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$

KONA SHRED

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CANYON NERVE AL 8.0

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DRC X-Monitor SP1 lap timer

While smartphone apps such as Strava can be a useful way to keep tabs on your mountain bike rides, sometimes you just can’t beat the simplicity and instant feedback that a good old-fashioned stopwatch style lap timer provides.

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All Arround MTB

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