Not all mountain bike gear needs to be budget-friendly. Some handmade frames sell for more than the price of a functioning car, and to the buyer they’re well worth it. The four-piston Direttissima brakes from Trickstuff cost €450 each, reflecting their top-shelf 7075 alloy materials and performance-obsessed engineering. They are 100% designed, tested, and made in Freiburg, Germany, under the scrupulous eye of their creators. The front brake shown here weighs in at 221g, making the Direttissima one of the lightest gravity stoppers on the market today.
The set of brakes arrived in this reusable wooden crate, and every bit of packaging included is recyclable.
The über-powerful calipers look like they belong on a Moto GP bike.
The caliper’s hollow pistons are made of stainless steel to keep the system as cool as possible. Trickstuff brakes run on Bionol, which is a biodegradable mineral oil with a sky-high boiling point. The brakes can be bled with any other mineral oil if Bionol isn’t available.
Unlike most smaller brake brands, Trickstuff drew up the pads for their Direttissima around Shimano’s popular four-piston pad shape. If you’re hanging in the mountains and need replacement pads you can simply throw in a set that’s intended for XT or XTR calipers. Additionally, if you want to test out a little Trickstuff stopping tech in your own brakes, the brand makes pads with their four distinct compounds for most popular calipers.
The levers adjust further than any I have tested to date to fit a vast array of finger lengths and preferences. Trickstuff offers a variety of mount combinations to pair the brakes with different shifters.
The lever blade rolls on a set of sealed cartridge bearings and its smooth action is unparalleled. The bite point feels solid, with no noticeable dead-lever feeling in the blade throw.
Rotors from Trickstuff have all of their finger slicing inner and outer edges smoothed to a round shape to keep them from cutting your hands or your other gear when crammed in the car.
Look for the full length review after we run these through several sets of pads.
