Test: Countless religious wars have been and are being waged over bicycle brakes. What is more important? Power or dosability? Is both even possible? Which brake medium is the better? And who needs a 4-piston brake anyway? The stoppers are particularly challenged on MTBs in particular. With the Magura MT5, we took a close look at one of the most popular brakes at the moment.
Magura has been one of the greats in this field since the early days of bicycle disc brakes - and nothing has changed to this day. In almost all areas you play at the front; Gravity, trail, cross-country, e-bike or everyday use: the Swabians have a top-level stopper in their range for almost every application.
[blog specific=”101828″ taxonomy=”post_tag” order=”desc”]Magura MT5 Facts:
- 4-piston brake system with one-piece caliper
- organic toppings
- Mineral oil
- Disc thickness 2,0 mm
- 47mm - 78mm adjustable reach
- 25mm free travel
- 433 grams
As is well known, the Magura MT5 is the smaller brother of the MT7. But what are the differences to the Magura MT7? On the one hand, the Magura MT5 is unbeatably cheap. At 111 euros, the 4-piston brake is a real challenge to its competitors in terms of price. While both encoder units are made of Magura's patented Carbotecture composite material, the cheaper MT5 has to do without the slightly lighter Carbotecture SL encoder of the MT7. The MT4's one-piece 5-piston caliper is made of forged aluminum. This manufacturing method gives the brake caliper its extraordinary rigidity and makes the MT5 one of the strongest and most controllable brakes on the market.
Another difference to the MT7 is the gear ratio of the MT10, which is about 5% lower - so if you just can't have enough power, you might be a little happier with the MT7. In addition, the Magura MT5 does not come with the individual pads of the MT7 ex works - but if you want, you can easily retrofit them after purchase. Magura offers three different types here - race pads for extreme braking power, performance pads that combine durability and braking power, and comfort pads that are only available as double pads. The main feature there is longevity and a quiet background noise.
We recommend combining the Magura MT5 brakes with the Magura Storm HC brake discs. Thanks to a thickness of 2mm, they have enough "meat" to absorb the heat generated by the brute braking force and quickly release it into the air - without developing fading problems.
As with the MT7, you can choose between one-finger and 2-finger levers for the levers. However, the MT5 is delivered with the 2-finger lever. A special treat is the HC3 brake lever. However, this can only be retrofitted to Carbotecture SL encoders, so it is only suitable for the Magura MT6, MT7, MT8 and MT Trail Carbon brakes.
[blog specific=”99171″ taxonomy=”post_tag” order=”desc”]During the test we tested the Magura 1-finger lever, the 2-finger lever and all brake pads that fit the Magura MT5 - here is our conclusion!
Magura MT5 on the trail
After the first assessment of the grappling anchor, we mounted the brake on our MTB. Thanks to the banjo fitting (rotatable line connections), the lines can be routed optimally through the frame. After shortening the lines, we bled the brakes again to be on the safe side. Magura's Easy Bleed Technology makes the whole thing much easier. We recommend thinking about the Magura bleeding kit when you buy one. With the supplied syringe and the special mineral oil, the brake is bled in no time.
A sure instinct is required when adjusting the brakes. Although the distance from the brake disc to the brake pad on the MT5 is already quite generous, you should take some time to ensure that the brakes are always free of drag. Once this is done, it can go on the trail.
As mentioned above, we tested the 1-finger and 2-finger brake levers. Here it turned out that the 2-finger lever has a slightly stronger braking power due to the slightly longer leverage. From an ergonomic point of view, we liked the 1-finger lever better. This then remained mounted during the test. The pressure point of the MT5 is not extremely hard, but never feels spongy and with the special feature that the braking power increases proportionally to the lever travel. We liked this very much because the Magura was extremely easy to dose.
We installed a 203 mm Storm HC brake disc on our test bike, both front and rear. As a result, the brake can always be dosed easily with one finger. In addition, they remain heat-resistant even on longer descents. The MT5 can also do very little with mud or rain.
The different surfaces were also exciting. At the beginning we drove the already mounted double carrier pads in the performance compound. The only disadvantage here – the impeller has to be removed when changing the pads.
Then we installed the retrofittable individual pads in the race mixture at the front and the performance mixture at the rear. The braking power at the front has increased a bit as a result. A bit too extreme for our taste. The wear on the pads also increased slightly. Ultimately, the performance single pads appealed to us the best during our test.
