Any mainstream hydraulic brake with 200-220mm rotors and metallic pads is 95% as good as this. Its sort of wrong to refer to brakes as having stopping power - they don't generate stopping power, they transfer the force from you finger to the pistons. After that its in the pad material and rotors. Efficiency is the better term. Higher end brakes are stiffer everywhere, which means more of your finger force goes into the braking force rather than deformation of the caliper/master cylinder, or expansion of the brake line, so they feel more powerful. But, if your brake can lock a wheel completely (which most brakes can do with big rotors and metallic pads) there is really no more stopping power to be had. Personally, I am a fan of TRPs, but will be getting Formula brakes since they offer extended support with parts, so you can completely rebuild them.
I would strongly argue your 95% claim, haha. At best I'd say 70%. I agree that "power" is not everything, which is why I focused on more important qualities like consistency, versatility, adjustability, etc in this video. Increasing rotor size is a convenient bandage for poor designs though. 🙂
Magura MT7 with HC3 levers on all my mountain bikes! They save my life often. Excellent ergonomics and very adjustable. Can be tough to bleed right on install but good for 10 years after. Congrats on new brakes. Look great!
absolute fire review. High level production, extremely high level riding, great script, valuable information. You nailed this one, Dale! 10/10 viewer score
THANK YOU for not dragging the video as much as I drag my brakes. Every second of the video felt worth my time watching and I feel respected as a viewer! Also, that ride looks gorgeous holy canoli dude, where is that???
I've only own Intend's suspension products but can confirm that their customer service is 👌. Usually get to talk to the man himself (Cornelius) and he's always sure to throw in a smiley face somewhere on that email. Solid dude and company! Hope to try those brakes someday
Hey Dale, great review there. I like your very relaxed tone and energy, makes the product shine even more. Will check more of your vids from now on! :)
Great work! And can only agree. I really like the little empty lever travel, direkt but with awesome controllability. And it’s so easy to bleed this breaks.
Congratulations 1st on your subscribers count 2nd on being able to buy yourself a gift that you have been looking forward to and truly enjoy. Thank you for testing these out and sharing your thoughts with us. I really enjoyed the entire video.
Had huge issues on a new brake purchase with brake noise. You cannot imagine the number of things I tried to get rid of the noise. In the end a simple swap to MTX brake pads did the trick.
Ive been eyeing Intend for a while now, these brakes have always been really interesting since they launched. Glad you were able to get your hands on some!
It is really interesting to see how many people want this type of content. If you start testing different suspension mounted on the same frame it would be amazing
@@DaleStoneKeep in mind that this is a classic case of “new and fresh vs old, worn and could probably do with a rebuild”. That said, A4s are likely a bit better overall than Codes.
I am currently using xtr levers (9020) mixed with saint calipers, metal pads and 2.3mm 203 rotors - the stopping power of this setup is both incredible and terrifying at the same time!!
@@tippy35075 the difference is incredible - everything has changed. There is so much power and nice modulation. I bought ztto rotors from ali-exress after watching a youtube review and he wasnt wrong in any way - 36 bucks CAD (for 2) well spent!
I've tried the Maximas a few times in parking lots. The feel is similar, though the Trickstuffs I've tried have been slightly more on/off feeling. The biggest thing these Intends have above them are the painless bleed and a number of small details. IMBY is likely getting a set of Maximas this year, so I hope to do a detailed head to head comparison...
It’s hard to explain how they feel but they are amazing and to be honest you just get used to them. I have the Maximas on 3 bikes now as anything else just doesn’t compare. Plus despite what you may here getting them and a complete set of spares is pretty easy. Which is now made better now they sell spare levers.Had my first set when they were on kickstarter about 5 years ago. Had to do nothing to. them in all that time. Got a set for my new Atherton Am 170 a few months ago and bought some more for my AthertonDH bike which is due anytime now. Nice to see you riding real brakes rather than the Chinese fakes(Lewisbrakes). Love what you do man . Keep it real.👍🏻👊
Little tip: the Trinity uses the matchmaker standard for mounting shifters. So any adaptor that would mount to a SRAM matchmaker lever works with the Trinitys.(Like WolfTooth ISEV-MM) You have to do a bit of filing to get the adaptor down to 8mm in width.
That makes sense, though I have to review the Trinities with the options that are provided with them and not any third party adapters that could be included. Good tip though!
Okay - After watching this video about 13 times the last few months. And having planned an enduro/bike park build for a while. Missing the last batch of brakes, I have finally managed to get a set! Did a reverse of what you did - A europeean buying a lightly used set from Canada. Probably cost me same/if not more than what they cost new. But I have a bike thats fully ready except for the brakes, which I want to get to ride before winter comes here. Will be mounting them in a few days, and do the first test rides next week. Super stoked, and feel like I made the right choice, since I dont really get along with any other brakes...
@@manfromanotherland They are very very good - I havent had any other fancy brakes, but compared to anything from Sram or shimano, they blow those out of the water. They are so good I want to get a second pair just to have as spare, but havent pulled the trigger yet. My other bike has sram brakes, and I cant stand those brakes now. So mostly waiting for them to release the smaller caliper for trail/xc bikes that they have teased. Just ordered a fork/shock from them, since I am such a fan of their brakes, I want to try their other stuff.
I went with the TRP DH EVO and they feel a lot different than my previous Shimano and SRAM code rsc. I'm also a Claymore enjoyer so I like to try new things (for me, i know trp is not a small player like intend) but these breakes sure seem interesting. Thanks for the review! When I got my bike your videos hyped the hell out of me while waiting to arrive. Keep doing this!
The TRP DH EVOs with Freedomcoast levers are astonishingly amazing brakes! Maybe I'm just saying that because I converted from Code RSCs and the difference I'm experiencing is astronomical. Would I feel the same difference if I upgraded the TRPs to the Intends?? It's possible of course, but I remain skeptical. They're more than double the price of the TRPs! (I know at the end of the vid, you did address the whole, "double the price" issue, lol! Great video BTW)
Just got them as well from the third batch and really looking forward to mount them onto my Blur TR! Regarding weight and weight weenies: they are still around 10g lighter than SRAM Level UItimate 2 piston brakes (which are 🚮), so no excuses weight wise. The only problem that must be noted is that you need at least 180mm/200mm rotors back/front because of spoke clearance (so here you might add some weight again if you were running 160/180mm rotors before)
My understanding is that there are no dead spots inside the hydraulic circuit for air to get stuck in. I'm also used to Shimano and these are way quicker to do a full bleed on. Intend has a great video demonstrating how easy these are to bleed.
@@DaleStoneI use Shimano. You can bleed them relatively easily by just pushing a full syringe of oil through the system from the caliper to the lever and into the bleed funnel. This is not the official way, but this worked every time on my bikes.
@@DaleStone on my Shimanos it works fine, even if you have air inside because of a lever swap or if you replaced a caliper. What some people do additionally is pre filling the syringe sone time before, to let very small air bubbles gasing out of the oil. If you pull up the syringe you can sometimes see small bubbles inside the oil. I haven't done this yet since the result was fine without it.
@@simonm1447 this is how I bleed mine as well. Container at the lever and then pushing through a syringe full of fresh oil or sometimes up to two full ones until the oil becomes clear and bubble free. Only takes a handful of minutes and simply works. Hence my amazement at claims of being so much easier. At the end of the day, every hydraulic brake system is simply about flushing and refreshing the oil no?
My favorite brakes I've been on so far are the TRP DH-R Evo, which were on a demo bike, and I've liked the TRP Quadiem on my own bikes. I have a set of Hope Tech 4 E4 in a box waiting for my new bike...
11 месяцев назад+10
Damnit, this is the first time i've seen more of you than your hands and feet :D
Your “why?” In response to two finger braking convinced me to train my left hand to 1 finger brake. Prior to this video i had been telling myself that I’d never be able to do this!
Fantastic review Dale , The lack of spare parts availability at that price point would scare the bejesus out of me. That's actually why i eventually made the switch from shimano saints to hope tech 4 v4's. Despite prefering the feel of the saints , i got sick of having to buy a full caliper or lever every time a seal would start leaking. The fact that there are still parts and service kits available for 20 year old hope brakes was a big deciding factor
I think there's a key point missing there. My understanding is that Intend actually has a pretty good stock of spare parts available if you need them, they just aren't commonly available in shops or for purchase without reaching out. Service requiring a spare is thankfully the exception and not the rule, but where you live relative to Germany will certainly influence how fast you'll be back up and running. I trust Intend will continue to supply spares as necessary based on the sustainability of their packaging alone! haha
Hey Dale, a short info about Cornelius, intend and Trickstuff. Cornelius worked in the past for Trickstuff and was part of the team they invented the Direttisima and the Piccola brakes😉 I rode by myself an Intend Hero on my bike. If you have the possibility to ride an Intend fork, do it. These forks a great. Kind regards from Germany Phil 😊🤙🏻
These brakes sound outstanding and I'd love to try one of their forks. Lack of spares and service parts are the main reason I've never bought any Intend products. I'm not shipping my suspension to Germany from the USA to get it serviced. I'd need a set of spare brakes and suspension if I used Intend stuff.
These brakes (and their forks, I believe) are very easy to service, much better than average, and don't need to be shipped anywhere to perform it. My understanding is that Intend's in house stock of spares is pretty good, but a failure requiring a spare is definitely the exception and not the rule. I hear you, it would be an inconvenience living here for sure, but it's a risk I think is justifiable given their performance! An early adopter fee. 🙂
I have a couple of questions about compatibility. 1. What sort of brake pads do they take? If they're a bespoke shape and spares aren't easily available then its a deal breaker for me. Also rotor thickness, are they happy with thicker rotors? What do Intend recommend?
They use the most popular brake pad standard in the world, SRAM Code. Intend claims they are compatible with all rotor thicknesses between 1.7 and 2.3mm, no specific recommendation. Both are awesome compatibility details.
@@DaleStone That's good to hear, they're officially on my list of luxury upgrades now. It just leaves me wondering if it would be easier to find and hire the A-Team and get them to track a set down for me 😜
Solid review and some really sweet tech in those. The visual style of those levers really reminds me of Paul's Components' Love Levers from back in the day. Does that mention of quirks and features at the beginning of the video mean that Dale is the type of guy to watch Doug DeMuro?
Everybody who can should try their forks too. Ignore old reviews from years ago. Their forls are even far better. Such high Quality of production, reliability, Sensitivity, very supportive, easy to work on, spare parts are cheap in case of crashes, sealings etc are standard and their Service is sublime. So the Initial peice can be ignored as you invest in highwnd Performance and low longtime costs. PS at every Service the newest Updates will be installed for free The same probably goes for the damper. But I have not bought it, YET. And I am Sure it will keep up wirh a ViVid but only weighs around 430 grams.
5:04 Which temps? does that include -10C? ( I ride that often as I live in Norway) -20C or below? It even got down to -23C. but I was feeling too bad to ride anyway, so did not get to test it. but that's brutal probably would need better glove solution for that. With Formula Cura 4 and Formula mineral oil it works in -10C but gets woody and more sensitive. I asked Trickstuff what their brakes can do, they the brakes will perform great down to -15 C with Bionol.
@@DaleStone I forgot about this oil, I see it's a fork oil too. Easy to get. I read good this, but is this as dangerous as Dot? I will look into this. I want least dangerous, toxcc options.
I started out on sram g2’s and thought they were ok at best, they faded easily and weren’t the best looking. Ended up swapping out for TRP E.2.3’s and they are SO much better, like you were saying about the trinitys, they’re stylish, mad grippy, and there’s never ending braking on them. Granted they are E-bike specific brakes on my trail bike, but still.
How do they compare to some Hope V4 brakes is what id like to know, so far anything Hope i got has been well priced, beautifully built, incredibly reliable and super easily serviceable
I don't remember exactly which models I've tried, but I've usually been left feeling underwhelmed by Hopes. This could easily be down to inconsistent bleeds.
It's been a couple of years since I last rode those on-trail but I remember they were solid. I don't think they had quite the same ability to reduce rider fatigue as these Intends and bleeding was more challenging. I believe they were certainly better than average performers though... maybe it's time to find a set to properly review!
lol it suddenly dawned on me why dale hangs out with a herd of golden retrievers…makes so much sense I don’t know why I didn’t see that earlier. Loving the new formats and in depth reviews, brakes look super cool but there were a couple of reasons why I will stick to my shimanos on both my bikes for parts availability until Intend becomes a little more common to source for parts. But that said I find them super cool and can’t wait to see what the future holds for that company.
The invisibly rating got me thinking, I have a few sets of brakes i'm constantly thinking about 😅 After hard braking with my shimano's the pistons don't retract and I get rotor rub so I have to pump the brakes for it to go away, I have a set of sram force brakes on my gravel bike and I have to squeeze the lever so damn hard to get any kind of power, then I have a set of TRP brakes that keep going out of adjustment and I have turn the bite point mid ride.
"Powerful" brakes aka high piston force is easy to make, the piston sizes differential between lever and calipers provides the distance for force equation. You will trade off brake levers feel/sensitivity and make slowing and not locking up harder. What matters is force ramp up and even pad pressing
I love my Hope Tech4 V4s and E4. But the Intend look amazing too. It gets even wilder when you realize, that Intend is basically run by a single person (Cornelius), who started the company in his room as a student and up to this date has his office and so on in a normal flat :)
@@TheGman420 No. I run the green race compound on both ebike and enduro paired with sram 200mm HS2 discs. Works perfectly. On the e4 I use trickstuff discs with the green compound. They tend to squeak a little bit when not fully pressed, but barely noticeable
@Dalestone I'm now using these brakes and they are super nice. Do you find that once the pads hit the rotor it feels a little spongey? Like the wall you hit is not as firm as Shimano brakes. Or perhaps mine need more bleeding?
Hi Dale, great review, they do sound and look like really great quality brakes. I used the Hayes mag circa 2001 up until about 7 years ago and exclusively Hope Tech 3 v4s since then. One of the cool things about those, that I had no idea about before buying them, is independent adjustments for reach and bite point. Not sure if I could switch to another set of brakes w/o that now.
Opposite experience of me then. I have tech 3 e4s that I bought because of the adjustability (and spare parts availability). After playing around with them, I came to the conclusion that the only place where I want the bite point adjustment to be is all the way in. And I can't imagine that I'd ever want anything else than as little empty lever travel as possible, so that feature has been dropped of the requirement list.
@@Finnspin_unicycles Yes you are right, but once you have more than one wheel set it’s got a use case. Even with identical rotors and hubs the geometry is not identical and so I use it all the time to account for the small changes on a wheel swap.
Absolutely an awesome vid! Next up could you review some budget-oriented brakes such as the mt520s or mt420s? Just to see the difference between $1300 and $300 brakes.
Thanks for covering these, I've been really interested in getting some impressions on them since I saw them released. Now I just need to wait for the next drop... How would you compare the freestroke to other brakes? Is it really long or do they start engaging pretty quickly when you pull the lever? Are you able to run the levers fairly close to the bar or do they require the levers to be pretty far out there?
Get those 3am alarms set! 😆 I think Intend calls that "dead stroke", and these have an incredibly short one, probably industry leading. I like running my brakes quite far away and having them bite immediately, but I'd assume you could dial in the reach adjustment screw and have them bite much closer to the bar. I'll give it a shot sometime.
@@DaleStone Thanks for the reply, I like the term "dead stroke" a lot more, it's good to know it's short. I really dislike how far out some brakes have to be run because there is so much useless stroke in them, it's one of the main things driving me to certain brakes over others. Now just to wait for their next drop :) Thanks again.
Thanks for the insights, too bad you didn't order their caliper adapter (+20 or +40 postmount offset). I'm using just the adapter with my XT8120's and it makes the caliper position stronger and better aligned. It reduced the noise in wet conditions and improves on pad wear, they wear down very evenly now. Having such a high end caliper you must want to have the best possible alignment on frame and rotor as well...
There's a bit of misinformation to unpack here. Firstly a post mount spacer won't give you any better alignment, if anything it could make it worse as it introduces another source of error in the tolerance stack. A larger rotor will indeed give you more powerful brakes and better thermal efficiency, but if you don't need the extra power (because you weigh 62kg) then it's just additional weight and complexity that isn't needed. 🙂
@@DaleStone but you’re using a shimano +40mm postmount adapter from what i can see in the video? Intend makes their own blackline adapter which is made to much nicer tolerances and a nicer placement of the caliper, requiring less offset on top of the fork’s postmount interface.
I follow now haha, thanks. On the front I'm using a 180-203 (+23) Shimano adapter. I have no doubt the Intend adapter is better quality, more accurate, and a lower "offset" distance, but I've never had any alignment or performance issues with this one I found in my closet. If I needed to purchase an adapter I would definitely consider a nicer Intend one for just about any bike, especially once you start getting into the +40 range.
@@DaleStone Honestly it's not the content (which is great don't get me wrong). It's your attitude and the way you communicate. I'm a big believer that bikes are supposed to be fun.
Great review! Just found your channel. It seems like you are carrying over Doug Demuro’s review format. Is that the case? I’m hearing a lot of parallels - “Quirks and features” and “Dale Scale” is just like the “Doug Score”. You definitely have your own style and your POV riding is awesome! Looking forward to more reviews.
im curious as to how the levers hold up for crashes. I have the Trickstuff Piccolas which are nearly identical to those, but they have carbon levers which are garbage. They are as brittle s breadsticks and ive broken more than id like to admit.
I know of three sets in existence around here and none of us have had any crash-related issues so far. Not exactly the world's biggest sample size though, haha.
Do you happen to have a design background? The way you use seemingly standard spreadsheet SW produce your good looking scale is pretty cool and resourceful
OK, I watched this whole video waiting for the chart with all the different brakes on it because I want to see the comparison between these and the hayes dominion A4’s but I guess you haven’t got the warranty replacement yet
I actually just received them two days ago! Currently testing another brake set, so I would expect the Hayes part 2 video to come out probably in July. 🙂
It's been a while since I've tried Saints, but Shimano claims they have the same power as XT/XTR which I know well. I think these Trinities do have more power for how much you have to squeeze the lever, and are probably a bit more intuitive to modulate.
@@DaleStone thanks for the reply Dale! That’s great to hear. I used to have the XTR 4pistons a couple years ago but unfortunately both he front and rear callipers failed (leaky pistons) and beeen running the Code RSC with after market pads and 220/200 rotors but as a large rider (260 lbs) you can’t have enough brake power. Been debating the Maximas but these have me very intrigued.
Your channel is at 278k! When did you hit 100k? These look awesome, the best brakes I had were Hope Mono M4, but they were the absolute worst to service and work on.
Hello, i came here as a beginner biker and I was waiting for you to discuss what makes these better than the normal brakes i currently have on my bike. Or what makes them different than other high end brakes. Great video otherwise!
Intend has a fantastic website outlining all of the nerdy engineering and technical details you could imagine, I'd highly recommend giving it a read. Since this channel is not a paid press release platform, I chose not to cover details that are readily available elsewhere.
Just an off the topic comment, see how far forward your saddle is to get you into the right position? The seat tube angle required for the geo is just silly. Look at Polè, that is precisely why their 80 degree seat tube is awesome and sets you front center (along with all the rest of the dialed geo) so much better than the slack seat tubes(which by the way get even slacker and as you go uphill, and also put lots of force into the dropper. Great job on the brake review, right now im liking my DHR EVO with 2.3 rotor width.
Two things: 1. This bike has a very modern 78° ESTA, which is far better than the average these days and not exactly slack haha. 2. The saddle position is a reflection of how steep the roads are around here. If the grades on my average ride were shallower then I'd move it back to the middle for sure.
Nice brakes. One way you could make your videos for stuff like this is offer more affordable alternatives that work close to optimal but at a good price point. That way you cater to the high end enthusiast and the general consumers. cheers 👊 - currently running mt420s with touring levers 😅
I have an MT520 review baking in the oven as we speak, haha. As I review more components, I'll be able to draw parallels and comparisons to a library of components I've already reviewed. But you're probably right, I should compare forwards and not only backwards. 🙂
@@DaleStone Haha I figured you had something in the mix. You did well, garner the interest, rattle peoples cages with the higher priced brakes then draw them in for the more affordable ones 😄.
@@DaleStone with the mt420s One thing that happened a few times on really long descents at brohm, my back brake lever pumped up pretty bad to the point it was unusable. It might be because whoever filled the brake when I bought it might of overfilled it or could be air in the line. So I've decided to learn how to bleed my own brakes finally lol. I had slx before and that never happened and they were only 2 piston so I couldn't of been dragging them much.
In my opinion, the best brake is how you feel about it while riding. All DH brakes are more than powerful for any type riding that anyone needs. For me, I prefer the feel of Sram Code but I used DOT 5.1 prestone. I dont have the squeegee spongy that everyone is feeling. What I love about the Sram code, you can fully service it and overhaul the whole brake set. If Hayes dominion A4 have kits to rebuild it, it would have been #1 for sure.
Personal preference is definitely a factor, but saying that "all DH brakes are more than powerful for any type of riding" is not true. A good set of brakes can make the difference between riding a feature clean and crashing on it, or making it to the end of a stage/run and having to stop to rest your hands/arms.
Those look nice. I have a set of Trickstuff Picccola Carbon on my XC bike. They are the lightest and strongest brakes I have ever seen. Have you compared the Intend to the Trickstuff?
I've parking lot tested the Maximas a handful of times, and they are a bit more on-off than these. Where Intend really shines is in the details, specifically their painless bleed. Would be fun to try the Piccola's someday!
Easiest to bleed will always be Grimeca. You just don't. Because you don't have to. Just empty them in a bucket and refill through the reservoir. In general use top up the reservoir, pump, top up again - done. Only break I've never had a single problem with over eight years of heavy use. The set is still being used daily and didn't need a single spare part after 20 years, still work like they did in the first year - they just look utterly broken. I'd even pay two grand for something as good as them in modern because it'd be the last set I buy and the last time I'd have to do break maintenance. Best bike product I've ever bought.
@@DaleStone Invisible sums up what I'm looking for very well, great idea to add it as seperate category. I've been trying to get one for that very reason. I've come to expect high reliability due to good engineering, no corners cut and actual innovation from Intend. Might be a streak of bad luck, but I've had so much trouble with major brand components in the recent past, I really don't want to feel like a beta tester again if possible. Anyway, I wasn't as lucky as you yet. Or rather just not as diligent. I guess I'll intensify my efforts, good work on the review.
The Intend USD forks had / have so much potential - it was a shame they didn't get enough interest to support a more realistic price-point. I see that these brakes are similarly highly priced ... hopefully they don't suffer the same fate as the forks.
It seems to all be a very deliberate business decision to avoid getting too big too fast. From that perspective I get it, but I also think that Intend is too conservative in that thinking!
I have a video coming comparing them directly to the Trickstuff Maxima. So far the TNT (that's what we already call them here in Germany) outperform the MXA by a bit.
Interesting! I'll have to give it a watch. I've never owned the MXA personally, but my understanding was that the performance on trail is similar, it's in the details where the TNTs shine.
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What are the best brakes that you've ever used? 🏆
Learn more about these wild brakes at: bit.ly/IntendDaleStone 🔥
I've only ever really used Shimano XT 2 pot brakes.
Any mainstream hydraulic brake with 200-220mm rotors and metallic pads is 95% as good as this. Its sort of wrong to refer to brakes as having stopping power - they don't generate stopping power, they transfer the force from you finger to the pistons. After that its in the pad material and rotors. Efficiency is the better term. Higher end brakes are stiffer everywhere, which means more of your finger force goes into the braking force rather than deformation of the caliper/master cylinder, or expansion of the brake line, so they feel more powerful. But, if your brake can lock a wheel completely (which most brakes can do with big rotors and metallic pads) there is really no more stopping power to be had.
Personally, I am a fan of TRPs, but will be getting Formula brakes since they offer extended support with parts, so you can completely rebuild them.
I would strongly argue your 95% claim, haha. At best I'd say 70%. I agree that "power" is not everything, which is why I focused on more important qualities like consistency, versatility, adjustability, etc in this video. Increasing rotor size is a convenient bandage for poor designs though. 🙂
TRP Trail EVOs are my favorites so far. I would probably prefer the DH over the Trail but I'm cheap lol
Magura MT7 with HC3 levers on all my mountain bikes! They save my life often. Excellent ergonomics and very adjustable. Can be tough to bleed right on install but good for 10 years after. Congrats on new brakes. Look great!
absolute fire review. High level production, extremely high level riding, great script, valuable information. You nailed this one, Dale! 10/10 viewer score
Exactly what I was thinking! New sub acquired.
Quirks and features!?.. Dale Scale!?.. somebody has been watching some Doug Demuro. Nice. 🤣
even the black screen in the beginning with his info on it is a doug classic
THIS is the...
Why not copy from the best?
It's partly for the joke, but also Doug no longer does detailed Doug Score breakdowns so it's time to evolve the format into a different niche! 🙂
LOL.. FOR SURE
THANK YOU for not dragging the video as much as I drag my brakes. Every second of the video felt worth my time watching and I feel respected as a viewer!
Also, that ride looks gorgeous holy canoli dude, where is that???
Haha, I couldn't have talked much faster if I tried! 😆
Canada!
I Intend to try these one day
better get that buy bot script ready then scalpers are after them as well these have been resold for ~$10k ...
@christopherstaples6758 these really weren't that difficult to get lol
I've only own Intend's suspension products but can confirm that their customer service is 👌. Usually get to talk to the man himself (Cornelius) and he's always sure to throw in a smiley face somewhere on that email. Solid dude and company! Hope to try those brakes someday
Their customer service is truly one of the best. Speedy, concise and knowledgeable. 🧠
Dude your content creation quality is through the roof! Absolutely love it keep it up
Hope brakes are better.
Definitely not from all of the ones I've tried!
Brembo
Hey Dale, great review there. I like your very relaxed tone and energy, makes the product shine even more. Will check more of your vids from now on! :)
This is the only one like this haha, for now! 🫡
Great work! And can only agree. I really like the little empty lever travel, direkt but with awesome controllability.
And it’s so easy to bleed this breaks.
Congratulations 1st on your subscribers count 2nd on being able to buy yourself a gift that you have been looking forward to and truly enjoy. Thank you for testing these out and sharing your thoughts with us. I really enjoyed the entire video.
Thanks for the positivity Brandon! 🙌🏻
Such a good review I hope you do more components. My favorite video of yours
Thank you! I hope to do more like this soon.
Nice video man! Wow those brakes look fancy!
Haha thanks Jeff, their performance certainly matches their looks!
Had huge issues on a new brake purchase with brake noise. You cannot imagine the number of things I tried to get rid of the noise. In the end a simple swap to MTX brake pads did the trick.
Ive been eyeing Intend for a while now, these brakes have always been really interesting since they launched. Glad you were able to get your hands on some!
A bit of luck and a bit of money required! 😅
It is really interesting to see how many people want this type of content. If you start testing different suspension mounted on the same frame it would be amazing
Great review. When you had your bike build video I was curious about these brakes. Thanks for sharing your feedback! 🚲🚲
Cornelius worked for or with Trickstuff. He developed the Maxima as far as I recall. Thumbs up for the nice unbiased review. Cheers
If I was riding that trail, I would want the best brakes that money could buy (and maybe a parachute). Great review and amazing riding!
just got Hayes Dominion A4 to replace Code RSC, and oh my! I never thought something like that is even possible
And the Code RSCs are the best brakes that SRAM offers!! 🥲
@@DaleStone Sounds like it's possible that SRAM has an actually good brake coming down the pipe....and they're mineral oil.
Time to undo years of slandering mineral oil then... haha.
Hayes Dominion are amazing, found a fr + rr set for $250 CAN last winter - hard to imagine much better!
@@DaleStoneKeep in mind that this is a classic case of “new and fresh vs old, worn and could probably do with a rebuild”. That said, A4s are likely a bit better overall than Codes.
I am currently using xtr levers (9020) mixed with saint calipers, metal pads and 2.3mm 203 rotors - the stopping power of this setup is both incredible and terrifying at the same time!!
Do you get wandering bite point with the BL-M9020 levers?
How much difference did you notice going to a 2.3mm thick rotor over the Shimano ones?
@@tippy35075 the difference is incredible - everything has changed. There is so much power and nice modulation. I bought ztto rotors from ali-exress after watching a youtube review and he wasnt wrong in any way - 36 bucks CAD (for 2) well spent!
@@viperrules24 I don't, but I burp them often due to the issue with the wiper seal on the servowave piston.
Be interesting to see how they would compare to my Trickstuff Maximas.They look pretty good also.👍🏻
I've tried the Maximas a few times in parking lots. The feel is similar, though the Trickstuffs I've tried have been slightly more on/off feeling. The biggest thing these Intends have above them are the painless bleed and a number of small details. IMBY is likely getting a set of Maximas this year, so I hope to do a detailed head to head comparison...
It’s hard to explain how they feel but they are amazing and to be honest you just get used to them. I have the Maximas on 3 bikes now as anything else just doesn’t compare.
Plus despite what you may here getting them and a complete set of spares is pretty easy.
Which is now made better now they sell spare levers.Had my first set when they were on kickstarter about 5 years ago. Had to do nothing to. them in all that time.
Got a set for my new Atherton Am 170 a few months ago and bought some more for my AthertonDH bike which is due anytime now.
Nice to see you riding real brakes rather than the Chinese fakes(Lewisbrakes).
Love what you do man . Keep it real.👍🏻👊
Little tip: the Trinity uses the matchmaker standard for mounting shifters. So any adaptor that would mount to a SRAM matchmaker lever works with the Trinitys.(Like WolfTooth ISEV-MM) You have to do a bit of filing to get the adaptor down to 8mm in width.
That makes sense, though I have to review the Trinities with the options that are provided with them and not any third party adapters that could be included. Good tip though!
One of my favorite MTB channels next to Nate Hills, great work.
The OG!
Okay - After watching this video about 13 times the last few months. And having planned an enduro/bike park build for a while. Missing the last batch of brakes, I have finally managed to get a set! Did a reverse of what you did - A europeean buying a lightly used set from Canada. Probably cost me same/if not more than what they cost new. But I have a bike thats fully ready except for the brakes, which I want to get to ride before winter comes here.
Will be mounting them in a few days, and do the first test rides next week. Super stoked, and feel like I made the right choice, since I dont really get along with any other brakes...
Did you get them installed? What’s the verdict? Asking for a friend 👀
@@manfromanotherland They are very very good - I havent had any other fancy brakes, but compared to anything from Sram or shimano, they blow those out of the water. They are so good I want to get a second pair just to have as spare, but havent pulled the trigger yet.
My other bike has sram brakes, and I cant stand those brakes now. So mostly waiting for them to release the smaller caliper for trail/xc bikes that they have teased.
Just ordered a fork/shock from them, since I am such a fan of their brakes, I want to try their other stuff.
great video! I really like this format its fresh and to the point and we get to watch you ride. very cool
Definitely heavily inspired by Doug, haha.
I went with the TRP DH EVO and they feel a lot different than my previous Shimano and SRAM code rsc. I'm also a Claymore enjoyer so I like to try new things (for me, i know trp is not a small player like intend) but these breakes sure seem interesting. Thanks for the review! When I got my bike your videos hyped the hell out of me while waiting to arrive. Keep doing this!
These Intends are to most brakes like the Claymore is to most frames. You get it; and I'll do my best!
@@DaleStone Damn, now I want them desperately hahahaha
The TRP DH EVOs with Freedomcoast levers are astonishingly amazing brakes! Maybe I'm just saying that because I converted from Code RSCs and the difference I'm experiencing is astronomical. Would I feel the same difference if I upgraded the TRPs to the Intends?? It's possible of course, but I remain skeptical. They're more than double the price of the TRPs! (I know at the end of the vid, you did address the whole, "double the price" issue, lol! Great video BTW)
I like the doug demuro references :p
I agree with your review. As a long time Trickstuff owner, these have exceeded my expectations. The install and bleed alone is worth it.
Thanks for the confirmation! 🤘🏻
Great review Dale! I’ll never be in the market for such high end brakes but, for those who are, you’ve done them an incredible service! 👏
Thanks Nick! You never know, I wasn't either! 😆
Hey Dale :) so stoked to became a Trinity owner since yesterday =) cool video! About the minitool, i have a Topeak Mini PT30 with a t10 Torx.
Amazing review! Love your channel!
Awesome content, Dale. Very informative.
Just got them as well from the third batch and really looking forward to mount them onto my Blur TR! Regarding weight and weight weenies: they are still around 10g lighter than SRAM Level UItimate 2 piston brakes (which are 🚮), so no excuses weight wise. The only problem that must be noted is that you need at least 180mm/200mm rotors back/front because of spoke clearance (so here you might add some weight again if you were running 160/180mm rotors before)
Good point with the rotor size constraint. Hopefully it's not relevant for most of my audience, but I missed that in this video!
Why and how are they so much easier to bleed? I run Shimano 4 pots myself and never found it to be very difficult. Genuinely interested
My understanding is that there are no dead spots inside the hydraulic circuit for air to get stuck in. I'm also used to Shimano and these are way quicker to do a full bleed on. Intend has a great video demonstrating how easy these are to bleed.
@@DaleStoneI use Shimano. You can bleed them relatively easily by just pushing a full syringe of oil through the system from the caliper to the lever and into the bleed funnel.
This is not the official way, but this worked every time on my bikes.
I've heard of this trick before, but I've never personally tried it as I've heard mixed (but mostly positive) results. Will try it next time!
@@DaleStone on my Shimanos it works fine, even if you have air inside because of a lever swap or if you replaced a caliper.
What some people do additionally is pre filling the syringe sone time before, to let very small air bubbles gasing out of the oil. If you pull up the syringe you can sometimes see small bubbles inside the oil.
I haven't done this yet since the result was fine without it.
@@simonm1447 this is how I bleed mine as well. Container at the lever and then pushing through a syringe full of fresh oil or sometimes up to two full ones until the oil becomes clear and bubble free. Only takes a handful of minutes and simply works. Hence my amazement at claims of being so much easier. At the end of the day, every hydraulic brake system is simply about flushing and refreshing the oil no?
My favorite brakes I've been on so far are the TRP DH-R Evo, which were on a demo bike, and I've liked the TRP Quadiem on my own bikes. I have a set of Hope Tech 4 E4 in a box waiting for my new bike...
Damnit, this is the first time i've seen more of you than your hands and feet :D
And I always thought he was an antilope. Damn...
Cornelius cat finger. I’m dying 🤣 I’m sorry but that is the most unique name I’ve ever heard and love it!
Cornelius Kapfinger*, like a bond villian! 🥷🏻
Ya I should’ve put the disclaimer on my spelling 😂
Your “why?” In response to two finger braking convinced me to train my left hand to 1 finger brake. Prior to this video i had been telling myself that I’d never be able to do this!
why ? :D 1 Finger all the way :)
Wait until you have arthritis in your hands and then the light bulb will go on about why you have four of them….
Fantastic review Dale , The lack of spare parts availability at that price point would scare the bejesus out of me. That's actually why i eventually made the switch from shimano saints to hope tech 4 v4's. Despite prefering the feel of the saints , i got sick of having to buy a full caliper or lever every time a seal would start leaking. The fact that there are still parts and service kits available for 20 year old hope brakes was a big deciding factor
I think there's a key point missing there. My understanding is that Intend actually has a pretty good stock of spare parts available if you need them, they just aren't commonly available in shops or for purchase without reaching out. Service requiring a spare is thankfully the exception and not the rule, but where you live relative to Germany will certainly influence how fast you'll be back up and running. I trust Intend will continue to supply spares as necessary based on the sustainability of their packaging alone! haha
@@DaleStone ahhh good , I may have misinterpreted that part ! Thanks for clearing that up 👍
@@rab.. I also could have been clearer in the video. 🙂
Reminds me of my favorite looking brake the piccolo.
Super cool setup man. Thanks for the review 🙌
They do look somewhat like the Piccola!
Tge designer of these brakes used to work at Trickstuff, so no mistery there
Hey Dale, a short info about Cornelius, intend and Trickstuff. Cornelius worked in the past for Trickstuff and was part of the team they invented the Direttisima and the Piccola brakes😉
I rode by myself an Intend Hero on my bike. If you have the possibility to ride an Intend fork, do it. These forks a great.
Kind regards from Germany
Phil 😊🤙🏻
Thanks for the clarification Phil, it's a small world in the bike industry haha.
These brakes sound outstanding and I'd love to try one of their forks. Lack of spares and service parts are the main reason I've never bought any Intend products. I'm not shipping my suspension to Germany from the USA to get it serviced. I'd need a set of spare brakes and suspension if I used Intend stuff.
These brakes (and their forks, I believe) are very easy to service, much better than average, and don't need to be shipped anywhere to perform it. My understanding is that Intend's in house stock of spares is pretty good, but a failure requiring a spare is definitely the exception and not the rule. I hear you, it would be an inconvenience living here for sure, but it's a risk I think is justifiable given their performance! An early adopter fee. 🙂
Pretty cool looking brakes. How’s the bite on a SRAM - Shimano scale?
Definitely a lot closer to the Shimano side, maybe even slightly off the scale depending on how you set them up! 💪🏻
I have a couple of questions about compatibility. 1. What sort of brake pads do they take? If they're a bespoke shape and spares aren't easily available then its a deal breaker for me. Also rotor thickness, are they happy with thicker rotors? What do Intend recommend?
They use the most popular brake pad standard in the world, SRAM Code. Intend claims they are compatible with all rotor thicknesses between 1.7 and 2.3mm, no specific recommendation. Both are awesome compatibility details.
@@DaleStone That's good to hear, they're officially on my list of luxury upgrades now. It just leaves me wondering if it would be easier to find and hire the A-Team and get them to track a set down for me 😜
DALE WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME YOU LOOK SO GOOD.
😂😂
Solid review and some really sweet tech in those. The visual style of those levers really reminds me of Paul's Components' Love Levers from back in the day. Does that mention of quirks and features at the beginning of the video mean that Dale is the type of guy to watch Doug DeMuro?
I secretly filmed this with two layered t-shirts.
Everybody who can should try their forks too. Ignore old reviews from years ago. Their forls are even far better. Such high Quality of production, reliability, Sensitivity, very supportive, easy to work on, spare parts are cheap in case of crashes, sealings etc are standard and their Service is sublime.
So the Initial peice can be ignored as you invest in highwnd Performance and low longtime costs.
PS at every Service the newest Updates will be installed for free
The same probably goes for the damper. But I have not bought it, YET. And I am Sure it will keep up wirh a ViVid but only weighs around 430 grams.
5:04 Which temps? does that include -10C? ( I ride that often as I live in Norway) -20C or below? It even got down to -23C. but I was feeling too bad to ride anyway, so did not get to test it. but that's brutal probably would need better glove solution for that.
With Formula Cura 4 and Formula mineral oil it works in -10C but gets woody and more sensitive. I asked Trickstuff what their brakes can do, they the brakes will perform great down to -15 C with Bionol.
So far only down to -5 as it hasn't gotten any colder here this winter, but there were no signs of any change. Intend's website claims -20! 🙂
@@DaleStone sounds promising. I know you mentioned the oil used, but no idea how to spell it.
Putoline 2.5w I believe.
@@DaleStone I forgot about this oil, I see it's a fork oil too. Easy to get. I read good this, but is this as dangerous as Dot? I will look into this. I want least dangerous, toxcc options.
@@mtbboy1993 it's a mineral oil, used for softening baby's bottoms. 🙂
I started out on sram g2’s and thought they were ok at best, they faded easily and weren’t the best looking. Ended up swapping out for TRP E.2.3’s and they are SO much better, like you were saying about the trinitys, they’re stylish, mad grippy, and there’s never ending braking on them. Granted they are E-bike specific brakes on my trail bike, but still.
Sounds like a great option!
we definetly need more dale scales. 😅
That was a brilliant review, well done.
Congrats on hitting 100K! 🎉
Thanks Steve! 🥳
How do they compare to some Hope V4 brakes is what id like to know, so far anything Hope i got has been well priced, beautifully built, incredibly reliable and super easily serviceable
I don't remember exactly which models I've tried, but I've usually been left feeling underwhelmed by Hopes. This could easily be down to inconsistent bleeds.
Those trails looked insanely fun 😁
Comparison with the Hayes Dominion A4's?
It's been a couple of years since I last rode those on-trail but I remember they were solid. I don't think they had quite the same ability to reduce rider fatigue as these Intends and bleeding was more challenging. I believe they were certainly better than average performers though... maybe it's time to find a set to properly review!
lol it suddenly dawned on me why dale hangs out with a herd of golden retrievers…makes so much sense I don’t know why I didn’t see that earlier. Loving the new formats and in depth reviews, brakes look super cool but there were a couple of reasons why I will stick to my shimanos on both my bikes for parts availability until Intend becomes a little more common to source for parts. But that said I find them super cool and can’t wait to see what the future holds for that company.
The invisibly rating got me thinking, I have a few sets of brakes i'm constantly thinking about 😅 After hard braking with my shimano's the pistons don't retract and I get rotor rub so I have to pump the brakes for it to go away, I have a set of sram force brakes on my gravel bike and I have to squeeze the lever so damn hard to get any kind of power, then I have a set of TRP brakes that keep going out of adjustment and I have turn the bite point mid ride.
Sounds like it's time to move away from the big-ish 3, haha.
"Powerful" brakes aka high piston force is easy to make, the piston sizes differential between lever and calipers provides the distance for force equation. You will trade off brake levers feel/sensitivity and make slowing and not locking up harder. What matters is force ramp up and even pad pressing
What really matters is intuition, consistency, durability, etc.
I love my Hope Tech4 V4s and E4. But the Intend look amazing too. It gets even wilder when you realize, that Intend is basically run by a single person (Cornelius), who started the company in his room as a student and up to this date has his office and so on in a normal flat :)
Haha, yep! He definitely deserves all of his success so far, and a fair bit more. 🙂
Do ur v4s squeak ?
@@TheGman420 No. I run the green race compound on both ebike and enduro paired with sram 200mm HS2 discs. Works perfectly. On the e4 I use trickstuff discs with the green compound. They tend to squeak a little bit when not fully pressed, but barely noticeable
@@TheGman420all brakes squeak when wet but that's the only time my v4 brakes squeak is when wet mine are perfect other wise
@@stevesracingbitsever tried Galfer Pads and Discs? Even wet, they are amazingly quiet
@Dalestone I'm now using these brakes and they are super nice. Do you find that once the pads hit the rotor it feels a little spongey? Like the wall you hit is not as firm as Shimano brakes. Or perhaps mine need more bleeding?
This sounds like a bleeding issue to me. I'm ~1200km in on the original pads and haven't had any issues like that so far!
Hi Dale, great review, they do sound and look like really great quality brakes. I used the Hayes mag circa 2001 up until about 7 years ago and exclusively Hope Tech 3 v4s since then. One of the cool things about those, that I had no idea about before buying them, is independent adjustments for reach and bite point. Not sure if I could switch to another set of brakes w/o that now.
That's definitely a nice feature, more adjustability is usually a very good thing if it's reliably designed!
Opposite experience of me then. I have tech 3 e4s that I bought because of the adjustability (and spare parts availability). After playing around with them, I came to the conclusion that the only place where I want the bite point adjustment to be is all the way in. And I can't imagine that I'd ever want anything else than as little empty lever travel as possible, so that feature has been dropped of the requirement list.
@@Finnspin_unicycles Yes you are right, but once you have more than one wheel set it’s got a use case. Even with identical rotors and hubs the geometry is not identical and so I use it all the time to account for the small changes on a wheel swap.
Nice review. Sounds like great brakes.
Also... "quirks and features!" Someone's been listening to Doug DeMuro!
Great review although I won’t likely ever be spending that kind of money on brakes. I like your review style. Subscribed.
Absolutely an awesome vid! Next up could you review some budget-oriented brakes such as the mt520s or mt420s? Just to see the difference between $1300 and $300 brakes.
I just finished a script for the 520s quite literally 12 hours ago. 🤐😉
Thanks for covering these, I've been really interested in getting some impressions on them since I saw them released. Now I just need to wait for the next drop...
How would you compare the freestroke to other brakes? Is it really long or do they start engaging pretty quickly when you pull the lever? Are you able to run the levers fairly close to the bar or do they require the levers to be pretty far out there?
Get those 3am alarms set! 😆
I think Intend calls that "dead stroke", and these have an incredibly short one, probably industry leading. I like running my brakes quite far away and having them bite immediately, but I'd assume you could dial in the reach adjustment screw and have them bite much closer to the bar. I'll give it a shot sometime.
@@DaleStone Thanks for the reply, I like the term "dead stroke" a lot more, it's good to know it's short. I really dislike how far out some brakes have to be run because there is so much useless stroke in them, it's one of the main things driving me to certain brakes over others.
Now just to wait for their next drop :) Thanks again.
I ride them since last summer and they are just great.
Thanks for the insights, too bad you didn't order their caliper adapter (+20 or +40 postmount offset). I'm using just the adapter with my XT8120's and it makes the caliper position stronger and better aligned. It reduced the noise in wet conditions and improves on pad wear, they wear down very evenly now.
Having such a high end caliper you must want to have the best possible alignment on frame and rotor as well...
There's a bit of misinformation to unpack here. Firstly a post mount spacer won't give you any better alignment, if anything it could make it worse as it introduces another source of error in the tolerance stack. A larger rotor will indeed give you more powerful brakes and better thermal efficiency, but if you don't need the extra power (because you weigh 62kg) then it's just additional weight and complexity that isn't needed. 🙂
@@DaleStone but you’re using a shimano +40mm postmount adapter from what i can see in the video? Intend makes their own blackline adapter which is made to much nicer tolerances and a nicer placement of the caliper, requiring less offset on top of the fork’s postmount interface.
I follow now haha, thanks. On the front I'm using a 180-203 (+23) Shimano adapter. I have no doubt the Intend adapter is better quality, more accurate, and a lower "offset" distance, but I've never had any alignment or performance issues with this one I found in my closet. If I needed to purchase an adapter I would definitely consider a nicer Intend one for just about any bike, especially once you start getting into the +40 range.
I'm annoyed that I just found this channel exists. I'm also delighted because now I have a lot to go back and watch.
To be fair, this is my first video (of many in the future) like this haha. Stay tuned! 😁
@@DaleStone Honestly it's not the content (which is great don't get me wrong). It's your attitude and the way you communicate. I'm a big believer that bikes are supposed to be fun.
Great review! Just found your channel. It seems like you are carrying over Doug Demuro’s review format. Is that the case? I’m hearing a lot of parallels - “Quirks and features” and “Dale Scale” is just like the “Doug Score”. You definitely have your own style and your POV riding is awesome! Looking forward to more reviews.
im curious as to how the levers hold up for crashes. I have the Trickstuff Piccolas which are nearly identical to those, but they have carbon levers which are garbage. They are as brittle s breadsticks and ive broken more than id like to admit.
I know of three sets in existence around here and none of us have had any crash-related issues so far. Not exactly the world's biggest sample size though, haha.
@@DaleStone glad to hear, if they do hold up better I may have to make the switch
Awesome video! Subscribed keep up the great work
Thanks David!
Came for the review, stayed for the riding 🙌
I envy your ability to try outside the norm parts. I'm having trouble just pulling the trigger on going to Hayes from Sram brakes 😂
The good news is that you can almost literally only go up! 😆
@@DaleStone this is true 🤣
Hayes Dominion A4's are amazing brakes!
@@tedgore5365 so I have heard!
I really liked the layout of this video, do you think you will do more like it in the future?
If this video ends up performing well, then absolutely!
10:17 As a german I would love to know if our toiletpaper is as efficient a we are
😂
A black german lol
I love how you've taken the Doug DeMuro approach to these comparisons.
It's a great way to produce easy to consume review content!
@@DaleStone it truly is!
Do you happen to have a design background? The way you use seemingly standard spreadsheet SW produce your good looking scale is pretty cool and resourceful
I have a degree in Mech Eng. 🙂
the local roasts in the questions are the best 😂
what trail(s) you riding here? also what kind of shock you running on the claymore?
A mix of trails around Vancouver. I'm running a DHX2, which works just fine although Fox is not a fan haha.
Dave Demuro: I will have your rear! Great review!
You can use Shimano with a Wolftooth adapter.
Good tip!
Wow these brakes have to be good for what and how you ride! Great skills! Nice views!
Awesome review, and I got to enjoy some of the lovely Trunk Monkey.
Is that a
💰500.00🍁5Dev 6/4 Titanium stem?
It sure is! 🔥
@DaleStone Very cool🤘🤘. I'll have to keep using my $141.00 130mm 5 degree rise 7000 series aluminum Thomson Elite stem😁👍👍
OK, I watched this whole video waiting for the chart with all the different brakes on it because I want to see the comparison between these and the hayes dominion A4’s but I guess you haven’t got the warranty replacement yet
I actually just received them two days ago! Currently testing another brake set, so I would expect the Hayes part 2 video to come out probably in July. 🙂
i actually love the packaging. who wouldnt put that TP to use?! zero waste
Dale … would you say these pack as much power or more than the saints but with bettter modulation?
It's been a while since I've tried Saints, but Shimano claims they have the same power as XT/XTR which I know well. I think these Trinities do have more power for how much you have to squeeze the lever, and are probably a bit more intuitive to modulate.
@@DaleStone thanks for the reply Dale! That’s great to hear. I used to have the XTR 4pistons a couple years ago but unfortunately both he front and rear callipers failed (leaky pistons) and beeen running the Code RSC with after market pads and 220/200 rotors but as a large rider (260 lbs) you can’t have enough brake power. Been debating the Maximas but these have me very intrigued.
Hi Dale, what pads are you finding work best in theses brakes?
I'm still using the stock pads >1700km in, they're great!
Your channel is at 278k! When did you hit 100k?
These look awesome, the best brakes I had were Hope Mono M4, but they were the absolute worst to service and work on.
Recently enough that I still haven't made a cliche thank you video. 😆
@@DaleStone well congrats! You obviously did something right to reach 100k then explode to nearly 300k!
A fantastic review and rating from Dale DeMuro !
Hello, i came here as a beginner biker and I was waiting for you to discuss what makes these better than the normal brakes i currently have on my bike. Or what makes them different than other high end brakes. Great video otherwise!
I believe that's what the second half of the video is! 🙂
i guess i was curious about how these are technically different from the 150 dollar brakes you mentioned, from an engineering standpoint
Intend has a fantastic website outlining all of the nerdy engineering and technical details you could imagine, I'd highly recommend giving it a read. Since this channel is not a paid press release platform, I chose not to cover details that are readily available elsewhere.
The levers, are they 7075 aluminum or 3/2.5 Titanium?
Aluminum I believe
@@DaleStone I'm still using 739 Shimano XT V-Brake levers from 2006 and XT 760 V-Brakes from 2007. They work, so no upgrading right now👍👍
Just an off the topic comment, see how far forward your saddle is to get you into the right position? The seat tube angle required for the geo is just silly. Look at Polè, that is precisely why their 80 degree seat tube is awesome and sets you front center (along with all the rest of the dialed geo) so much better than the slack seat tubes(which by the way get even slacker and as you go uphill, and also put lots of force into the dropper. Great job on the brake review, right now im liking my DHR EVO with 2.3 rotor width.
Two things:
1. This bike has a very modern 78° ESTA, which is far better than the average these days and not exactly slack haha.
2. The saddle position is a reflection of how steep the roads are around here. If the grades on my average ride were shallower then I'd move it back to the middle for sure.
copy, @@DaleStone
Nice brakes. One way you could make your videos for stuff like this is offer more affordable alternatives that work close to optimal but at a good price point. That way you cater to the high end enthusiast and the general consumers. cheers 👊 - currently running mt420s with touring levers 😅
I have an MT520 review baking in the oven as we speak, haha. As I review more components, I'll be able to draw parallels and comparisons to a library of components I've already reviewed. But you're probably right, I should compare forwards and not only backwards. 🙂
@@DaleStone Haha I figured you had something in the mix. You did well, garner the interest, rattle peoples cages with the higher priced brakes then draw them in for the more affordable ones 😄.
@@DaleStone with the mt420s One thing that happened a few times on really long descents at brohm, my back brake lever pumped up pretty bad to the point it was unusable. It might be because whoever filled the brake when I bought it might of overfilled it or could be air in the line. So I've decided to learn how to bleed my own brakes finally lol. I had slx before and that never happened and they were only 2 piston so I couldn't of been dragging them much.
In my opinion, the best brake is how you feel about it while riding. All DH brakes are more than powerful for any type riding that anyone needs. For me, I prefer the feel of Sram Code but I used DOT 5.1 prestone. I dont have the squeegee spongy that everyone is feeling. What I love about the Sram code, you can fully service it and overhaul the whole brake set. If Hayes dominion A4 have kits to rebuild it, it would have been #1 for sure.
Personal preference is definitely a factor, but saying that "all DH brakes are more than powerful for any type of riding" is not true. A good set of brakes can make the difference between riding a feature clean and crashing on it, or making it to the end of a stage/run and having to stop to rest your hands/arms.
Those look nice. I have a set of Trickstuff Picccola Carbon on my XC bike. They are the lightest and strongest brakes I have ever seen. Have you compared the Intend to the Trickstuff?
I've parking lot tested the Maximas a handful of times, and they are a bit more on-off than these. Where Intend really shines is in the details, specifically their painless bleed. Would be fun to try the Piccola's someday!
Easiest to bleed will always be Grimeca. You just don't.
Because you don't have to. Just empty them in a bucket and refill through the reservoir.
In general use top up the reservoir, pump, top up again - done.
Only break I've never had a single problem with over eight years of heavy use.
The set is still being used daily and didn't need a single spare part after 20 years, still work like they did in the first year - they just look utterly broken.
I'd even pay two grand for something as good as them in modern because it'd be the last set I buy and the last time I'd have to do break maintenance.
Best bike product I've ever bought.
That is very impressive. I would say these Trinities are almost as easy as that honestly, haven't touched mine in over 1500km!
@@DaleStone
Invisible sums up what I'm looking for very well, great idea to add it as seperate category.
I've been trying to get one for that very reason. I've come to expect high reliability due to good engineering, no corners cut and actual innovation from Intend.
Might be a streak of bad luck, but I've had so much trouble with major brand components in the recent past, I really don't want to feel like a beta tester again if possible.
Anyway, I wasn't as lucky as you yet.
Or rather just not as diligent.
I guess I'll intensify my efforts, good work on the review.
Great camera POV setup
The Intend USD forks had / have so much potential - it was a shame they didn't get enough interest to support a more realistic price-point. I see that these brakes are similarly highly priced ... hopefully they don't suffer the same fate as the forks.
It seems to all be a very deliberate business decision to avoid getting too big too fast. From that perspective I get it, but I also think that Intend is too conservative in that thinking!
I have a video coming comparing them directly to the Trickstuff Maxima. So far the TNT (that's what we already call them here in Germany) outperform the MXA by a bit.
Interesting! I'll have to give it a watch. I've never owned the MXA personally, but my understanding was that the performance on trail is similar, it's in the details where the TNTs shine.
The MXA have good details too. :D@@DaleStone