Quietly rolled out to dealers earlier this month, brake maker Trickstuff just debuted a limited edition ‘Special Series’ of their popular & powerful Direttissima mountain bike brakes in a vibrant new forest green. Plus, the brakes get a sweet howling wolf and forest scene laser-etched onto the caliper bodies, likely in a nod to their Black Forest origins.
Trickstuff Direttissima brakes Forest Green Wolf Special Series
The whispering of the wind between the trees, a distant howl, and a rush of adrenaline. Through the woods and mossy paths our Direttissima will now accompany you with a limited Special Series – Direttissima Forest Green – featuring a dark green caliper and reservoir cap. The forest is calling, can you hear it?
Trickstuff’s tagline for their most powerful Maxima gravity brakes is “Poke the bear”, which never seems like a good plan. So maybe these slightly lighter, more versatile all-mountain to enduro brakes are thinking you should “Poke the wolf”?
In any case, this is the first vibrant new anodized color we’ve seen from Trickstuff in over a decade. And the addition of some decoration is an interesting design choice. Any way you look at it, though, it hints that maybe more color and more Special Series limited-edition models could be in the brand’s future.
Fingers crossed.
Review: Tons of manageable bring power!
Trickstuff’s Direttissima is one of the most unique and powerful mountain bike brakes you can get. They feature and incredibly light touch and excellent modulation. Their precision construction and progressive leverage ratio at the lever means that the brakes move very quickly to the bite point. But then the further you pull the lever, the less distance the pads travel, creating dramatically increasing brake force at the rotor. The end result is that these are brakes that feel almost too soft in the parking lot, but offer some of the easiest high-powered braking you will ever experience on the trail.
Having ridden more with the Maximas in all-black (which are the same design, just slightly longer lever and bigger 16/17mm caliper pistons), after a year and a half, I’m still amazed at how easy it is to control the immense power of the Trickstuff brakes. And how even on extremely rough and super long descents, I never experience arm pump, meaning I can ride bike park laps all day without my arms or hands getting tired. Definitely not something I can say about most other high-power brakes.
Direttissima Tech Details
- CNC-machined 7075 aluminum construction
- 9mm polymer pump piston and “progressive toggle joint linkage” ball-bearing brake lever
- C42 4-piston calipers with balanced 14mm & 17mm stainless steel pistons
- high-pressure Kevlar brake hose
- tool-free reach adjust
- nickel-based organic Power+ brake pads
- proprietary low viscosity Bionol vegetable oil brake fluid
- fully user-serviceable
- 520g total brakeset weight – 252g front & 268g rear (claimed)
Trickstuff Direttissima Forest Green – Pricing, options & availability
Only 250 sets of these shiny Direttissima Forest Green special edition brakes are on offer. In a pleasant surprise, they don’t cost any more than a standard set of Direttissimas. And that’s good, because at 1100€ for the pair (without rotors) these are already some of the most expensive mountain bike brakes in the world. But my own personal experience with the Maximas (which share the same architecture as these Direttissimas) does confirm that these are also some of the most powerful brakes you can buy. Their unique feel all but eliminates arm pump, under even the most relentless braking.
The special series Forest Green brakes only are offered in one configuration – with silver levers & pump body, Kevlar brake hoses, and traditional left/front brake configuration. Brake rotors will cost you about 40-60€ a piece extra, as will brake mount adapters if you need them for your bike’s setup.
You can pick up a set while they last directly from Trickstuff’s website. Or order a pair through any of their regular dealer bike shops.
