One of the last things cross country mountain bikers often think about is their brakes – after all, we spend most of our time putting energy into the bike rather than taking it away. But every now and then we get surprised by a harsh turn or low branch and it’s then that we’re counting on our brakes to provide smooth and controlled deceleration before we hit the pedals again. Sure, you can get by with your old mechanical disc brakes but if you’re looking for a lightweight hydraulic disc brake system with unparalleled modulation and stopping power, the Hayes Stroker Gram is the brake for you.

At just 355g including the hose and rotors, Hayes has clearly done their homework and weight weenies will appreciate the results. We’re told that much of the weight savings over other Stroker models comes from the removal of all the non-structural material inside the master cylinder (the thing attached to your handlebars). Plus the carbon levers and titanium hardware inside both the master cylinder and caliper doesn’t hurt either. All told the Stroker Gram may not be the absolute lightest hydraulic brake set on the market but it’s easily the most powerful and durable in its weight class.

Installing the Stroker Grams is a cinch and even a mechanical dunce like me can get it done within 30 minutes or so. The great thing about hydraulic brakes in general is that there’s no cable tensioning to worry about – just bolt the levers, rotors, and calipers on and go! These brakes went on especially easily thanks to the quality build from Hayes and the easy to follow instructions included in the box. Just don’t forget to burnish your pads before you take the bike out on the trail; otherwise you’ll drive yourself crazy with the grinding and squealing sound of fresh brake pads.

Hayes decided to go with white for the Stroker Gram brakes, including the hoses, master cylinder, and calipers. If you’d asked me a year ago what I thought about white components I would have said they’re not for me but I gotta say I’m a big fan now. White makes it easier to see excess brake dust generated from overuse and/or misaligned pads plus it screams hot sh!t on the race course. The purple anodized reach adjuster dial gives the system a single pop of color and makes it easy to identify other Stroker Gram riders on the trail.

The Stroker Grams come with Hayes aluminum-backed, semi-metallic pads installed and feature the patented tool-free pad retention system. The included rotors are machined to ultra-tight tolerances and like the rest of the package, are lightweight and high strength.

If you haven’t ridden with a high hydraulic brake system before it’s hard to explain the vastly superior hand-feel you get with the Stroker Grams. Each squeeze of the lever applies uniform pressure throughout the stroke giving the rider exceptional modulation and control. For me this translated into smooth decelerations when I wanted them and occasional quick, sudden stops to avoid monster obstructions. Stroker Gram stopping power was more than adequate for me and I loved the whisper quiet operation of this high quality, dialed-in brake system.

One feature that I hadn’t anticipated using is the ability to adjust the brake lever reach without needing a tool. On a recent ride a friend remarked about my lever positioning and I realized that mountain bikers have wildly different ideas about where their brake levers should be positioned. I like my levers extended out (guess it’s my long fingers) and pointed at about 30 degrees below horizontal. After long descents, however, I find that my fingers do get tired sometimes and the ability to bring the levers in a bit makes a huge difference. Plus when my buddy and I switch rigs just for fun during a long ride it’s easy for him to get the levers into a comfortable position.

If you’re a cross country or even an all-mountain rider who pedals uphill, you’ll definitely appreciate the lightweight, high performance Hayes Stroker Gram disc brakes. With smooth, consistent modulation, easy installation and maintenance, and a well thought out feature set, the Stroker Gram is easily one of the best hydraulic mountain bike brake systems on the market.

Thanks to Hayes Disc Brake for providing the Stroker Gram brake system for review.

For those of you who are weight weenies, (you know who you are) here’s something for you.

Using titanium bolts, aluminum-backed brake pads, and carbon levers, Hayes has the perfect brake for gram counters everywhere. Hayes stripped away all the unnecessary fat from the levers and calipers using finite element analysis – basically high powered computers that can simulate forces – to see where the redundant material could be removed from their workhorse brake system, the Hayes Stroker.

I have used the Stroker Trails for quite some time and was curious how well these new Stroker Grams would perform and if they are worth the extra coin for the weight reduction (nearly 100 grams). Let’s face it – if you’re racing and every gram counts then cost isn’t a big issue. At an MSRP of $273 each these are not cheap by any means but they look oh so good.

These kits come with everything you need minus the adapter for your axle type, so remember to order the adapter at the same time. In the kit you get the caliper, hose and lever all ready to go and you also get the rotor and all the hardware in titanium. The kits are available in 5″(rear only), 6″, 7″, and 8″ with 900mm and 1500mm hoses (front and rear, respectively).

Out of the box it took about 30 minutes per wheel to install these brakes. Just make sure you follow the installation instructions on these brakes – titanium does not like to be over torqued, nor do the carbon bars that you may have (after all they look so nice together). Be sure that you set the brake calipers so that the pads are parallel with the rotor (I have seen people mess this up one too many times) to prevent any possible vibration and noise.

Barreling down the trails with the Stroker Grams you will instantly feel the brakes working for you, with great modulation and instant “on” torque, as well as a quick release of torque without any residual drag. I did notice that the pads do generate a touch more noise that the Stroker Trails, but nowhere near the amount that the Stroker Aces that I reviewed last month. The Stroker Grams get good initial bite with no real growth of torque, and they do not fade until you release the lever again.  Overall these brakes performed very nearly as well as the Stroker Trail brakes – but with 3/4 the weight.

I did notice there is a bit more flex in the brake levers themselves, perhaps due to the lightweight design of the carbon lever. I don’t think the flex will pose to much of an issue – most likely the levers will snap in a big fall rather than bend like the aluminum levers do. Of course that’s total speculation since I haven’t fallen on them … yet.

Final verdict on the Hayes Stroker Grams: If you can afford them and are looking to loose some fat off your bike, these brakes are a great choice – they will not let you down. The Stroker Grams will be right at home on any XC racer or long legged trail bike and you won’t have to worry that they’ll fail to deliver the power. These are not the lightest nor the prettiest of the lightweights but overall a very good buy with no worries of finding replacement parts.

Cheers!