2023 Magura MT7 Brakes review - REVISED and Downgraded

Today I'll be reviewing the third set of brakes I've put on my beloved Stumpy, the Magura MT7 Pro brake set!  I got these at a celebration of life event motivated by my discontent with the original Sram Code RS brakes that came with my Specialized Stumpjumper Evo.   Magura brakes are common amongst the pros so I figured if they are good enough for the likes of Loic Bruni and Brett Tippie, they should be more than enough for me.  

Magura's MT7 Pro brake with Storm HC rotor

About Magura Brakes

Magura is a German company with their origins in motorcycle components.  In the mountain biking world they offer brakes, suspension, and dropper posts.  Their brakes are highly regarded as some of the best in the industry providing incredible braking force, high quality parts, lightweight, and full customization of the brake kits.  Customization meaning you can change the color of clamps, piston rings, lever blades, and rotors!  One can really build the dream brake set color matched to the bike!  Magura is the only company I've seen to offer quad-piston front calipers paired to a dual-piston rear caliper, this super unique configuration plays into the braking biases.  Put differently, when you grab hand fulls of brake, it is the front brake doing most of the work especially after the back wheel begins to skid.  Pretty cool engineering in my opinion.


   
Bright yellow piston rings can be swapped to any color you like!

The Magura MT7 Pro uses 4 separate brake pads inside the quad-piston caliper such that every piston gets it's own brake pad.  The pads are also magnetic and stick to the pistons for ease of installation.  Excessive?  Yes.  Cool?  Also yes.  These brakes are very light for a DH brake weighing in at 255 grams(1*) per side which is approximately 50 grams lighter than Shimano's Saint DH brake (in the world of mtb brakes this is considerable).  The low weight is likely attributed to the brake lever assembly's use of Magura's Carbotechure material (a polymer and carbon fiber mixture) instead of a more conventional alloy assembly.  

The MT7 Pro brakes retail for $269 per side without rotors and adapters (standard practice in mountain bike retail)[2*].  One should expect to pay more for boojee brakes on their bike, much like the high price of adding Brembo's to your car.  For comparison the workhorse Shimano XT quad-piston brake retails for $230 per side, without rotors and adapters.  

My Setup

My setup is the MT7 Pro lever assemblies to quad-piston brakes clamping 8" Storm HC rotors (203mm) front and rear.  I chose to run this brake set with only the parts in the box including the "value" rotors instead of going for the boujee floating brake rotors.  Good enough for me!  This is a big brake setup ideal for downhill mountain biking and overkill everywhere else.  The brakes are non-location specific meaning it is the exact same brake lever assembly for the front and back.  Out of the box, both brakes had extremely long brake lines so it didn't matter which got mounted where.  

The MT7 Pro lever assembly to quad-piston calipers

First Impressions

I had the brakes installed by the pro's at Ted's Bicycles Inc as I didn't have the Magura bleed kit.  Bleeding these brakes is tricky at best, the mechanic has this exact same set of brakes and he recommended I ride the bike for a week before a second bleed.  Turns out I needed that second bleed to get the lever feel and travel consistent.  I can't even blame an exotic braking fluid as Magura uses mineral oil (similar to Shimano), at least it won't eat up the paint.  

Big brakes on a big bike

Bedding in the rotors was no small task either.  The mechanics and I both performed many bed in stops in the parking lot before the first ride.  This is a common characteristic of metallic pads that I have experienced with my Sram Code RS brakes.  The brakes felt good towards the end of my first big steep downhill run just like the Code RS's, they need a lot of abuse to truly bed into the rotor.  

Once the break in phase was over the MT7's provided phenomenal braking which was especially appreciated on the steepest and gnarliest of trails at Angel Fire.  Coming to a stop on a steep double black diamond trail was perfectly doable provided the tires could grip.  All this braking force came with considerably less force on the brake lever when compared to the Code RS brakes, a welcome relief for my hands.  I will mention that the lever blades are tall and flat when compared to Shimano's ergonomically shaped lever blade.  I noticed this after a long section of hard braking due to hikers on this particularly popular trail.  

Drawbacks

"Every rose has its thorn"(3*), even the best brake technology Germany can offer comes with drawbacks.  In this case the greatest drawbacks are durability, challenging bleed process, Carbotechure durability, and the break in process.  I mentioned the challenging bleed process in the section above experienced even with a veteran Magura mechanic and user (he has the exact same brakes on his bike), which is what most users would experience.  Same with the long break in process when running metallic pads.  

The Carbotechure material is super light which comes with risks in mountain biking.  One of my brake lever assemblies developed a crack after a long day at Angel Fire bike park, pictured below.  It did not impact braking performance but damn is it uncomfortable to ride with a cracked brake component, I called it a day upon noticing the crack.  Research shows that this failure is known but not common, I encourage you to do your own research before purchasing!

Cracked brake lever assembly, yikes!

Magura made things right by providing a warranty brake lever assembly within a week of stating my claim.  They even upgraded it to a brake lever assembly with adjustable reach, pictured below, a $70 lever blade upgrade.  The guys at Ted's threw the new brake lever on for free, so I tipped them with a couple bucks and large pack of beer.  

MT7 Pro lever assembly with adjustable reach upgrade

Some would consider the price a drawback as well.  Truthfully, I never considered buying Magura until I won them at the silent auction at a deal.  It all depends on your priorities.  I would argue that high quality brakes, tires, and suspension will make the most impact on your riding.  I rank powerful brakes just behind high quality suspension when it comes to building a bike to inspire confidence.  In my experience, Fox Factory suspension and big Shimano brakes make me happy, Magura is the next step up in brakes.

Conclusion

If money is no objective, Magura brakes stand above the competition from Sram and Shimano (my favorite).  They provide the best of both worlds with the modulation of SRAM coupled with the power of Shimano (and non-caustic mineral oil as brake fluid!!!).Your bike mechanic will have their work cut out for them with the bleed process and bedding them in.  Once past that phase the Magura MT7 Pro brakes provide more braking force in a lighter package utilizing fully customizable parts matching your custom build.  When coupled with grippy tires, the rider will realize reduced hand fatigue while enjoying increased braking forces on their wild ride.  The MT7 Pros are most at home on steep fast downhill trails allowing very late braking, just like the pro downhill mountain bikers.

As of May 2024 I've run the Magura MT7s for 7 months.  In that time period I've had one brake lever assembly crack and both calipers leak.  The calipers were the most recent failure and caused significant braking issues.  The first issue was the leak contaminated the brake pads ruining any and all friction from the braking surfaces resulting in zero braking power.  A very dangerous situation to find yourself in during an enduro race.  The second nasty side effect of that leak was low brake pressure.  Naturally, if the brake is leaking it won't maintain pressure which leads to levers going back to the bars without doing much.  Another dangerous situation to find yourself in.  

In short, I rate the Magura experience as 2/5 stars.  They are fantastic when they are fully bed-in and working but the surprise failures and intensive upkeep will have them removed from my fleet immediately.  Do your research before investing in this brake system.  



Work Cited

    1. https://magura.com/en/EUR/magura_bike_brakes_disc_brakes_mt7_pro,_1-finger_hc_lever_blade/p/2702431
    2. https://www.rei.com/product/221050/magura-mt7-pro-hydraulic-disc-brake-and-lever-set?sku=2210500001&CAWELAID=120217890015517417&srsltid=AfmBOoqypFQlB4FEJMllwlzC9xLCQqRf-Xb0z1vJdC5ad6dY5E6oRf-HAr4
    3. Poison.  "Every Rose Has Its Thorn."  Poison, 1988, https://www.poisonofficial.com/
    4. https://www.tedsbicycles.com/

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