With Red Bull Rampage coming up quick, this past week we’ve seen a storm of Rampage bike photo shares on social media, highlighting special paint jobs and all the components bolted on the frame that some of the world’s best riders are counting on to keep them in one piece.
Perhaps one of the most important components is their brakes. It’s how riders control their speed and keep them from cooking far too fast down loose chutes and getting injured and for getting their speed just right for a canyon gap.
For professional athletes, mountain bike brake choice depends a lot on sponsorship, and there are quite a few riders who are sponsored by SRAM or Shimano, but a fair share aren’t, which makes for a variety of brake setups.
While we see a lot of Shimano Saints and SRAM Codes, the new big stoppers in town appear to be the latest Hope Tech 4 brakes and the Hayes Dominion, with an oddball here and there. Somewhat surprisingly, only one of the riders is using the TRP DHR EVO brakes.
Carson Storch
Carson Storch has been a sponsored Shimano athlete for some time and it appears he’s using the tried and true Shimano Saint brakes, which may have the longest running time at Rampage out of any brake. Shimano hasn’t updated the Saints ever and the brakes have been in their current form since the early to mid-2010s, faithfully bringing riders to halt.
Reed Boggs
Reed Boggs has a pretty sweet bike this year: a Yeti SB165 set up as a “mini-mullet,” with a 27.5″ front and 26″ rear wheel. Boggs is using the Hope Tech E4 with a gyro on a “Mini-mullet” setup. Hope released the brakes last year and it seems like the popularity of the beefy, machined 4-piston brakes has been growing on the freeride circuit.
It’s likely athletes using the Hopes are running the V4 variation of the Tech 4s, advertised as the “most powerful brakes.” We have tested the Hope Tech E4s.
Adolf Silva
Yeti rider Adolf Silva is also running a Yeti SB165 with Hope Tech 4 brakes. It doesn’t appear that Silva has a brake sponsor, so these may be of his own volition. His Yeti has a dark and stormy vibe to it.
Kyle Strait
It’s a little harder to tell what kind of brakes Kyle Strait is running. By their profile, they appear to be the newly released SRAM Code Stealth brakes with 2.3mm thick SRAM rotors but the calipers must be some sort of prototype. Strait didn’t include a photo or info on the brakes in his post but is mostly running other SRAM/RockShox components.
Gee Atherton
Gee Atherton is returning to Rampage this year after some time off and the athlete will of course ride one of his own Atherton frames, the Downhill.200. From the looks of it, Atherton is running a set of the Hayes Dominion A4 brakes. Unfortunately Atherton suffered a massive crash testing a massive drop and we likely won’t be seeing him drop in on Friday.
Szymon Godziek
Szymon Godziek is also using a set of Hope Tech 4 brakes on his custom painted and pre-dirty NS, along with a Reverse Components single speed “derailleur.”
Tom Van Steenbergen
Canadian Tom Van Steenbergen is also a Shimano athlete. He hasn’t posted any pics of his bike yet, but it seems likely he’ll be running Saints, or maybe keeping it lighter with a set of Shimano XTR brakes.
Brendan Fairclough
Brendan Fairclough has been focusing on digging one crazy line and hasn’t posted much about his bike. Based on what he was riding at Red Bull Hardline, it looks like Fairclough is also using a set of Hayes Dominions.
Alex Volokhov
Alex Volokhov is based in the eclectic interior BC town of Nelson and rides for Rocky Mountain. From the looks of it and this new Rocky Mountain video, Volokhov is also trusting the Hope Tech V4 brakes to guide him through the proper Rampage lines.
Jaxson Riddle
Shimano athlete Jaxson Riddle also appearks to be using a full Shimano Saint kit with the brakes and big rotors.
Thomas Genon
One would expect Thomas Genon, another Shimano athlete, to spec his Canyon with Saints too, but a video on his Instagram shows him installing 4-piston XTRs, an interesting choice. They are powerful brakes too but are certainly lighter than the beefier Saints. Genon is one of the few riders running a single crown fork this year.
Cam Zink
Rampage fans don’t need an introduction to Cam Zink. He’s been riding the event off and on since the early days. It doesn’t appear Zink has a brake sponsor and his brake setup is a bit unique, as he’s running Trickstuff brakes with Shimano rotors. At about $1,000 the brakes aren’t cheap, but have had great reviews.
Emil Johansson
SRAM athlete Emil Johansson is using SRAM Code Stealth brakes and it looks like his lines are set up so he can spin the bars with a single crown fork too.
DJ Brandt
DJ Brandt is new to Nukeproof this year and has been riding the Dissent downhill bike. We haven’t seen a good shot of his bike yet, but he’s previously been using Shimano Saints.
Clemens Kaudela
Clemens Kaudela has one of the most unique paint jobs and bikes of Rampage. He’s piloting a Propain Spindrift AL painted like an excavator to model Kaudela’s job as a digger and builder. It’s hard to see a decent shot of his brake setup, but Kaudela looks like he’s using the Hayes Dominion A4s.
Talus Turk
Transition Bikes posted Talus’s bike on their Instagram and it looks like he is the only one riding the TRP DHR Evo’s in their gold splendor.
Bienvenido Aguado Alba
Bienvenido Aguada’s fiery, fresh YT Tues pays tribute to his Mexican roots. It doesn’t look like Aguado Alba has a brake sponsor, and is running SRAM Code brakes.
Kurt Sorge
Kurt Sorge is also a long-time Shimano athlete and it looks like he’s using their trusty Saints too.
