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Clarks HDB-540 brakes


CLARKS HAVE BUILT budget brakes for years, but this is their best yet. As you’d expect for 94S, the finishing is basic. The closed bar clamp can be awkward to fit, the reach-adjust knob is a simple bottom-out screw and the hose exits the calliper at a fixed angle.

There’s an adequate, predictable amount of power when you pull the crooked lever though. While it doesn’t give the richest feedback, it’s much less wooden than cable operated discs, and even some pricier hydraulic brakes we’ve tried. Clarks’s reliability has always been good, and the HDB-540 uses old Shimano XT style pads, so spares are easy to find.

There’s no brake-only option so other, better brakes could work out just as cheap, but the HDB-540 offers reliable and perfectly adequate performance for very little money.

WEIGHT 509g
POWER 90Nm

PRICE: 94$
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