Hope Tech is moving into the road market with a collection of hubs, disc brake rotors, and hydraulic 4-piston calipers that connect to SRAM or Shimano road levers, handling either mineral oil or DOT 5.1. Which is an interesting hack, so we asked why someone might do such a thing?
“We’d like to think ours offer slightly better retraction, meaning the pads move further into the bore, away from the rotor, which will reduce rubbing,” their rep told us. “Also, four Pistons offer more power and better modulation, so you get better braking.”
The post-mount calipers are machined in house like the rest of Hope’s products and will be available with adapters to fit flat mount frames and forks. Available in October , price TBA.
To go with them, Hope has modified their rotors to have rounded “safe” edges, allaying fears of sliced appendages in the peloton.
The new hubs will come in Centerlock and 6-Bolt options, with each of those getting flanges for straight pull and J-bend spoke options.
All road QR and thru axles are supported. Inside, they get two pawls instead of the four used in their MTB hubs, and the spring pushing the pawl up into the ratchet ring’s teeth is seated a bit lower so it’s not pushing quite so hard. The difference is dramatically lower friction (thy had a demo and it was very clear that the 2-pawl design spun much more freely), but you could swap in their 4-pawl MTB freehub if you wanted to. Available in October.
Calipers, hubs and disc rotors will be available in purple, silver, blue, red, black, orange
The road cranks are still pure prototype, but the plan is for a 110bcd, five bolt pattern.
On the mountain side of things, they used their carbon frame project to show off new 35mm internal width rims. They have the same profile as the others, just wider, and weigh in at 580g. Works with 2.5 to 3.0 tires, and allows you to run lower pressure.
This 27.5×2.5 had a nicely rounded profile on them.
The carbon seat post they debuted last year is selling as fast as they can make them, so they’re going into production with the carbon handlebar in January. Target 225g, price TBD. Final dimensions also TBD, but expect this bulbous center section shaping and thick wall construction to carry through.
