Magura MT4 brakes

[Blackbird]

So I ordered my Charger Silent yesterday and I'm very excited about it. I've read an awful lot over the last couple of months and eventually decided on the Charger and, with the dealer yesterday, I settled on the Silent model.

There's general praise for Riese and Muller bikes online which persuaded me that was the brand to go for. I have been looking at various component reviews too and while some things, like the Thud Buster post, get pretty much universal praise, other things, like the Magura MT4 brakes, come in for universal derision (magazine reviews and customer review from Chain Reaction Cycles)

I would like to know what R&M riders think about these brakes. Modifying and upgrading is fun but I'd rather not start straight away after spending so much on the first place .

thanks in advance.

 

[Blackbird]

Thanks for your reply. I have a couple of questions.
What do you mean by "burp the brakes"?
What are the valve screws?
I am familiar with Shimano brakes, I have them on my mtb and I can bleed and maintain them no problem. I am mechanically competent but I have never used it worked on maguras.

 

[Zaphod]

I ride a 2019 Homage GX Rohloff (low speed). One initial concern when buying the Homage was the weight of the ebike matched to the stopping power of the MT4 brakes. I felt R&M should have gone with at least the quad-piston MT5 brakes. MT7's would probably be overkill. Nevertheless, I haven't had any issues with the stock MT4 brakes. I ride down lots of hills, street and trail, and limit my downhill speed to 25-35mph. Often I am on the brakes all the way down. I don't feel any vibration and very little fade. I have also done some emergency braking, for the usual reasons: potholes, snakes, other cyclists, assorted hazards leaping in front of me, etc. My ebike slowed/stopped in a well-controlled fashion.

The greatest enemy of disc brakes is heat so whatever changes you can make to dissipate heat is a worthy upgrade. That's why I am considering a rotor upgrade for the front wheel. Magura has announced their eSTOP pads and rotors specifically for ebikes. I think the calipers are the same between eSTOP and non-eSTOP. It is pretty easy to increase the rotor diameter on your ebike. It consists of a new rotor and a new fork adapter for the caliper. You can reuse everything else. All in all less than $100 without labor. I am looking at a 203mm Magura MDR-P rotor with eSTOP pads (available by year's end). There is also a 220mm rotor available but that might be overkill. I am still researching my options.

If you choose to do nothing with your new Charger, you will be fine. I don't know why Magura has the reputation you say it has but I have no complaints. I think R&M has started using MT5 brakes on some of their models for a little extra stopping power.

 

[Alaskan]

I have 3,700 miles on my 2019 Homage Rolholff HS. As a 210 pounder who likes to ride fast, I changed out the front disk rotor right away from 180mm to 203mm, a quick, easy and inexpensive upgrade. I just replaced the pads last week. Knock on wood, they have been trouble free for me thus far. As a class 3 bike from Europe, the levers are the electric switch type that activates the rear brake lights. My wife rides a 2018 Homage Rolhoff HS, which has 4,200 miles. It came with Shimano XT 8000 brakes which have also been trouble free.

 

[Blackbird]

Sounds like I have little to worry about but I might go for a larger 203mms rotor for the front brake. That's exactly what I did on my mountain bike as well by the way.

 

[Alaskan]

In talking with local mountain bike gurus, I have been told by more than one person that 4 piston brakes are more a matter of back-up/redundancy rather than greater stopping power. They also develop less heat as the braking effort is distributed over greater pad surface, so they are better for reducing heat related brake fade for serious downhill mountain biking but are way overkill for road riding even in hilly country. They have all said there is no point in changing from 2 piston to 4 piston calipers on a Homage.

 

[steve mercier]

You can check some YouTube videos about burping your brakes. Essentially you can get the air bubbles out.

For the valve on top of the brake levers, if you open it (for example to burp or replenish the hydraulic fluid), make sure that you respect the torque value! This is a screw that will break easily.

We often call that bleeding the brakes in Canada.

 

[steve mercier]

Sounds like I have little to worry about but I might go for a larger 203mms rotor for the front brake. That's exactly what I did on my mountain bike as well by the way.

I will say again that all Ebikes are heavier and should come stock with 203 rotors. I put Ice Tech 203s on my Charger (which came with Shimano 180,s) , along with USA made Kool -Stop organic finned pads. Now the brakes behave fittingly. The Kool-Stop pads (which are cheaper than Shimano to boot) have a great feel to them.

 

[Feliz]

We often call that bleeding the brakes in Canada.

Must be an English thing.

 

[Blackbird]

Brilliant replies. Thanks all for your input.

 

[Blackbird]

Just as an extra to this discussion, I have done some more research on the suntour fork that comes with the Charger Silent and the maximum permitted brake rotor size is listed as 180mm.

I will ride with what they give me and when time comes for an upgrade I think I will go for these. They have had quite a lot of good reviews and I believe we're designed with ebikes in mind.

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