well, actually i was referring to my friend's one. Wenn he first mounted it one of the pads exploded during the first ride. He bought new ones. Never had enough power. he got it serviced by hope at a bike fair: new disc, new pads (at least they were for free). after a few months one the left piston stuck and his front brake became louder than his rear brake. He sent it to Hope. they serviced the brake...at least they wrote so in an email. When he got it back the piston was ok, but the brake was leaking at the bottom. oil got on the pads => pads damaged. on the other hand i have seen way more Hopes which work great than weak ones.