Solid performance, light weight, easy installation, adjustable lever throw, adjustable pad play, flip lever, super braking power, modulation, two piston caliper, DOT 4 brake fluid, no squeak after bed-in and proper adjustments.

Organic pads are good for casual riding and trail riding, but fade severely when heated during long steep downhills. Replacement and aftermarket pads are not in stock at most local bike shops. The Formula brand is not stock on most facory bikes. Therefore, parts are harder to find.

Super stopping power from cold to severely heated. Braking performance is very consistant. The lever always has a solid feel and modulation. The braking system allows for instant reaction to wheel lock up to rolling. This is essential for maximum braking power without flipping over. It is a brake system that build high levels of confidence. When you need brakes now, it's there, instantly. Smooth braking, does not grab, very controllable. My only weakness observed was the stock brake pads. The pads are great for most cross-country and trail riders. However, if a rider rides fast, more aggrssively, heavy, or in any of these combinations, the pads do not bite enough when hot. Additionally, the stock organic pads do not last a whole season of riding. Within a couple of months, the wear is excessive. I replaced the stock organic pads with EBC Gold series pads. The braking is even stronger and the wear is now under control. Time will tell, but so far the wear rate should be more that a couple seasons of riding.

Once you get used to the brake bleeding process, it is quite straight forward and only takes serveral minutes. As long as you do not open up the sealed system, it does not require frequent bleeding like other brands. Maintenance is very typical with disc brakes. Wash and rinse the dust from the caliper and discs. Prevent any contamination from getting onto the disc or pads. Parts are found mostly on-line and the pricing is reasonable.

Typical rides are in a excess of 1500 feet of decents. I bought this system because it was a 2009 model and was not the current product lineup for 2011. Hence the discounted price. Outstanding performance for the price. I full recommend the Formula ORO K24 disc brake system.

Similar Products Used:

Hayes, Avid Juicy, Shimano XT Disc

sollid power, super light, no maintainece needed for years, Dot4 brake fluid.

Tricky to bleed, same as elexier, code and many oher brakes taht copied formula construction.

really the only bad thing I can say about this brake is that it is tricky to bleed.
Anyway, only needed once because Lufthansa broke the brake line on my flight to vacation, in about 4 jears uing it on first A Yeti ASX then a Yeti 303, Tomac Snyper, and now back on the ASX.

Why I rode so many Brakes? Because whenever I got a new bike I got sick about he brakes that where on it.
Non of tehm, except the hopes and eliexiers, where working as you would expect it from expensive and big brakes, so I keept moving my Oros from bike to bike and ended up buying a second set.

Actually Dot is awsome. You get it everywhere. Every gas station from deepest Africa to Beverly Hills carrys a bottle.
In case you really would need to bleed you can be shure you get what you need.

They also can be bleeded without a bleed kit, just two syringes will do. You can screw the directly into thread of teh allen screw taht closes the system if you choose the right size but make shure you don´t loos on of teh tiny o rings.
I know that sounds a little rough but it is possible and very cool if you sit in Marakesh with no bikeshop within the next 1000 miles.

Similar Products Used:

Oro 18K, Avid Elexir, Avid Code, Hope V2, Shimano Saint, Shimano

Looks, finish, manages alot of high quality casting/machining without plastics found rampant on the likes of Shimano's servoware range..

Factory bleed. I didn't realise this before but another user has posted something similar- pistons don't push together inline so it actually needed a bleed before I'd even turned a wheel. If I'd have known this I'd have sent them back to be done at the shops cost. As it was I thought it was down to me learning 'finesse/something more classy'. Yes I know I should have known this and questioned/focused on it sooner.

I'll give them 5/5 for now. However you really need to check to see if they are bled properly on your first ride as a proper shop bleed is bloody expensive.

Great product let down by a shoddy mechanic in the factory.

Similar Products Used:

XT/(old) Saint, Hayes Mag.

Strong, reliable, light and easy to service

Levers, bleeding is tricky and balancing the caliper requires effort

Braking power is sufficient and it only requires the lightest of pulls. With a 203mm front disc you get really efficient stopping power with not too much overheating.

After a long winter the brakes seem to have lost their "bounce" and feel a bit lazy. Bleeding them didn't help.
The levers don't fit my big fingers and no one makes replacement/upgrade levers for that model, what a disappointment.

Great braking power. Light

difficult to bleed, worts bleeding ever

Great Braking power but,
Extra difficult to bleed, I don't want them, even if they are free..

Plenty of adjustment, comfortable, great feel and power.

Replacement pads can be hard to find.

I love these brakes. They've been 100% reliable for me since I got this bike. The brakes have plenty of adjustment and great feel and modulation. The only problem is that it can be hard to find replacement pads. The solution is to buy two sets at a time, which is what I always do now. The Formulas are on the expensive side but totally worth the money.

Similar Products Used:

Old Hayes, Hayes El Camino, Magura Louise, Avid Elixir

Good modulation, easy to service and adjust

Organic pads wear out fast, can be noisy sometimes. Price for a full setup is steep.

Functionally, the Oro brakes work great. Swapped in EBC green pads and the squealing I hear is from the other riders around me.

As mentioned above, modulation is great and minimal effort is required. Liked them so much, I bought a 2nd set and installed them on my SS.

Similar Products Used:

Avid Juicy

Stopping power (power to weight ratio), modulation, feel

A little persnickety in terms of maintenance and parts. DOT 4 is maybe not the right choice for fluid for non-racers.

When these brakes work, they are exquisite, and from my understanding, all Formula brakes are as well. Not surprising. They kill my old Juicy's, it's like they aren't even the same component it's such a difference. The Oro's can easily be run with one-finger technique even on some wicked steep terrain.

Now the downside: maintenance. While parts supply has gotten better, in the early days, parts were a little tough to get and at a premium. So, a hose length adjustment kit (three small parts) and a bleed kit (some lame syringes with a couple fittings) was like 70 bucks - crazy. And then there were the pads - also pricey and limited distribution. Like I said, it's better now, but still not big box availability - not that it needs to be, but, competition leads to lower prices, YRMV. Then there is bleeding and adjustment; a fine Italian art to say the least. It can be done, but you will need practice. That brings me to the brake fluid issue. I know that they like DOT 4 due to it's properties when heated, BUT, it is toxic, environmentally unfriendly and a mess. Yeah, if I'm racing and it matters, maybe I go for that last increment and run brakes with DOT 4. If I'm out knocking around in the woods, I think next time I will go with something much less innocuous.

Bottom line - excellent brakes but be aware that there are hidden costs and you better either have a great shop handy or be willing to learn how to maintain these if you want to keep them working at a level that justifies their price.

Similar Products Used:

Avid Juicy's

Power, modulation, feel, east of set up, light.

If you are an Avid user bleeding can be confusing. The directions stink, once its figured out though its darn easy. Not many places have ever worked on them and getting parts can be challenging.

These combine two of my favorite brakes. They have the feel and modulation of the mini's and the power of the Avids. Other guys get on my bike and love the brakes. I can't say enough about how well the they work and give feedback to the rider. They seem to be able to keep the wheels perfectly at that point between lock up and stopping force. They never fade or get weak. We have several 3 mile plus downhill's here and with some really steep sections and they just work perfect. I took them to Winter Park yesterday and again after 5 runs they were better than when they started.

Here's how I bleed mine since its the only weakness I can find with them.

I followed the instructions listed here and it worked perfectly. Its not really that hard when you understand the principle behind their bleeding technique. Their instructions are overly complicated.

They are right bleeding would be easier if you took them off the bike. I managed with the rear on the bike and lever on an extra bar.

Fill both syringes half way up.
Take the lever off the bar and mount it or hold it so its vertical with the bleed port up.
Install one syringe on the caliper
Install the other on the lever
Push the fluid back and forth until there's no bubbles in the system
(Be careful not to empty either syringe or hold them in any position other than vertical)
Push the lever down and pull on the lower syringe 2-3 times creating suction to make sure all the air is out of the caliper. (this closes the reservoir and isolates the caliper for bleeding)
Then slowly push the fluid out of the caliper and slowly let the lever return to normal position.
Optional, you can push the fluid back and forth a couple of times just to make sure there's no air. End by pushing the most of the fluid to the lever to push out the old fluid.
Remove rear syringe and put bleed nut back in
Remove and top off lever and install bleed nut and you are finished.

Similar Products Used:

Hope Mini's original, Avid Juicy 7's, Hayes, Magura Louise FR

Fantastic modulation system, great stopping power

Its kind of like having the equivelant of anti lock brakes for your bike. I'm now able to use the front brake way more than before (was using avid bb7 mechanicals). Definitely worth the investment if you've got the money.

Similar Products Used:

Formula ones