Performance, Reliability, Modulation & Spare parts so easy to get

None

My Mini's were the 2006 Mono's ( Black with Gold Piston ) and i had them for 3 years and never had a problem with them, Now im not going to go insane over this but this is for people who are saying there rubbish at DH, Mini's and Mini Mono's are NOT DH brakes, they never was or have been designed for dh from day one ! I If you want a DH brake that does DH and long DH runs get M4's or 6's there designed for that ! Other then that street, freeride, park, dj'ing get these brakes if you can as there not available brand new anymore ! Perfect starter brake and more then adequate to stop you on anything other then long DH runs !

Similar Products Used:

Hayes HFX-9's, Shimano Saints, Formula The One's ( Greg Minaar Limited Edition's ) Hope V2's.

It's all good.

None.

I first bought these back in 2004, they started on my Giant, then my s-works and now my Cannondale. They are indestructible, my maintenance is the worst kind of poor. They are still going strong, cannondale came with avids, they were soon replaced with old hope set. Properly engineered kit, works and is simple to maintain and fix.

stopping power is great, value for money and are overall great brakes

bleeding can be an issue

I've run these brakes on my 06 kona stinky and on my flow myth 4x bike. When they were on the kona, they were put to their paces and done tracks such as fort william and glencoe. On both tracks they handled well and didn't have any problems what so ever! They are lightweight, strong and really powerful when bled. Bleeding can me quite hard as there is no bleedkit for these brakes and the dot 4 or 5.1 can be spilt easily onto the rotor. great brakes!

Do what they say!! Brake!! Steady solid and consistent!! Easy to setup after shimming! Easy pad swap out, Cool simple engineering, and made in Yorkshire!!

None really!

Buy them! Oh you can't anymore!! Damn ;-((

Great power, good design, easy to bled, good modulation, piston are the best out of all the disc brakes I have tried.

Its getting hard to find support as these brakes are old. Setting up with shims are annoying for some people. The new generation uses brackets so its easier.

People, don't be confused. This review is for the 'Hope Mini' not 'Hope Mono Mini'. They are different! This thread is for the 'Hope Mini' (old style 2 pcs. caliper)

These are better then the new Hope Mono Mini which has stock gold caliper cover and the newest generation with silver caliper but black cover.

Similar Products Used:

Avid BB7, Juicy 7
Hayes 9
Hope Mono Mini, Hope M4
Shimano LX, XT, XTR

Durability, self-adjusting, easy bleeding and fluid replacement, easy pad replacement, cool looking.

rotor/caliper alignment requires shimming. modulation

I have had these brakes on brakes on my SW since I bilt it up in 03'. I have changed the pads out twice. They have been great stoppers with no fading. I have had no leaks and no air getting into system. They have held up really well. I am in the process of building up a Motolite and will rebuild and put these brakes on it.

Similar Products Used:

Avid Juicy 3s

Pretty light

Poor support

Since 2003 these brakes have performed well. 5 weeks ago I bought the stainless braided hoses. My bike mechanic for the last 6 years has spent hours trying to get them to work and hours on the phone with hope to figure out how to fix them. Hope sent new hoses and seals but nothin doin. My bike has been in the shop for 3+ weeks. Their tech does not know any more than the next guy. He wants me to pay another $50 to send them to some dude in Cali. I have spent $80 for the hoses, $25 for seals, $130 in labor and brake fluid. I would not recommend Hope products anymore. It should not be this difficult to fix brakes. I am now buying Avid Elixers.

Similar Products Used:

My wifes bike has Avid Juicy 5 and I have demoed bikes with Hayes and Shimano.

Very light, solid lever feel, low maintenance, set it and forget it.

Must buy pads direct from Hope

I bought these brakes brand new in 2001 after an MBA review comparing the Hayes, Shimano XT's and the Minis. The Minis won the shootout and since I was in the market for new brakes, I went right out and bought them.

It is now 2008 and believe it or not, I just barely replaced the pads for the very first time. Granted, I had a few years where I couldn't ride but still, I've put a lot of time on these brakes. They have excellent lever feel and stop me very well from speed. I am 200lbs and use a 160mm front and 140mm rear rotor. The only time I have a problem there is extended downhill when my fingers get tired but that is more due to my choice in rotor size than brake strength.

When I replaced the pads is when I ran into my first problem with these brakes. Hope says that due to several factors, you should only buy genuine Hope Mini pads. This may be the reason for some other not so hot reviews. The factory pads are hands down the best, you just have to order them and then wait. After installing the new pads you really need to make sure you put a screwdriver up between the pads in the caliper and pry them apart as far as you can. This system automatically adjusts itself so your caliper has adjusted for the worn pads. If you just throw the new ones in, they will rub for sure. Too easy to install and once done, off you go. I love these brakes.

Similar Products Used:

Cannondale codas, Magura Julies, Avid Juicy 5,7,Carbon.

Good feel on fingers, good weight

Terrible stopping power, lost ALL braking power on downhill on several different occasions (levers went to handlebars). Had LBS bleed lines, rebuild system, use 5.1 fluid, and larger rotors (7" and 8"), STILL lost all braking power! These brakes are terrible!

Terrible brakes, DO NOT use these for ANY sustained downhill!

Similar Products Used:

Avid Code 5 (these rock!)

Awsome looks, great modulation, enough power for XC stuff

Initial shimming takes some getting used to.

Initially it took some time to properly shim the brakes and after some time when I noticed some squeal on the rear, I had to reshim it. Once the brake is properly set up you'll hear almost no squeal. Now it works perfect!
Remember to check the space between the rotor and the pads after a couple of months and once you reshim it properly, it works great. I now have zero complaints but since I haven't tried other discs I will give four chillies for overall rating.

Similar Products Used:

first discset