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Too much firmness is bad I agree, TRP Slate is one of those brakes that hurt fingers. But a healthy level of feedback of the bite point is crucial in my opinion. Spongy lever on the other hand, doesn't let you know what happens there and when, it's just numb and then grabs all of sudden. Also same thing when letting go (modulating) the brake, with a spongy brake you have to guess where it starts to slip. Another thing is, many of us like to run the levers adjusted very close to bars which makes maintaining a secure grip easier and causing less arm pump. With a spongy brake you can't really do that. About my Hope brake.. I used hours to bleed this thing (which is awesome because of the ability to do it moto-style btw, actually no need for a bleed kit), there was some minor air coming out but it didn't improve much. Also shortened the hose and that made probably the biggest difference (obviously). Then I noticed that one of the pistons was slightly stuck or needed much more force to push back than the other one. So I used another hour to move them in and out to make them work better. Now it seems to actuate symmetrically enough so that's probably not the issue number one. The end result is that nothing significantly changed, the brake is still quite soft and numb although yes it brakes well now when bedded in. The contact area of the pads and rotor is huge. Just not a fan of how it feels like, cumbersome is the correct term I think, with the massive blocky lever blade together with lack of firm bite point. Also the clearance between pads and rotor seems almost non existent in this brake by design, I don't think it's a fault. So it's always rubbing a bit when pushing the bike, making that honk honk noise. I thought that Magura MT5 brakes were insanely difficult to get right in terms of clearance adjustment, but this is on another level. Imagine when the rotor is getting slightly bent.... The higher than normal leverage ratio probably being the reason, to all of these issues. Fun thing is that the fancy bite point adjuster is pretty much unusable, because the pads are already too close when it's rolled completely open. Switching to braided hoses might fix the lack of feel but I probably wouldn't bother to try.   

100% agree with lever design and safety issues. Many riders I know wrapped them in bartape or used special jitsie pads to eliminate sharp parts. But I don't understand why people are so obsessed with firm lever feel. Usually, it hurts finger when brake is squeezed too much. If a spongy lever fully actuates brake and not hitting a grip or middle finger – it's fine + less arm pump.

Hi anyone ride near York on here? 

Went to see Goldie Lookin Chain at Manchester Academy last night. Considering these boys are 49/50 f**k me could they rap, was surprised at how clean and precise they still were!  Great laugh, definitely glad I went! 

After many different brakes over the years I finally decided to spend extra on the Tech 4 Trial zone (for a front brake) to see if they're worth it. Must say I'm not very impressed.. These seem to be plagued with issues, wrapped in a pretty CNC form (that isn't so pretty in terms of ergonomics and safety). The lever blade is so sharp and uncomfortable it's difficult to use these without gloves and even with gloves on it's painful. Crashing on that thing will 100% cause open cuts, it's a pretty dangerous design really. Now they're re-designed the blade for the new EVO range which obviously isn't backwards compatible to the old Tech4 lever, what a surprise. For 235€ I was expecting to get a sharp and precise bite point considering all that sturdy CNC goodness, yet this brake is softer and spongier than anything I've tried before. To me it looks like there must be some air, which is more like a norm these days when purchasing a new disc brake. So let's spend some more to order another ridiculously priced bleed kit straight away. Good thing is these work with the regular brake fluid at least. Another reason could be the leverage ratio being so high, making it inevitably spongy. Whatever it is, the brake doesn't feel great at all. Another main issue is that the pistons aren't fully retracting and hence pads are rubbing slightly, even when the adjuster is rolled completely out. There's barely any pad clearance. So here we already have one strange issue that I never encountered with any other brake, yet these are like double as expensive. I've tried to push the pistons inside a few times (they do retract well and stay there so I don't think there's fluid overload) but after one press they start rubbing again. The good thing to say is that even when not properly bedded in (new Hope rotor too), the brake seems to have some incredibly strong bite and hold even at this point. This is very promising, compared to other brakes I've bedded in they typically had like zero hold at this point. So the lever is very light and seems to have a lot of power (which indicates an enormously strong leverage ratio, which typically leads to spongy feel). How is your experience with the Hope Trial Zone? So far I have mixed feelings (due to the price). Formula Cura 2 has been the best feeling brake for trials and MTB so far, they just weren't there with their reliability and I wanted a brake that has a proper bleed nipple instead of the stupid screw that makes a mess every time (Formula, Magura).