I've had a pair of LHT's that have been amazing. So I got a pair of LHP-U4's, but they've had some issues. Firstly, I bought them from the Lewis Store on Taobao. I figured it was a bit of a risk buying from there as it's only in Chinese, but the brakes showed up nicely packaged. Weirdly, though, I never got any sort of receipt or email order confirmation. That's a problem, because now I'm trying to maybe warranty them. From the beginning, they were mushy compared to the LHT's, like there's air in the line. I tried do a vacuum pull from the master cylinder, but that didn't seem to work. Then I got Redline Likewater, which people swear by because of it's low viscosity and therefore easy to remove air from the lines. Not sure if it's the high viscosity or what, but the brakes feel good initially after a bleed, then after a couple rides I they get mushy and I can see droplets of oil around the plunger and lever hinge, where it seems like they're leaking. Any ideas? Maybe worth trying a higher viscosity fluid? I'm new to mineral oil brakes, so specific suggestions would be appreciated.

 

View attachment 2146900 View attachment 2146899 I've had a pair of LHT's that have been amazing. So I got a pair of LHP-U4's, but they've had some issues. Firstly, I bought them from the Lewis Store on Taobao. I figured it was a bit of a risk buying from there as it's only in Chinese, but the brakes showed up nicely packaged. Weirdly, though, I never got any sort of receipt or email order confirmation. That's a problem, because now I'm trying to maybe warranty them. From the beginning, they were mushy compared to the LHT's, like there's air in the line. I tried do a vacuum pull from the master cylinder, but that didn't seem to work. Then I got Redline Likewater, which people swear by because of it's low viscosity and therefore easy to remove air from the lines. Not sure if it's the high viscosity or what, but the brakes feel good initially after a bleed, then after a couple rides I they get mushy and I can see droplets of oil around the plunger and lever hinge, where it seems like they're leaking. Any ideas? Maybe worth trying a higher viscosity fluid? I'm new to mineral oil brakes, so specific suggestions would be appreciated.

Im having a similar issue within. Even have a slight clicking noise that sounds like a bubble or something. The initial stroke of the rear lever feels like its binding somewhere.

 

A thicker brake fluid isn't going to fix a leak

 

I heard that Lewis will sell the LV2 with a titanium screw kit for $390.

 

Scary thing happened on my ride over the weekend with my LHT Ultimate. I was bombing down a gravel road (about 3miles of descent) while alternating left/right brake to keep my speed in check when all of a sudden I felt a click in the right/rear brake lever and it pulled to the bar with no resistance and no bite. It felt like a sudden loss in pressure. Luckily the front still worked so I was able to stop to look at it. I didn't see any leaks from the caliper nor the lever. Pulling the lever, I could see the caliper pistons moving just a hair.
Then I saw that the Leverage Ratio Adjustment pivot on the lever had rotated. It has markings so that you can see where you've adjusted it. It wasn't in the same position as the left lever. Turns out the tiny grub screw to keep that pivot in check had backed out and lost grip allowing the whole pivot to rotate. I was able to rotate the pivot to its original location and tighten the grub screw.
I'll be adding Loctite to the grub screw. If you have this lever, check your grub screw to make sure it's tight.

Picture:
Red = grub screw
Blue = Leverage Ratio Adjustment

The LHP lever fixes this issue with a new design of the Leverage Ratio Adjustment using a knob by (I'm guessing) utilizing a worm screw to rotate the pivot and two grub screws. By nature of worm screws, the pivot won't rotate with force from just the lever.

 

Im still not convinced these are better and other popular brands. These issue are more weird than a piston massage. Id still rather spend an extra 100$ something from an older company.

If you like them Im glad

 

I've been rocking my LHT's since they came out with them. I did have to get a replacement sent because the OG set had a weird click and rather than troubleshooting it, they provided a new set, which has been trouble free for over a year. They're on my e-bike and I ride everything from mundane XC stuff to big jumps and drops on it. I have Hope T4V4's on my Nomad and Dominion A4's on the 5010. The Lewis brakes are MUCH better quality than the Dominions, right on par with the Hopes IMO.

They perform really well, I like them better than my Dominions and only slightly better than my Hopes. FWIW, I use Redline Like Water in mine instead of normal mineral oil.

It's a shame people can't look past the fact that they're a Chinese company.

 

They got Lou down Hardline just fine.

 

Do that every day for a year, then you got something.

 

Well its equally stupid as “they worked one time”.

Cool, except that's not what he said, so there's that.

He said....

They got Lou down Hardline just fine.

I'm not sure how you're construing that to mean "one time."

 

Cool, except that's not what he said, so there's that.

He said....


I'm not sure how you're construing that to mean "one time."

I think the whole team has been using them all year.

 

Has anyone used the VP-40 carbon ceramic pads? I'm confused which compound is the more powerful.

 

Update: I’ve been told by email from Lewis that the sintered pads are the more powerful and by DM from Lewis that the carbon ceramic are the more powerful 🤔

 

How do the lh4's lever feel for small hands ? (like woman hand) I'm hesitating between Lewis LH4 (nebula) and the Hayes dominion A4 with their SFL levers

 

^Lewis LH4 brakes feel tiny, [they are kind of tiny] and have a pretty slim lever
and do not need a lot of pull to brake hard. they are strong and lever can be adjusted
for any reach you want

 

Thanks

As for prices, it feels like US prices varies a lot from what I'm seeing where I am

430€ for an LH4 pair (nebula) VS 360€ for an Hayes dominion A4 pair where I am
People are saying the LH4 is cheaper than the A4 online... Are those prices surprising and does it change the overall choice of brakes ?

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Is this store legit ? I'm not sure, but it's 330eur for the LH4 there

 

I struggle to justify these over something like dominions. IMO adjustment is cool but how many of us are actually tinkering with things like that on the regular. Especially with brakes I’m just looking for consistency and something that I can keep up and running for a while. Things like leverage rate adjustment is very cool, but extra components to strip/shake loose like the little set screws that secure the leverage rate adjuster, seemed like additional failure points without adding that much functionality. The machined look of the Lewis is definitely what draws my attention but having the parts availability and right to repair concept behind Hayes components is what has kept me from pulling the trigger on a new shiny set of Lewis stoppers so far.

 

I have both. Dominion A4's on the 5010, Lewis LHT's on the Heckler. I prefer the Lewis brakes, honestly. Roughly the same cost and the quality on the Lewis' is WAY better than the Hayes. You can buy whatever parts you need from Lewis, they have the exploded parts diagram on their site and use the same pads as Hope V4's, so not exactly hard to get these days. The one and only thing I prefer about the Dominions is the short deadstroke, but it's only a tiny bit shorter than my LHT's so whatever. I only got the Dominions because they're purple otherwise my money would've gone to another set of LHT's or Hope T4V4's.

 

What pad shape does the Lewis LH4 caliper take? I was expecting Sram Guide, like my Trickstuff Piccola HD that the LV4 is a copy of. However, the pads that came with the LV4 look more like a Hope pad.

 

They will take modified Hope V4 pads.
Modified: elongate the hole for the pin -OR- file some material from the bottom lobes of the backing metal (not the pad material itself). This is because the Hope pads sites higher than Lewis pads and the pin won't go through the hole.

 

Chinese knockoffs of Trickstuff.

Looks like pretty blatant IP theft. I would not support it.

Did y'all ever figure this out? I'm not reading 56 pages.

 

Yes, the owner of lewis said in a video he based it on the trickstuff.

 

Hydraulic brakes have also only been around for like 4 years or something, so I'm pretty sure there's lots of innovation left in the design of a piston that displaces fluid through a tube/hose so that another piston can move. I'll bet the math to calculate the relative travel difference among all of these pistons has yet to be discovered, so I'm sure Germany has a lock on new brake innovation. /s

Both TS and Lewis are beautiful brakes, and when you're looking at highly engineered/CNC machined parts that do the EXACT SAME JOB, there will always be similarities in form. Loam wolf did a review where they seem to imply (they say it outright) that Lewis may look like Trickstuff, but the internals are unique: Review: Lewis LHP+ U4 Brakes but whether they are or not, you have a choice on which to buy. To each their own.

 

Hydraulic brakes have also only been around for like 4 years or something, so I'm pretty sure there's lots of innovation left in the design of a piston that displaces fluid through a tube/hose so that another piston can move. I'll bet the math to calculate the relative travel difference among all of these pistons has yet to be discovered, so I'm sure Germany has a lock on new brake innovation. /s

Both TS and Lewis are beautiful brakes, and when you're looking at highly engineered/CNC machined parts that do the EXACT SAME JOB, there will always be similarities in form. Loam wolf did a review where they seem to imply (they say it outright) that Lewis may look like Trickstuff, but the internals are unique: Review: Lewis LHP+ U4 Brakes but whether they are or not, you have a choice on which to buy. To each their own.

The guy making the lewis brakes flat out said he copied the trickstuff. What do people not understand about this?

 

I am fortunate enough to own both TS Diretisimas and Lewis LHT’s. Without a doubt, the TS brakes are better in every way, performance wise. The LHT Lewis brakes work well and look great. I think they are better than the SRAM Code RSC’s, Shimano XT and Formula Cura 4’s I have run. But they don’t hold a candle to the TS brakes.

 

I am running the LV2 LV4 combo on my Allied BC40. I replaced Magura MT Trail sport because I like the 4/2 piston combo and I figured I could get similar stopping power with a smoother, prettier, and more durable CNC'd lever.

I am a good mechanic and have never failed to get a perfect bleed out of sram, shimano, magura, or TRP but I cannot get the spongy feel out of these. I have attempted 4 bleeds and get a similar result every time requiring me to dial in the contact point adjust and can still pull the brake near to the bar. They stop ok like this but I have a hard time believing that's how they are supposed to feel.

I am using the ez-bleed kit Lewis specs and following the video carefully. No signs of leaks. I really don't know what I'm doing wrong or if these brakes just feel like crap. Really irritating because no other bleed tip/trick videos exist beyond Lewis's own.

 

I am running the LV2 LV4 combo on my Allied BC40. I replaced Magura MT Trail sport because I like the 4/2 piston combo and I figured I could get similar stopping power with a smoother, prettier, and more durable CNC'd lever.

I am a good mechanic and have never failed to get a perfect bleed out of sram, shimano, magura, or TRP but I cannot get the spongy feel out of these. I have attempted 4 bleeds and get a similar result every time requiring me to dial in the contact point adjust and can still pull the brake near to the bar. They stop ok like this but I have a hard time believing that's how they are supposed to feel.

I am using the ez-bleed kit Lewis specs and following the video carefully. No signs of leaks. I really don't know what I'm doing wrong or if these brakes just feel like crap. Really irritating because no other bleed tip/trick videos exist beyond Lewis's own.

I get a better bleed on mine using the double syringe method. I initially tried the recommended method and had similar results to yours, switched to the double syringe method and was able to pull a bubble out pretty quickly. Much better braking after using the double syringe method.

 

I bleed LV levers using a Shimano compatible funnel and a syringe on the caliper. I recall putting the funnel on the lower bleed port first, then the upper bleed port.

After connecting the syringe to the caliper pull the lever a few times to push the air bubble from the connection up into the syringe (do this at the start of any bleed). Any time I'm bleeding with a funnel I push fluid down to the caliper by pumping the lever. This will accomplish the same thing as pushing with a syringe on the lever instead of using a funnel.

Did you screw the free stroke adjustment (the 2mm hex inside the reach adjuster) all the way in?

 

I got them a bit better by doing a separate lever bleed with the pads and wheel on. Contact point is now pretty firm but even with contact point adjust dialed in there's still too much free-stroke form my liking.