I guess that it will stop you.

Everything about this brake sucks. I've used plain jane brakes Shimano 395, XT 775, Hayes, and Tektro Gemini. I've even had Hayes MX 2,3, and 5 plus Tektro Aquila mechanical brakes. All of them worked better and are more user friendly than these brakes are. From what I see is that in the past they were a good system, but in the last few years they have gone to crap. All these are for those people who want to do the "show" and not the ride. I ride and I expect the equipment that I buy to do the job it is intended to do. These fall very short. Yes they stop you but at a price. The spring for the pads will start to interfere with the disc once they are down to 25% of life left. I've had this happen now on 3 different sets of pads. The piston is never tight no matter how you bleed them. If you don't bleed them right you will get D.O.T. 4 everywhere or a lever that you have to pump to get the engagement that should just be there.

In summary stay away from these brakes. the problems that plague them is not worth the "Bragging rights" to say "I have Formula brakes". At those words I laugh at them. Me, I cringe every time when I hear me say those words.

Lightweight, good modulation, good stopping power

Leaks toxic DOT 4 fluid onto handlebars, terrible customer service

These brakes came stock on my Rocky Mountain Vertex 970 RSL, and initially they worked well and felt great. However, when I was moving the brakes around on my carbon handlebars one day, I noticed the finish had delaminated a little bit under the right hand mount. I thought that was strange, but the bars seemed fine otherwise so I kept riding.

Fast forward two months, and halfway through a cross country race my rear brake was losing power. By the end of the race the brake had almost no power at all. I took the bike to the shop the next day to get the brake bled, but the shop called me a few hours later to say some membrane was leaking on the back of the master cylinder after they bled the system and my carbon bars were once again covered in toxic, corrosive DOT 4 fluid.

Not only did I have to replace the carbon handlebars at my own cost, but the Formula warranty people initially mailed us the wrong part. My BS meter started going off, so I bought other brakes to ride in the meantime (Shimano XT) and let them try to figure out how to solve the problem. Finally, we just shipped the brakes to Formula for repair, and lo and behold, they claimed that it wasn't their fault. Even though I never bled or serviced the front brake, they claimed that BOTH brakes had been contaminated somehow, and were therefore not reparable under warranty. I consider it lesson learned, and hopefully others won't have to suffer the same fate.

Avoid Formula products!


P.S. I feel like this is a lawsuit waiting to happen--their brake leaks corrosive fluid onto handlebars in a spot that's not visible from the outside. This has been well documented (google Formula brakes on carbon bars). Somebody is going to have a bar break off in their hands right at the compromised location and hopefully they don't get badly injured, but the fact that they don't have a recall or at least a public notice not to use these on carbon bars seems criminally negligent.

Similar Products Used:

Shimano XT, SLX, Saint

modulation;
good power with third-party semi-metallic pads;
weight;
ergonomics.

unreasonably high replacement parts and components price;
terrible customer and warranty service;
absence of regional tech support;
low power with stock pads;
squeaking with stock rotors and pads;
gap between pads and rotors is very tight and hard to adjust.

my short story. Formula R1 brakes were purchased at aftermarket as complete kit with rotors and light kevlar hoses in mint condition, almost new. even stock pads wear was minimal. these brakes appeared very light but tricky to setup because of extremely tight gap between rotors and pads so even invisible rotor deformation leaded to noises and squeaks. I was riding for about 100 miles trying to get good breaking and modulation but it wasn't possible with stock organic pads. I had to replace them with high semi-metallic pads from Trucker, then I finally got the power of Formula.

until levers started to leak. first it was some slurping noise from the left lever, then braking power loss for the front and finally some liquid running from the bottom of brake lever. btw, that liquid completely ruined my carbon handlebar coating.. at MTBR forum I've read about that issue isn't rare and most of pre-2010 R1 models had leaking levers from the start. Formula makes replacement or repair of whole brakes free of charge because it's warranty issue.

ok, I had to remove brakes from the bike and tried to contact Formula office same day. their european office was hard to reach by phone, I've used about two days of constant calling to get retorted with "contact your regional dealer for support". then I've written some emails to italian office and local ukrainian office but got no reply. then called local representative several times but they told me Formula did not supplied them replacement parts and I have to purchase them directly. I've received a single reply by email from Italy where they promised to contact local representative for information. then no replies, no answers, nothing for about 3 weeks. last call to local representative finished with pointing fingers to Formula main office again.

conclusion. R1 brakes tries to hit premium segment by it's price but Formula provides no support to customers. when something happens with your pricey brakes then your requests will be simply disregarded. take money and keep silence - is an exact "formula".

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Formula RX
Avid Juicy 5
Magura Julie
Hayes Stroker Trail

Light weight and looks good

Extremely noisy, brake shudder, fades when used on steep long downhills

Typical Italian product-Looks good, but functions poorly and is overpriced with no customer support.2012 Formula R1 brake set with sintered brake pads came on my new Specialized Stumpjumper. Owned the bike since new and since day 1 both front and rear brakes extremely noisy when applied at anything less than full power. I cleaned the rotors with isopropyl alcohol before my first ride and did a proper break-in of the brakes before riding the trails. I have several other bikes with different manufactured brakes using sintered pads and yes there is some slight noise with sintered pads, but the Formulas are EXTREME and combined with brake shudder. Found rear rotor had badly warped so that it would scrape the caliper with the pads removed. Also the brakes will fade on steep longer downhills-I am riding cross country downhills and not on an all mountain or downhill bike. I weigh 165 pounds and the bike is 20 pounds and the brakes will fade- my avid BB7 brakes on a heavier bike on the same trails do not fade. Straitened both rotors, deglazed the pads and rotors, cleaned caliper pistons, aligned calipers and torqued all hardware to Formula's specs and brakes are the same. Tried contacting Formula's tech support online two different times and both times no response even though e-mail confirmation was received. Overall result- buy another manufacturers brakes-they work better and are less expensive. If Formula wants to charge a premium price, the product better live up to the price tag. The video on the MTBR site above From Formula states they are the most powerful brakes in the industry- Wrong,Formula better do some more research.

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Hope Mono M4, Hope Mono M6, Avid BB7 mechanical, Avid Juicy 5, Shimano XT

Good initial power and feel

Extremely noisy, can't hold a conversation with a fellow rider on the climb. Have been into the shop at least 4 times with new rotors, pads etc. I'm now finding they fade on stepper downhills of more than 3Km and get more noisy as this happens. They are not good performers in the wet. They came with my Lapierre Zesty and I have now just bought some Shimano XT brakes and will get rid of them after less than a year. Very frustrated!

Very poor brake option. I'm told I'm in the minority but my wife's brakes also make excessive noise until the brake pads are half worn. I wouldn't recommend them.

Good looking, better than ave braking power

very very noisy, very little room for adjustment. Feels as if the brakefluid overheats as the brakes feel spongy on long twisty downhill with lots of braking.

Came std on my Cube 120 AMS. Wont be my brake of choice and after only 5 mnths of usage I am replacing it with my old Stokers and selling the R1's.

Light, good stopping power

None

I really love these brakes. I was given these as a replacement for my really horrible Avid XX brakes. Lever never fades.

Look Awesome. Work Awesome. Great modulation. Great stopping power. Great adjustability.

None yet

Came stock on my Epic EVO. Haven't ant issues at all. Over 500 miles on them so far. A little noisier than my XTR's but not a big deal for me. Did I say Great looks. Mine are "ALL BLACK" with the red adjustment wheel.

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XTR... read review
Avid XO... read review