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SOC16: Formula cures braking woes with Cura, switches to mineral oil

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2017 Formula Cura hydraulic mountain bike disc brakes

Along with a new logo and fresh brand color scheme, the new Formula Cura brakes are their first to use mineral oil. The fluid change had been a customer request for some time but it took them a while to find an oil that they liked. The different viscosity of fluids available affect the brake feel, and they wanted to keep the same feel as their DOT fluid brakes.

But the real impetus to make something new was that they wanted to do a forged brake rather than cast. They say that method makes a stronger brake with more consistent material placement. Which meant they could make a lighter brake, and it’s more affordable, too. Retail is just $150 per wheel…

2017 Formula Cura hydraulic mountain bike disc brakes

It uses an axial master cylinder rather than the radial design of their others. That allows better ergonomics and easy fit on most any handlebar setup. The lever body puts the pivot closer to the bar, so it stays more parallel as you pull it in.

The reach adjust is tooled. That knob is essentially a lock nut; twist it open to allow adjustment of reach via a 2mm allen bolt inside it, then twist it tight to lock it into position.

2017 Formula Cura hydraulic mountain bike disc brakes

The caliper is a 2-piece design with large 24mm pistons. Despite the minimalist look, it’s designed to work for anything from XC to DH and everything in between. Organic brake pad with a new compound that should work well in all conditions.

2017 Formula Cura hydraulic mountain bike disc brakes

The bottom end of the hose has their Speed Lock quick disconnect hose for internal routing. It’s not used for bleeding, rather for getting the hose on and off quickly for travel or assembly. A small spring sits at the bottom of the silver barrel to prevent accidental release, you simply slide that spring over the barrel to let the barrel slide down and release the hose. It’s very similar to switching chucks on an air compressor hose.

2017 Formula Cura hydraulic mountain bike disc brakes

2017 Formula Cura hydraulic mountain bike disc brakes

Options are silver or black, features are the same for both. They’ll also be available with their FCS pad contact adjustment (not shown) and MixMaster clamp to fit it to a Shimano or SRAM shift clamp. Claimed weight is 359g per wheel with a 160mm rotor and steel hardware.

2017-Formula-mountain-bike-suspension-rebranding01

Forks are the same for now, but will get a Boost option this fall. They’re an interesting design, worth taking a look if you’re unfamiliar.

RideFormula.com

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Tersicore
Tersicore
7 years ago

Friends don’t let friends buy non Shimano brakes.

Bob Log
Bob Log
7 years ago
Reply to  Tersicore

My old Formula R1’s were not all that bad. Defintely took more abuse than the XT’s I had on a bike previous to that. Feel was good, not great, but decayed with age (seemed that the lever pivots became less smooth with age, otherwise they were good)

Current Shimano’s are certainly hard to beat for the price/reliability/performance trifecta. Bike #2 in the house has some XT’s on it right now, but I’ve got some Hope’s on another bike & I wouldn’t trade them for anything. They miss out on price, but performance, reliability, quality, & feel are a clear notch above Shimano.

If I had to guess, I’d say feel on these will be a hair behind Shimano XT’s, but these wouldn’t be a terrible choice if someone wanted something a little lighter than XT at a similar price. Probably make a good OEM spec brake too (instead of SLX, or worse).

adps
adps
7 years ago
Reply to  Tersicore

everyone claims the sram guide are better than shimano.
brand fanboism isn’t very healthy to the already expensive bike market

Darryl Duck
Darryl Duck
7 years ago

Maybe some formula brakes that work for a change.

On another note, anybody else finding that Bike rumor is getting so slow as to be not worth coming here now? It always seems to be waiting for add servers to load.

Cheese
Cheese
7 years ago

Good to see Formula finally switch away from DOT fluid. Now when SRAM and Hope switch we’ll finally be rid of that corrosive crap on bicycles.

JackS
JackS
7 years ago

“they wanted to keep the same feel as their DOT fluid brakes”

Doesn’t the lever bottoming out on the grip feel the same no matter if it’s brake fluid, mineral oil, water or air in the system?

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