Hayes Dominion brakes for trials

[Daan]

Well, Hayes customer service is quite good! They do reply quickly, and are sending me a new set of seals for the caliper and some new pads. However, I don't think I'll be putting them back on my trials bike, maybe on my normal mountainbike though, as the lever action does feel good.

For a fun experiment, I did actually bolt on my V4 caliper to the Dominion lever. Hayes banjo fits right on the Hope caliper, no leaks. As expected though, a lot of dead stroke, lever engages quite close to the bar. Doable if you have big hands and run your levers quite far away from the bars, but still a bit too much empty travel I found. I also reckon that when the pads wear down and your pistons start to stick ever so slightly, the auto adjustment of the pistons won't be working that great, as the lever simply moves too little oil for the pad movement the V4's need.

[Daan]

Quick update on this: with a new seal and new piston installed, it all remains dry now. Won't be tempting fate by putting them on the trials bike again though. But the Hayes Germany service is great, even on a free set I probably shouldn't have received at all

Edited May 31, 2022 by Daan

[infectedbear]

After 3rd dead magura lever in a pretty short period of time i descided to try something new... And I have bought 2 new Hayes A2 brakes.

So... Both calipers started leaking after first ride.

But i enjoyed this brakes so much :(. Ok, i installed 2 repair kits for the calipers.

1st ride after rebuilding brakes - ok

2nd ride - leakage from the all 4 pistons.

These brakes are just a meme.

Warranty doesn't work for this local diller.

Edited August 11, 2023 by infectedbear

[Daan]

Yeah that sucks. The A2 are not fit for trials abuse unfortunately. Also check the insane flex of the calliper when you squeeze the lever hard. The A4 does much better in that regard.

The A2 have been fine on my mountain bike after that initial leak, but that doesn't see any trials moves.

I do have a set of A4 in use on the trials now, gave them another shot after my Hope V4 blew themselves up and I wasn't really liking the feel of the Shigura I had installed after that. Still good, but only a month in.

[La Bourde]

BB7 do not leak 😁

 

That is so sad not have great disc brakes for trials.

[Daan]

On 8/11/2023 at 7:26 PM, Daan said:

I do have a set of A4 in use on the trials now, gave them another shot after my Hope V4 blew themselves up and I wasn't really liking the feel of the Shigura I had installed after that. Still good, but only a month in.

Well, that's the end of them as well. Howl of death slowly started a few rides ago, and now all bite is gone, super creaky/howly, and sure enough, wetness around one of the pistons and on the back of the pad. Back to Shigura again then. Only 4 months for the A4. Damn.

[Daan]

Got my Dominion A4 back from warranty: they gave me a brand new brake. Just two rides in, and also this one has started leaking past the piston seals. Must be a new record. Oooo so bummed! How do you do it @Ali C?

[John Shrewsbury]

Been running the a4 rear and a2 front with no issues for about 8 months now. 
Only thing I’ve been searching for is EBC red pads.
I could only manage to get some green and gold. Even though reds were available at one point, I will continue to search for some.