I was recently lucky enough to have the chance to test out the 2005 Magura Gustav M on some of our long, torturous downhill trails here in Bolivia. Magura USA sent us a couple of different pairs in the mail to test as they know that the massive downhill mountain bike rides here test any and all equipment -- especially brakes! We've run Hayes disc brakes here for many years (you'll see reviews of the Hayes Mag Disc Brakes and the Hayes El Camino Disc Brakes also on our web site). We use about 1,200-1,600 disc brake pads a year... so yup, we're doing a lot of braking out here.

This review is written after about two weeks of various riding, including urban DH and DH/ free riding on many different types of terrain. I installed the brakes on my 2003 Kona Stab Primo downhill bike with a Marzocchi Shiver on the front.

INSTALLATION:
Installation was a bit disconcerting -- I needed about 3mm of stacked spacers to get the front caliper to line up with the disc. It just seemed to be too many spacers to maintain optimal strength without stressing the mounting hardware. However forks other than the Marzocchi Shiver may not have this problem.

Other than that, the brakes are easy to fit. As long as the disc is somewhere between the caliper body, the floating piston design lines it up for you. Very easy, and you don't seem to get any brake drag once it has self-adjusted.

These are not a flip-flop lever, so to change sides of the brake levers you have to swap the brake lines over and rebleed. This is not a problem for most people, as I don't know anyone who changes the sides they have their brakes set up on, ever! However it is an almost insurmountable problem for us at Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking, since we have to swap the brake sides for clients to the side they are used to using (e.g., New Zealand, Australia and England use right-hand front brake; USA, Canada and the rest of Europe are left-hand front brake).

LOOK:
The brakes look like "bad boys." They are ugly as sin, quite chunky, rough looking, and very "hot-rod" -- appearing ready for abusive riding. Tthe cool writing gives a nice finish. However, the lever blades are a little long for my liking, and the reservoir sits up high, in my mind looking ready to get hit by a rock if you and your bike take a tumble. The large brake caliper also sits further out than most other disc brakes, making me suspect that it might get wiped out in tight rocky sections.

These brakes are also considerably heavier than the Hayes Mags or Hayes HFX-9s that we usually run. As such they are even heavier than the recently released 2005 Hayes El Camino brakes (also reviewed on our web site).

INITIAL FEEL:
Having used Hayes Mag's on my race and guiding bikes for most of 2004 I noticed immediately that the Gustav M was a very different feeling brake. Mainly the modulation was very short giving a very aggressive feel to the brake. The power is pretty damn good. The brakes were shipped with the Magura "Performance" brake compound which is extremely grippy.

BURN IN:
Running-in time was quick (remember, "Performance" disc brake pads). They felt firm to start and then really strong after the first 5 minutes of one run.

USE:
During my first ride (one of our long urban downhill routes) I was really enjoying the power. I was pulling easy nose coasties and having all the stopping power I need. On subsequent rides involving loose, slippery, off-camber sections and exposed switchbacks I found the brakes a little too aggressive. I am a 2-fingers-on-the-brakes rider but had to go to one to avoid locking up in the loose stuff -- I'm sure that with time you would get used to the feel but they really responsive. After questioning Magura, they confirmed that these brakes are designed specifically for "true one-finger braking with excellent power and modulation."

I think that these brakes are plenty powerful enough to have a short 2-finger lever and have no need for the huge 3-finger lever they are fitted with; it's just too big and has too much leverage.

On the runs I did I had absolutely no problem with brake fade or lever pump. The riding temperatures were mild so I don't know if it would be more prone to pumping up in really hot weather like my home in Perth, Australia where a 40 C. day will test most brakes out.

The pads were super soft, providing very, very positive braking, but the sacrifice is that they are made for a good time not a long time. After my couple of weeks testing about 5 rides I had used about 10% of the pads which means they would last about a month of riding for us here (remember that we quite regularly ride more than 200,000 ft of vertical descent in a month, so our pad wear is exceptional). One of the nice extras is a wear indicator on the pad for when it's getting low, which is good for extreme conditions or slack buggers who never check their pads. Pads are not as simple to change as the Hayes but I guess most people don't need to change them every month like we do here.

One of my rides was extremely muddy and I did find that with a bit of mud around the caliper area it tended to drag a little (jamming the floating action), but this was a lot of very sticky mud, and probably not the kind of thing you would encounter very often.

On my last ride I had a bit of howling coming from the back brake for a while, but as these are a "self adjusting" brake I didn't look at changing the alignment. The sound did eventually go away. This could be frustrating if it happened repeatedly.

CONCLUSIONS:
This is a really strong brake with some cool features. The pads are huge giving you almost double the braking surface area of a Hayes. The use of a system with two moving pistons on just one side (with the floating caliper) seemed to work fine except in bad mud. Unfortunately this could be a bit of a deal breaker, as having to clean the floating caliper system during a ride would be a pain and I wouldn't want to have to use any lube near my brakes. I think this brake is well suited to Free Riders more so than racers as the extra bulk (and weight) would not be appreciated by a racer; it has plenty of power and with a modified lever could be a very sweet brake.

These are not a flip-flop lever, so to change sides of the brake levers you have to swap the brake lines over and rebleed. This is not a problem for most people, as I don't know anyone who changes the sides they have their brakes set up on, ever! However it is an almost insurmountable problem for us at Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking, since we have to swap the brake sides for clients to the side they are used to using (e.g., New Zealand, Australia and England use right-hand front brake; USA, Canada and the rest of Europe [including your all inclusive holidays in Spain are left-hand front brake).

A big thanks to the guys at Magura for sending us this set to demo.

Mac Hosking, Senior Guide 2004
Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking
www.gravitybolivia.com