Once again, from our ongoing test/review of the Milwaukee Bicycle Companies 29″er over on Twenty Nine Inches, we have the Hayes “Stroker” disc brakes. Here is a quick review of them for your enjoyment.

Hayes makes a few different versions of the Stroker brakes. This is the “Trail” model in white. The Stroker line is Hayes newest line of brakes.The lever appears to be about as minimalistic as can possibly be without sacrificing durability. The radial design, which places the piston and master cylinder perpendicular to your bars, looks cool and tucks the exit point of the brake line back in towards your bars where it will be less likely to take a hit in a crash situation, or from handling by some ham fisted frend while loading your bike on a bike rack.

The caliper has an adjustable banjo fitting so you can optimize the hose run into the caliper, another way to help maintain the integrity of the brake lines and keep evrything looking sano. Hayes says this Stroker model has the biggest pads they have produced to date, which is supposed to help with heat management. The calipers are easy to adjust, and the samples on our MBC 29″er were no hassle to deal with at all.

Here are some specs from Hayes Stroker page on their website.

Weight: 406 grams with 160mm rotor including hardware
Colors: Pearl White with Steel blue dial, or Slate Grey Metallic with a Titanium colored dial
Pad Material: Sintered metallic
Reach Adjust: Indexing aluminum dial
Pad Retention: Patented Tool Free
Rotor Sizes: 140, 160, 180, 203, 224 (all millimeter diameters)

The MBC 29″er came with 160mm rotors front and rear. How did they perform?

The brakes bedded in quickly and since “day one” have not howled or made any untoward noises. Sometimes a gritchy noise emanates from the rear caliper, but this has been rare. I found that the lever action is quick to engage the pads and a light touch will haul you down to a stop quite easily.

In techy down hill situations, the brakes work well, but the “window” of modulation from pad contact to lock up is a bit smaller than I’d prefer, but nothing I haven’t been able to learn to live with there. Where I do have issues with this is during situations where I have to scrub off a lot of speed in a hurry. Sometimes the power comes on too quicky here and I go off line where a more “forgiving power curve” might let me finagle my way through a tight spot. Maybe it’s just my personal syle of braking that doesn’t quite mesh up at times with the Strokers awesome power.

The looks, the feel of the levers, the adjustability of the reach, and the overall design of the Stroker brakes is top notch and I like them. I just would wish for a bit more modulation, but these would still find a place in my stable.