Ok,

I'm in the process of looking at buying a new bike but I'm looking for advice on what brakes to go for as I want something with good modulation and stopping power.

The bikes I'm considering are a Meta 5 or an Orange 5 and the brakes I'm looking at putting on them would be either:

1. Hope Mono M4's with floating rotors
2. Formula K24's or Oro's
3. Shimano XT Servo Waves (I think thats right)

Any help/advice much appreciated.

Cheers

*opens can of worms*

 IME the brakes you mention are all decent stoppers. I run non-servowave XT's on one bike & have had a brief try of the servo jobs - the latter gave a better feel with more progressive braking but overall power was about the same.

From listening to mates, comments on forums & various reviews I reckon a reasonable summary would be:

1. Hope - seem to be a love/hate thing with people due to good/bad experiences.  

2. Formula - they are winning most tests/reviews & I've not heard a bad word about them.  Tried a K24 on a mates bike & was very impressed but they can be a bit pricy compared to the competition.

3. Shimano XT - stops well, easy to set up & very reliable but not the most powerful out there & certainly not the most 'bling' but good brakes none the less.

Are you able to 'test' any yourself? 

Can of worms -don't I know it! 

As for mag reviews tend to take them with a pinch of salt as they can be biased IMO and would rather get the opinions of people who use the brakes every weekend etc. 

I've got a mate who just fitted Formulas to his hard tail and they were a bit squeally at first but he def rates them and he also has a hope mini on his fs which he says is good as well.  I've had a blast on his hard tail and I liked the feel of the Formulas, way better than the Hayes HFX9s on my current rig as they have very little modulation but great stopping power.

I will try to at the national demo day in Glentress in Feb but just looking for some advice first. 

Nobby , got it right about the hopes with the   love - hate   thing  &  " I  LOVED  EM " no problems whatsoever, looked cool as fk with the braided hoses and changing the pads was straight forward.

Cant comment on the others coz Ive no experience of em , but either way its a nice problem to have.

i use my hopes every weekend, have done for the last five years, minis/m4s. ime there excellent brakes and ive never had any real problems with them.

i do spend a while setting them up though, and even with the newer post mount brakes i align the caliper by eye rather than simply pressing the lever a few times.

Stuart,

Having been out on both the Trance and the Inbred the other night the Oro's have slightly more power and better lever feel, the only downside i have heard about the Oro is getting a hold of spare parts.

Oh and the squeeling went once i cleaned the rotors and re aligned the calipers.

I want XT Servo Waves so thats my answer,  I'd like Oro's but I can't afford XT Servo Waves at the moment so no chance on Oro's

Wouldn't recommend Juicys to many bad ones out there,  mine for instance.  Get a good one and there great but crap shoot really.

Paul's got 'em & raves about 'em. 

I tried some on a test bike at LBS &, as I said above, they didn't feel any more powerful but the control is way better & the progressive feel of the lever was nice.  Overall I'm not sure of the benefits - didn't they do it with V's a few years back & it never really caught on (the servowave thing that is)?

No they did XT parrelal push with the V's,  Avid did there own version to,  much better than standard V's,  but disks where already around and better so not many bothered ( a mate did and got on with them )

The Cam in the lever is new to MTB brakes I think.

Yes Nobby the LX v-brake levers were marketed Servo Wave and had an adjustable bite point on the lever.  I still have some in the shed.  

i thought hopes were ok. not great though, got annoyed with them after a while, and got rid.

got 07 XTs, which are fantastic, much better than the diatech anchors on my current 29er, which are a bit agricultural. rode the XTs for the forst time for a while yesterday and nearly went over the bars going down my steep drive...

was going to get formula oros for my new 29er, but got some XT servowave levers with xtr calipers for bit cheaper...  expect to be impressed with them! (week or two away from using them though)

You did the 'build your own thing then Monkey?

Kato ! wrote (see)

Yes Nobby the LX v-brake levers were marketed Servo Wave and had an adjustable bite point on the lever.  I still have some in the shed.  

Thanks Kato - for a second I thought I was going mad