Maguras - tell me about them

[Pickle]

I rode a bike with them once, my sponsor at the time gave me a Claud Butler with them on, but the bike was a 16" so I gave it back; too small. However, for the short ride I did remember being very impressed with them.

The CB had the all black ones, but I've seen red, black and yellow sets; is there any difference?

Are they high maintenance? I guess with fluid they require servicing, bleeding etc; is this easy?

Are they better than the DX V's my RTS is wearing at the moment?

There have been various sets in varying condition kicking around the FS thread, whats a fair price?

Thanks for any advice

 

[FSR-Si]

Fit them, Set them up, forget about them.

Its that simple. They beat Canti's and V's all day long.

 

[JeRkY]

Very low maintenance! Replace pads every now and again and thats it.
I have HS11's on my Orange which do the job with a great sense of satisfaction.

I got mine for £30 the lot, whcih was cheap, HS33's tend to fetch more.

 

[orange71]

yup as above fit and forget (just a bit fiddly to fit!).

 

[utahdog2003]

Most Magura failures I've seen were related to installation issues, hose lengths either too short and they get pulled out when the bars spin or the suspension compresses, or they are so long that they get hung up on stuff when on the trail (one guy hooked his line on his own heel! :roll: ). I'm also a big fan of always using new olives when making a new connection. I know some folks save a bit of dough by reusing hardware, but the stuff is cheap, so use the new stuff when you make your connections.

Install them right and they work great. And like the other fellas have said, they are nearly maintenance free after proper instalation.

 

[FSR-Si]

To add to what utahdog2003 has just wrote, Its always best to use new olives and they can be bought on the bay, I got some a few weeks ago 10 for £2.

 

[hamster]

The pads are snap fit, so once they are set up that's it...for ever.

Setup is less fiddly than cantis, see the other thread running:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24146
where I went through how to install them.

There's no need to change the fluid, so provided you don't damage the hose it's fit and forget. I've got one set that have run for 10 or so years with nothing more than pad changes.

 

[FairfaxPat]

Magura Brakes

I had a pair of them when they first came out and on a long descent like our local Mt. Tam they faded quite badly-probably because of a lack of a place for the heat to go-however on flat or rolling ground they worked excellent and are VERY powerful, almost as good as the modern disc brakes I have on my new bike. Also they are really easy to fit on the bike-just bolt them up and go!

 

[neilll]

The black ones were the 1st Generation ones...I got a set with my 1991 Saracen Traverse Hydrotech (bought new in '91) and when I stripped the bike they went on my Pace when I built that in 1997.....all I have ever done is fit new pads in all that time.
I did several thousand miles on the Saracen, including some long hard offroad routes and the Pace has had an equally hard time since.

You stop like Roadrunner, they are proper mental brakes and WILL piss over any canti's or V's. I've never ridden discs (new fangled modern invention ) so I don't know if they are better than discs (I suspect perhaps not).

The downside is they are mud-magnets...that's about it.

Yellow came later, as did blue and red and they made a few tweaks over the years. I bought a blue set on here a few months ago for £40, a bit tatty but I'm going to repaint them one day...
There's been a few sets on here for around that price....red ones will always be more money cos of some corporate branding bollocks...

 

[tintin40]

Just sweet brakes. Power. easy to maintain, come in different colours, I love them on Trimbles In fact the best rim brake out there.
But be careful if buying second hand. The guy i bought one set from disconnected the hose before sending. So when i got them the rear had no oil in. And i had extra ££ putting oil in :twisted: