over, I still use MT7's on my FS bike and MT5's on my hardtail, love the power and modulation, no intention of switching them out.
  • 52 12
 The one brand that offers multiple lever options, and some Germans are like "This lever shape is not precisely what we want. We must make an expensive machined version that is just a little different."

Sheesh.
  • 10 0
 Not just Germans. I tried every Magura lever and while they were all pretty good, I didn't really find any of any of them that comfortable.
I'd be keen to try these, but don't want to punt €148 just to try them.
Am on a Shigura setup now and really really like it.
  • 49 4
 @wyorider, I don't see how having another option is a bad thing. If a company thinks they can improve on an existing product, why not?
  • 11 29
flag rtclark FL (Mar 24, 2022 at 12:16) (Below Threshold)
 I'll give you 148 reasons why not. If the company determines this is the price they need to sell it for to make a profit, maybe they shouldn't produce it.
  • 11 0
 I wanted to not like the Magura one finger levers after a long winded visual evaluation and 8mph parking lot test, but don't notice the levers at all while riding on a trail. They work fantastic as brakes and stop the bike on a dime! Adjust the position and reach to your personal preferences and go ride before you get too hung up on lever aesthetics. Your amazing mind can quickly adapt to the 1/8" lever position difference and you might decide to save 148 euros in the process. That's what happened to me anyways Big Grin
  • 1 1
 @rtclark: I would say... if they need to sell it for this much and they do sell.... why wouldn't they... I suspect they will not sell enough volume though to be a big money maker. It also wouldnt have taken too much effort to draw this one up and machine. Otherwise we would have seen a long story about iterative testing and 3d prototyping to find the perfect feel etc...
  • 2 1
 I love ze germans
  • 4 2
 @mikekazimer: They first need to improve the terrible plastic master cylinder so it doesn't break when you look at it sideways

edit: i used mt7 mt5 and mt trail and all my issues was from master cylinders .
  • 4 9
flag wyorider (Mar 24, 2022 at 13:27) (Below Threshold)
 @mikekazimer: false choice. A product that adds confusion to the purchasing process without adding any meaningful change/improvement. That’s what’s wrong.

The best analogy I can give is the cereal aisle in a grocery store. The actual choices/differences are small to meaningless, yet we as consumers are overwhelmed by the sheer number of boxes with the same crap in them.

Trickstuff brakes are expensive and fussy, but at least an actual alternative to the other products on the market.

A third (or fourth) lever option for Maguras when you can also pair their calipers with Shimano levers isn’t offering meaningful choice.
  • 1 0
 @rtclark: have you seen what Magura charges for their other levers??
  • 9 1
 @Noeserd: Should we talk about torque specs of the levers?

Been riding them for years, had pretty epic crashes and nothing wrong with the brakes. How exactly you guys manage to break them?
  • 2 0
 @hirvi: One friends mt7s reservoir exploded from the side, one friends mt7s reservoir had some sort of issue that no matter how perfect the bleed was brake lost pressure after repetative braking i have a video in my profile for it, my mt7s lever blade joint point became loose after few months of usage, one of my friends mt5s both lever blades broke,interestingly from the same spot. and so on
  • 2 0
 @mikekazimer: I’ll be honest, I came expecting the first couple comments to mention DangerBoy, leaving very disappointed@
  • 1 0
 @Jonesey23: this is the way
  • 1 0
 @Jonesey23: Feel ya man, I just got MT Trail SL's and they are so good once I got the bleed right, but the levers just feel too thick. great shape, just chonky. miss the shimano levers and might just shigura...do you use a servo wave lever tho?
  • 2 0
 @wyorider: what are you talking about... did you read any of it? Working bite point is a HUGE upgrade. It's expensive and wether or not it's worth it is a different discussion but there is definitely a tangible performance difference.
  • 2 0
 @dontcoast: Yeah, my levers are servo wave. You notice it during setup but not on the trail.
I use the Shimano barb and olive too, because I figure that's what the lever is designed to mate with. No issues
  • 2 0
 @Jonesey23: thank, I'll try it Smile
  • 17 4
 "Magura" in the article title = Run to the comments section to see how filled it is with keyboard jockeys ranting about "plastic this", "too many lever options" that, "how could someone ever pay this much (for a custom aftermarket part)" ReeEEEEeeE. Did not disappoint!
  • 13 1
 Outstanding. Love the MT7s. I was a long time Saint fan but mt7s came standard on my cannondale and in the 15 months I have had them I have become an unabashed fan. Can't imagine using anything else now and the thought of making them even better is just mouth watering. Always gotta be improving your ride right? Price be dammed. If I was budget conscious i wouldnt buy soft compound tyres.
  • 1 0
 What really kills me is the cheap quality of the Magura hose. It kinks more easily than any other hose I've seen from basic Tektro to Bh59 to Bh90 to Hope to even old Hayes. I don't recall Formula hoses but I feel like I would remember if they were as dogshit as the Magura hoses.
  • 1 0
 @gbones: formula feels odd in your hands but works pretty good
  • 12 2
 Magura brakes aren’t as flimsy as people think they are. I’ve been running the mt5 for over two years. Had some otbs in rock gardens and no damage to the levers. You can break any lever. Have seen plenty of broken alloy levers
  • 4 0
 YMMV. Don’t get me wrong I love my MT5s too but I’ve broken two of them. Lever blade is fine but the plastic body is the failure point.
  • 1 1
 @jalopyj: 5 year leak warranty! worst they can say is no, plus they are rather inexpensive to replace just the master if they do make you buy it
  • 3 0
 On mine the return spring on the lever broke suddenly and the lever swinged out of my reach.. fun times on trail...

After it happened for 2nd time, I lost all the trust in the levers. Their price is also laughable for the "quality".

I'm on shigura for over a year now, and so far so good. The XT complete lever body is less than just the lever from Magura and much higher quality.
  • 2 0
 @jalopyj: how tight do you run them? Leave them lose enough that they can move in an impact. Same as dirt bikes. I love the plastic body and funky screws for this reason. You can leave them so loose.
  • 2 0
 @stubs179: This. With yet another added benefit being you can adjust the angle of your levers before riding a steeper or more mellow trail. And easily re-adjust without tools after a crash..
  • 10 0
 Sweet. Now do XT levers. Up until a few years ago, I still had a set of Hayes Purples with Dangerboy levers hanging in the shed. Those things were mint.
  • 1 0
 Hayes Purple?
  • 2 0
 The rear winner here would be if someone did inexpensive levers for the Touring lineup, which are basically XT Race levers but with heavier metals. I've been rocking a set of BL-M4100 Touring levers with Zee calipers and aside from the larger lever, they feel no less powerful than the ServoWave levers.
  • 2 0
 Never knew those were called Purples, super cool tidbit there man, thank you!
  • 2 0
 @sherbet: Purple Hayes.... get it.
  • 2 0
 I just ordered these after one of my XT levers completely folded up after the bike tipped over in the garage. I was honestly shocked when I got to the trails and discovered the damage. Terrible design. These levers get great reviews, excited to try and the folding design should be industry standard.

flomotorsports.com/products/copy-of-beta-brake-lever-1
  • 1 0
 @cmb47: I knew these levers were fragile but that's crazy! Those looks pretty sick. Hopefully, they don't flip out of the way with a little pressure while braking. Interested to hear a report.
  • 11 0
 I haven't looked at a single brake related component and thought "I want that" since getting a set of Hayes Dominions.
  • 3 0
 Crosshair adjustment for the win. If and when my Zee brakes bite the dust, these will be my next brakes. Really looking forward to not having sudden loss of pad friction after not riding for a couple of weeks.
  • 3 0
 @Mac1987: Hayes are my favorite brakes too. I wish they had some bigger disc options though (220 mm at least).

Much better than zees. Very consistent
  • 1 0
 @mdinger: I'm running 220 magura mdrp rotors with mine no real issue. Initially there's a touch of rub that's hard to get rid of but after pads were just a touch you reset the pistons and are good to go.
  • 8 0
 To everyone complaining about breaking their "plastic" masters now, PLEASE run your brakes looser.. they dont need to be hulk strength tight on the bars. keep them just tight enough to stay in place while riding, but loose enough to be rotated from a crash or firm push with the fingers. you'll save yourself a lot of hassle. (as someone who's been running magura since 2019)
  • 1 0
 100%. I actually like the funky wood screws because they don’t loosen so you can leave the clamp pretty loose without worry.
  • 7 0
 Being a Magura brake fan I like the option this presents. I wonder if the same bite point adjustment could be done with a longer screw type solution, obviating the need for a complete lever replacement.
  • 5 0
 I like the standard Magura lever shape but I've broken the plastic contact pad adjustment knobs on two sets of MT-7s. I assume I did it in crashes but never noticed at the time; I just have 4 different brake levers with the knobs in varying states of disrepair.

Otherwise, my favorite brakes to date. Is Shigura the best long term solution?
  • 4 0
 Pretty solid lever for a pretty unsolid master cylinder.

Interessing combination. The problem with Magura is not that the levers break a lot but that the membrane where the lever pushes against the master cylinder becomes leaky.

Even though the 5 years warranty is a game of chance anyway using a non-Magura lever won't make it better and the MT7 master cylinder is rather expensive.
"Worst they can say is no" ... + the dealer charges you for handling the non-warranty case (yes, that actually happend in the past)
  • 5 0
 how about not making plastic bleed caps instead and replacing those garbage carbo-tecture mountings held together with wood screws?
  • 1 0
 if they only made them cnc alu instead of carbotecture, perfect brake
  • 7 2
 So instead of breaking just the stock plastic lever, you just break the entire master cylinder and reservoir instead. Nice.
  • 3 0
 Hey, do you want flimsy brake levers or not? Make up your mind! ( ;-) )
  • 1 1
 Magura's lever blades are aluminum and the lever body is Carbotecture, as they explain in their FAQs.

Any brake could fail from an impact. Are you over-torquing the fixing bolts?
  • 5 3
 Yes, they are pricey but worth every euro. I've been riding with them for a couple of weeks now and the feeling is a lot better than the stock MT7 HC levers (that broke within a couple of weeks Frown ). No more play up and down, a more secure feeling and you can't push them forward like the Magura's.

Oh and they look awesome Smile

ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb22100881/p5pb22100881.jpg
  • 3 0
 What's wrong with being able to push the lever forward? I thought that was a safety feature, preventing the mechanism from failing when getting hit.
  • 2 0
 @Mac1987: The problem (with my lever) was that this 'feature' broke the spring inside the lever. I had to tyrip the lever stuk to the metal inside part to continu my ride in Luxemburg. This won't happen again with the OAK's.

It may be for preventing something other to break, but the downside is that another part broke off.
  • 3 0
 @Mac1987: agreed, although one "flick" of the lever will break the tiny aluminum stop and then your lever is free float on the spring. one bad push and youll go too far forward dislodging the spring from the lever then now your lever is a dead fish unless you can get the spring back in place (hard to do, not impossible)
  • 2 1
 I can't believe someone who actually has them and is informed gets down voted.
  • 2 0
 @mtb-thetown: Haters gonna hate I guess Smile Most part of this tread is bashing on Magura and not much on the actual topic.
  • 7 2
 If you use these, the number of quality parts in your pair of magura brakes increases to 2.
  • 1 0
 After 1.5 seasons with MT7's, the only component that didn't fail/break was the levers. Faulty caliper piston o-ring, leaking bleed port due to powder coating, banjo fitting failed, hose kinked, master cyl stripped bar clamp in light crash, another hose failure, numerous bleeds and failed olive seals.
  • 2 0
 I do miss the aftermarket brake lever scene from the mid 2000's. I loved my Avid Juicy with Dangerboy levers, and Goodridge braided lines. They were mounted to white Chromag handle bars, that matched my white Marzocchi fork and white Kona pedals. We're talking peak 2000's here.
  • 2 0
 Fitted these myself a couple of months ago when the standard levers went wobbly. I've been very impressed by the performance. My only wish would be that the kit included an olive and barb for the hose, as they are nessesary for the install.
  • 1 0
 It solves breaking levers, but the master assembly, the main part of the brake, is still made of carbotecture. I always get problems with everything getting large amounts of play or leaking pistons (in the lever assembly, the brake pistons are superb).Last time I calculated me and my wife had 9 assemblies replaced in 14 years (4 bikes).

I love how they feel initially, but this rate of failure is way too high.

.
  • 1 0
 Might save a couple of extra bucks to try these out this season! I'm loving my MT-7's except the lever... For all the people complaining about fragile Magura brake levers. Why not run the torque spec for the brake lever clamp backed off a touch, so your brake lever will move in a hard crash.
  • 2 1
 Can we at least mention that pushing the cylinder in closes of the connection to the reservoir and can cause the brake to lock up when getting hot or completly fail when the pads wear to much?!
this lever is a real safty hazard
Also for 150€ you get aluminum rubbing on steel. pretty sure igus is still in business, so why don't they put some bushings in there?
  • 1 0
 Never have any problem with magura apart from the bite ponit, the front brake always have a shorter bite point, the only way to fix this is to overfill the rear brake and not always fix, with oak root lever i can have front and rear with the same feel and bite point. I paid 148 euro and sell the original in 70 so it's cheaper than u think and the feel it's like Shimano. Huge fan of root lever from !
  • 2 1
 Until this article, I didn't know I need an aftermarket brake lever.... AFTERMARKET BRAKE LEVER... but hey... nothing seems stupid anymore after kashima coated bike rack and bike stand with a lift Big Grin
  • 2 0
 Honestly the levers are the worst part about Magura brakes. This may be the solution many people are looking for that run Shimano levers on Magura calipers.
  • 3 0
 Can we just get moto style brake master cylinders yet? I'll gladly take the weight penalty.
  • 1 0
 Asked them about shipping to the USA, and said they don't offer that option, but I could order from one of the online German shops for 60Euro shipping. NO THANKS
  • 2 0
 Just checked, it's actually 30Euro now an no VAT from R2 bikes.
  • 1 0
 Been using Maguras for 4 years now. their upgrade single finger HC levers for 3. I really haven't found anything I've disliked about them. How is 148 eur justified?
  • 1 0
 The HC3 levers feel spongy after long descents to me. The power and modulation of the maguras are awesome, but the lever feel never seems just right to me. I much prefer a shimano lever feel or even code RSC. The MT7 maguras are better brakes in my opinion. If this helps hone that power in and customize it could be worth it. But I doubt I’ll be trying any time soon lol.
  • 1 3
 So I finally saw a Beta article I wanted to read, by martin whitley, about why there are so few American World Cup races. Despite being behind a paywall, its trivial to access the full content. Most publications only load a preview, so you can't access it no matter your wizardry, but for SEO reasons Beta is sending you the entire thing (They want all the content to show up in the LD+JSON Schema.org tag, specifically for the hasPart.cssSelector ). Not sure its the best way to get that SEO juice, as you can just put the entire text content in the sitemapxml instead (still accessible, but harder and not readable-friendly).
  • 2 1
 Thanks but can you say that in non stream of consciousness English please? Like is there a way to read the content without subscribing or not?
  • 1 0
 @tcmtnbikr: Yes, you use the browser developer tools, but I'm not going to screw with Beta's business just because I can.
  • 2 0
 Put browser into reader view @tcmtnbikr:
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: if they are sending you the data (to improve their metrics, at your expense), is it unethical to read it?
  • 1 0
 @mtb-thetown: no, but I'm not going to tell the whole world. As a courtesy. It sounds like mtb Scotland has a solution for some browsers
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: seems fair. I (happily) pay for Beta so its just funny to me
  • 1 0
 @tcmtnbikr: "Like is there a way" is poor English. At least he was not using "like" every other word as many people do now.
  • 3 1
 Or you could just buy any other brake where the levers feel right.
  • 2 0
 Magura MT5 set - 150eu or you get 1 lever Big Grin DD useless
  • 2 1
 Just buy some shimano slx or xt levers for £60/£80.
Easier bleeding also and I personally love the latest shimano levers
  • 1 0
 The best part of my MT5's is the Shimano XT's levers!
Love thoose Frankenbrakes Big Grin
  • 1 0
 now they just have to make the rest of the lever into aluminum so we can finally throw all that plastic in the bin
  • 2 0
 Razor Rock...
  • 2 0
 A blast from the Kooka Arrow Racing time machine.
  • 4 3
 is it just me or is that lever blade cracked? maybe mud?
  • 2 0
 certainly looks like that...and its in all of the photos. @mikekazimer can you provide any insight?
  • 1 0
 I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Maybe it didn't do well on the huck to flat test.
  • 5 0
 @rockchomper It's just some muddy water that dried under the lever body.
  • 1 0
 About 8 days too early....
  • 1 0
 These look awesome! May upgrade my MT8’s at some point.
  • 1 1
 WHY DONT THAT MENTION YOU CANT BUY THESE IN THE US! I tried want them so bad!
  • 1 0
 Okay? $200+ shipped to US...
  • 1 0
 Knot a fan of the company name
  • 1 0
 @BikesBoatsNJeeps: try MTX Gold labels. highly recommend!
  • 1 0
 can they make some levers for the new hope tech 4s please???
  • 1 1
 Looks like a Se... Hope Brake
  • 1 2
 No way I would put that horrific looking thing on my Magura brakes. Happy with the way they are.
  • 1 1
 Brake lever for dentists Big Grin
  • 1 1
 Still not sold in North America. Good job Pink Bike.
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