The Mono caliper is machined from single billet of 2014 T6 aluminium offering unrivalled stiffness and enhanced lever feel. It uses the Mini lever with a fixed caliper housing two opposing pistons. Caliper pistons contain stainless steel inserts to isolate the caliper from the heat generated in the pads. An open system allows for automatic pad wear adjustment and enables the brake to handle the highest temperatures without “pump-up”.
Submitted by
DianeWong
a Cross Country Rider
from poway,CA,USA
Date Reviewed: October 23, 2010
Strengths: Outstanding fit and finish. They modulate well with adequate power and have had no issues in over six years.
Weaknesses: None for me...expensive?
Bottom Line:
I must give credit where credit is due, the Mono Minis have been a good solid trouble free brake. I liked them so much on the '04 bike, that I purchased another set in '07 for the SS. Last month I picked up a new '09 Titus FTM and transferred the rear brakes from the '04 bike over to it. I opted for a new set of Hope X2race brakes for the new post mount fork. I ride my bikes hard but I don't abuse them(although I did crack a rigid fork this summer!). For me at 200+lbs.,the Mono Minis have been excellent
Bike Setup: '04 Titus Swichblade, '07 custom steel Strong rigid SS,
'09 Titus FTM running Mono Minis on all of them(except for HopeX2race on front of the FTM
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Submitted by
irideablackbike
a Weekend Warrior
from Ann Arbor
Date Reviewed: March 15, 2010
Strengths: Fantastic looks, great power, excellent modulability, easy to maintain, light weight.
Weaknesses: The reservoir leaks, but I think it's due to a bad gasket.
Bottom Line:
I got these brakes dirt cheap and I love them. Here's the thing though, I thought they sucked until I spent some time on them. I bled them and dressed the pads and cleaned the rotors and they are fantastic. They stop on a dime, they modulate really well and they have good power. We'll see how well they last over the year as far as maintenance.
Similar Products Used: juicy 5, juicy 7, shim xt, bb7
Bike Setup: Sette Reken, White Brothers fork, Monkey Bar, X9 derailleurs, x7 shifters, thomson seat post, FSA XC-300 wheels, 990 cassette, Karma Tires.
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Submitted by
Kufsteinlied
a Cross Country Rider
from Kufstein, Austria
Date Reviewed: December 12, 2009
Strengths: Nice progressive lever feel (PRO lever); Original organic pads last very long, easy bleeding, nicely machined
Weaknesses: Very low braking power (you always need 2 or 3 fingers, not really suitable for longer downhill runs in the alps), relatively loud, excess DOT drops out of calliper bleed nipple direcly onto pads, pads only exchangeable after wheel or calliper removal
Bottom Line:
Looks nice, but the braking power is really low. I tried all kinds of pads, but Hope organic stays the "best". Still it worked without major incident over 5 years on my touring bike.
I strongly recommend to choose the M4, even if you are a CC rider! The M4 is the much much better brake.
Bike Setup: Simplon Hardtail w/ Hope Mono Mini 2004, 180/160mm rotors
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Submitted by
Andrew Perez
a Cross Country Rider
from New Zealand
Date Reviewed: December 2, 2009
Strengths: Great braking power, Very reliable, looks good, worth every Dollar,
Bottom Line:
You wont regret buying Hope mono mini, as long as you do it right when you do your maintenance work on this brake and follow what the manuals instruction it wont let you down.
Bike Setup: Specialized Epic FSR 2003, Tune hubs, Deore XT FC-M770 crankset, Cris King bottom bracket and heatset
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Submitted by
Mark Doyle
a Cross Country Rider
from England
Date Reviewed: July 2, 2009
Strengths: Theese brakes look fantastic.
Weaknesses: Lack of consistent performance.
Bottom Line:
Some may think that buying a pair of disk brakes of ebay isn't too clever, but these were in fantastic condition. I put the brakes on the bike and was seriously disappointed by the braking power when compared with my Avid V-brakes. I could grab the levers either front or back and still pedal. I have since blead the brakes, changing the fluid to Dot 5.1 and put on new Superstar pads both front and rear and completed approximately 200 miles. There performance has improved but the don't feel as though they have fully bedded in. It even seemed that the performance changed over night. When I compare my girlfriend's v-brake which are xtr levers with Avid ultimate V's I am seriously disappointed by the performace of the Hopes even in the wet. The brakes have develop some feel and bite but are no where near the feel and bite of the V's. I am going to keep fettling with them but it is all getting a bit silly.
Submitted by
martylane
a Cross Country Rider
from chico, calif., usa
Date Reviewed: May 20, 2009
Strengths: Very reliable, little maintenance required; do not lock-up due to overheating even on long long descents; minimal size, great high-tech looks; affordable
Weaknesses: Not very powerful, modulation not all that great.
Bottom Line:
I've been very happy with the reliability of these brakes, and the fact that they require little to no maintenance. Modulation and power is not so great -- really, the Avid rim brakes I had on my bike before had better power and feel. Power is "single digit" sufficient, though, so it's not like the brakes don't stop. I have Avid bb5 on a 29r, and they perform better in terms of modulation. These brakes could probably do with a larger front rotor, though you'd lose the minimal setup. Bottom line: performance is good for xc use; reliability, low maintenance, and minimal size make them worth having.
Similar Products Used: Hayes hfx-9 xc, avid bb7, avid bb5
Bike Setup: Specialized Epic, 160 rotor front, 140 rotor rear
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Submitted by
TBest90662
a Cross Country Rider
from Foothill Ranch, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: December 21, 2008
Strengths: Great modulation and lever feel. Extremely smooth feel and maintenance free. Brake pads/rotors appear to be less susceptible to contamination...especially when compared to the Avid line of hydraulic brakes. Floating rotors help reduce brake fade and do look nice... especially when one takes advantage of custom colors (rotor hat, piston bore caps, etc.).
Weaknesses: Bleeding must be done properly or you will trap air in the master cylinder.. I highly recommend reviewing the Hope technical video for bleeding. There's one very important step in the bleed (towards the end) that will guarantee 100% consistent performance (properly 'rolling the diaphragm' on).
Bottom Line:
Best quality brake I've ever used with decent power (not the most powerful cross country brake). However, note that I use them on my 6" travel trail bike (7" rotor front, 6" in back) and have had no problems (I weigh 145 lbs though).
Similar Products Used: Avid Juicy & Elixirs, Magura Marta SL, Shimano XTR, etc.
Bike Setup: Specialized Enduro SL, 27.4 lbs, XT, XO, Roval Traversee' wheels. Hope Mono Mini brakes with Ti hardware package.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Stan
a Weekend Warrior
from Derbyshire
Date Reviewed: November 16, 2008
Strengths: very easy to bleed, good modulation, quite nice looking.
Weaknesses: pump, lever needs ajusting quite alot (ajuster screw seems to slack of)and braking power is inconsistent relative to whether ie: quite bad role through in the wet. not overly powerful.
Bottom Line:
quite nice, a little disapointed though, almost had some bad accedents due to role through (I know how to keep the pads and rotors clean so its not that)and the pump is quite bad, not through doing masive decents or anything like that realy just a good raz through the woods seems to do it, the lever dipresses right to the bar some times with out any stoping power at all, a few moments of pumping the lever and ther back . I bleed them regulary so I dont know why it happens, when they work there good but I've used better, the jucys and the formulas are sweet! I'm going to try XT 775 now, I've herd there very good.
Similar Products Used: avid jucy 7, hayes stroker trail, hayes nine, formula oro
Bike Setup: charge ti blender, marzochhi wc 4x forks, bulbs on 729's truvative and xt groop set
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Submitted by
dirtysac
a Cross Country Rider
from Yorkshire
Date Reviewed: October 25, 2008
Strengths: Awesome Power, look very cool, very light
Weaknesses: crap standard bolts
Bottom Line:
I went from M4's to new mono mini's not be pure choice but for other reasons. I am mega impressed. They have as far as I can tell the same stopping power as M4's, they never pump up, they just try to put me over bars everytime, they are awesome. Granted there must be some difference between M4's and these but I honestly can't tell. I have never ever run out of power or brown'd my pants with these babies.
I do downhill my bike and race on europes most severe runs and I do very well with out a so called downhill bike, I also XC and enduro. I only have 5" of travel and don't run six pots these do the job and save me a bucket load of weight. My bike is throwable without being 40+lbs infact its less than 23lbs with 5" of travel F/R. So downhill boys you can kiss behind because I beat you down the hill in 90% of all cases, fact. My race results prove that.
I may ride a USA designed bike built in Taiwan but the brakes are UK designed and built and nothing USA designed or built comes close.
Just try them and you will understand, we may dumb brits but we know how to stop and we know how to make things light.
Strengths: Great XC brake!! Never had a single glitch. Nice singlr finger modulation. Look very Cool. They will stop a lighter guy on a XC bike on a dime!
Weaknesses: Havent found any yet
Bottom Line:
Brlliant if used what its intended for!! Not for DH or FR. Has saved my butt many times. Keep themm clean, change the pads before they are toast and they will keep functioning virtually mantance free. Love them!!
Submitted by
MRFIX
a Cross Country Rider
from Israel
Date Reviewed: June 10, 2008
Strengths: Looks nice, light
Weaknesses: Unfortunately, during the last 28 months that I own them I am facing allot of problems with the Hope mono mini breaks getting in and out of service:
• front brake was locked several times – not during riding, took the bike off the car, got on my bike and the wheel did not role (I do not take the wheel off during transportation).
•rear break got 3 times over heated and locked during XC ride.
•Twittering Sounds from the brakes on regular basis.
•Rear brake does not provide breaking power.
I must say that every ride I am terrified "what will be this ride with the hope mono mini".
Bottom Line:
Got in and out from sevice, emailed hope several times but no comments from them.
Got some info that the 2008 Min are OK but not sure If this is the right place to put my $$$$ after bad experiance
Submitted by
Mr Fix
a Cross Country Rider
from Israel
Date Reviewed: June 10, 2008
Strengths: Lookes nice, very light
Weaknesses: I am the owner of 2 sets of Hope mono mini 2006.
Unfortunately, during the last 24 months that I own them I am facing allot of problems with the Hope mono mini breaks:
front brake was locked 4 times – not during riding, took the bike off the car, got on my bike and the wheel did not role (I do not take the wheel off during transportation).
rear break got 3 times over heated and locked during XC ride.
Twittering Sounds from the brakes on regular basis.
Rear break does not provide breaking power.
Bottom Line:
Emailed hope several times to get some service but no comments, put the breakes for service several times but the problems came back.
Friends says that the 2008 Mini are ok but not sure based on the past, if this is the right thing to do with my $$$$$
I've had lots of issues with my two sets of Magura Martas. Granted both sets were purchased used and fairly cheaply, so I wasn't expecting perfect brakes. One set has a great wor Read More »
Hey all,
Looks like my Mono Minis are about due for a rebuild. Looks reasonably easy to do, so I'm just going to do it myself.
Is there any source of that funky bore tool oth Read More »
Hello all,
I had a run in with a tree a few weeks back where my bars got turning around and haven't had a working rear brake since.
I'm running hope mono minis. The leak app Read More »
old 07's with shims sadly, only had them a few weeks at first no real issues nice brakes.
Thursday the front brake starting dragging badly, the pretty much locked on till th Read More »
Just like the title says... the retaining pin is definitely not sliding out, with any ease anyway. I've put some serious "pull" on it too, nothing. Any suggestions? Should I try Read More »
