Equal parts motorcycle and mountain bike DNA, the Magura MT7 is a brake built for speed. Well, managing speed is more like it. Designed as a smaller and lighter version of their own supermoto brake caliper, the MT7 boasts 4 pistons and 4 individual pads for increased stopping power. Paired with a new Carbotecture brake lever with a radial master cylinder, the MT7 is the king of the MT NEXT brake line when it comes to power.
In spite of the massive braking performance, the MT7s are also pretty light with the weight skewed towards the brake caliper where it can help with heat management. After our initial impressions out in Sedona, Magura sent over a pair to mount up to a bike of our own. Details and actual weights next…
Joining a few other quad piston brakes on the market, the MT7s should be right at home on any modern Enduro bike or even freeride or downhill applications with the right rotor combination.
The Carbotecture lever is light, but it should be more resilient to impacts than the lighter Carbotecture SL levers found on the XC/trail oriented MT8s. Each MT7 lever includes two tool free adjustments – the BAT knob on the lever body (Bite Adjust Technology) moves the piston within the bore to adjust the brake’s contact point, and the reach adjust knob on the lever itself lets you dial in the ergonomics. Combined with the new lever pivot position which is 20mm closer to the handlebar, the brakes offer improved positioning over previous Magura brakes.
While the levers with 2 piece clamps are ambidextrous, you will need to reposition the BAT adjuster if you plan to run them Moto style.
Just like the caliper found in their motorcycle brake, the MT7 calipers are forged from a single piece of aluminum and use an additional center arch to stiffen things up. Built with 4 of Magura’s Duraplastic pistons, the brakes are compatible with either the 8.1 Performance brake pads which are 4 individual pieces, or the 9.1 Performance set up which uses just two pads between the 4 pistons. Brake pads are held in place with their magnetiXchange system which uses magnets in the center of each piston, as well as safety pins up top.
Continuing with their mineral oil system they affectionately refer to as Royal Blood, Magura offers a fairly simple Mini bleed kit to get the job done. Chances are pretty good that you will need to bleed the system due to the long brake lines. You can pick up the Mini Service kit for $29.99 which includes a 2oz bottle of Royal Blood, or some of the generic mineral bleed kits like those from Jagwire should have the right fittings.
One big improvement over the old Magura levers is the introduction of a new EBT or Easy Bleed Technology screw. Carbotecture is great for producing a light weight lever body, but not so good when you over-torque one of the fittings. In order to prevent damage to the lever body the new screws are designed to break away if over torqued. There will still be enough material left to remove it and it won’t strip out the threads in the body when it happens. Want to avoid needing the EBT screw’s break away feature? Don’t use more than 0.5 Nm of torque on the fitting. It doesn’t need much.
The video above is from the previous generation of MT brakes but the process remains the same.
All of Magura’s brakes are compatible with either their Storm or Storm SL rotors. Our review set was shipped with Storm SL rotors which are great for lighter weight builds which won’t see extended, high heat down hill runs. If you’re planning to do shuttle runs in a bike park the Storm rotors would be a better choice thanks to a higher thermal mass.
With typical German precision, the two brakes weigh exactly the same amount with the same length hose.
The Storm SL rotors are impressively light as you would expect from a product with the SL label, and the remaining bolts and adapters are fairly standard. MT7s carry a retail price of $320 per brake, with Storm SL rotors selling separately at $38 a piece. We’ll report back with a review after putting them through the paces.
