Brand new MT Brake Lineup Debuted to European Market
If you haven’t been keeping up with the Romanian Weight Weenies Web site, then you probably missed the news about the new Magura MT brake lineup—a fully redesigned family of four all-new disc brakes. While there’s some buzz about these new brakes across the pond, the stateside release isn’t scheduled until sometime closer to Sea Otter. But we won’t let that get in the way of a friendly little prognosticatory preview.
While several outlets have cooed over leaked photos of the flagship Ferrari red MT8 super-stopper, depending on your own personal dollar-to-weight ratio, the MT6 or the MT4 could prove to be the pick of the litter. Even the MT2, in a never-out-of-style all-black color-way, reportedly puts out the same power as the rest of the MT brakes. We don’t have final weights for the rest of the lineup (The MT8 has a target weight of 280 grams with a rotor and hardware), but how porky could the MT2 really be?
Dropping the MT8′s carbon clamp plate and brake lever surely picks up some precious grams, but it also drops the price significantly. According to UK sources, expect the MT8 to retail for about $482 (£299), while the MT6 (pictured below) will go for a slightly more manageable $350 (£199).
A little further down the line from the top, the MT4 (below) retains the same one-piece forged caliper of the MT6 and picks up a tools-free knob for dialing in brake feel. Set to retail for an estimated $225.
Bottom of the Barrel: The MT2 (down under) slashes prices with a two-piece caliper and a straight hose fitting. But for about $160, it reportedly produces the same power as the rest of the bunch.
Last but not least, the MT8 comes in at a very respectable reported 280 grams per wheel (including rotor and hardware). And did we mention it’s red? For nearly $500 it better be.
Compared to the Marta platform, the new MT line picks up a split-clamp lever design, rear-loading pads that don’t require wheel removal, and an adjustable banjo fitting on the caliper instead of a straight fixed fitting, which means these brakes will better fit a wide range of designs.
Central to the story of the new MT brakes is Magura’s use of “Carbotecture,” what BikeRadar is calling “a high-density carbon thermoplastic matrix.” Seems the entire lever body is molded out of the stuff—including the master cylinder. Because standard DOT brake fluid would likely turn said lever body into a puddle of thermoplastic goop, Magura is sticking with its Royal Blood mineral oil for its MT brakes.
While we don’t know more about these brakes at the moment (ie: official pricing, weights and oh, power) Magura’s brakes have been quite good the last few rounds, so it’s safe to expect the MT line will be seriously competitive.