Over a couple of decades ago, Magura was the go-to brand when it came to hydraulic MTB brakes. While they remain a well-recognised brake brand, the market has been dominated by SRAM and Shimano stoppers in recent times. Of late Magura has introduced some really neat features, and most of these are present on the MT4.
Selling for $200 per end including the rotor, the pricing is pretty
sharp (only the MT2 is cheaper at $130 per end). At this price you could well
expect the brake to suffer obvious downgrades but it features the same
‘Carbotecture’ master cylinder construction as their more expensive offerings. Carbotecture
is a mouldable carbon reinforced thermoplastic that Magura developed specifically
for their brakes. It keeps the weight down while offering good impact
resistance.
At the opposite end is a solidly built forged one piece alloy calliper.
Employing lightweight materials in the lever allows them to add a bit of beef
to the calliper whilst retaining a decent overall package weight. The extra
material in the calliper adds stiffness and improves heat management. They also
add thickness to the rotors; most brands use 1.8mm rotors while Maguras are 2mm
thick – this makes the rotors more resistant to warping.
This concept of reducing weight where they can while adding it where it
really matters is something that carries through their entire range. Our MT4 brake
weighed 225g for a front lever, calliper and hose. Two rotor options are
offered; the regular one is the Storm (115g for the 160mm size) or you can opt to
save 20g or so with the Storm SL rotor (95g in 160mm). This is nice and light
for a twin-piston hydraulic disc brake, especially at this price point.
TORX-TASTIC
The MT4s were easy to setup and work on. I was able to cut and
reconnect the hoses without needing to bleed the system and the use of mineral oil
makes jobs like this a little less hazardous. While I’m not a huge fan of torx
fittings, Magura uses the same T25 size throughout, so one tool is all you need
for everything from pad removal through to undoing the bleed ports – good
thinking Magura. And speaking of pad replacement, Magura uses magnets to keep the
brake pad stuck to the piston. This worked really well and the pads are
accessed through the top of the calliper. It was nice to do a pad swap without
needing to mess with spring loaded pad spreaders.
While some of the fancier models offer tool free reach and contact
point adjustments, the MT4 is comparatively simple. A T25 tool will let you
vary the reach and that’s it – just hit the trail. The lever is a two finger
design but I just shifted the master cylinder inboard for easy one-finger
braking. I also rigged used their ShiftMix adaptors to mount my gear levers and
tidy up the bars (an SRAM only option).
There’s enough piston retraction to make the initial setup a hassle
free affair and there was never any rotor drag. For the most part the MT4s ran quietly,
although hard braking at lower speeds did produce a metallic grinding noise as
the wavy Storm rotor ran through the resin pads.
Compared with many hydraulic discs, the Maguras have a soft lever feel
when the pads initially contact the rotor. Initially I thought this was flex in
the Carbotecture lever body but it wasn’t. This softness is just the modulation
as the power comes on. These brakes aren’t grabby in any way, and this is a
great thing when it comes to bike control. Pull the lever further and there’s
good power on tap – as much as most riders are likely to need for XC and
general trail riding. If your penchant is gravity enduro, look towards their
four piston models such as the MT5 and MT7.
For the money the MT4 is a great brake. Performance wise it loses
little or nothing to brakes that cost far more and it proved to be hassle free throughout
our review.
PRICE 200$
