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Formula RO brakes

IH8Rice

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
fancy new oval piston brakes from Formula. i wonder how much more powerful they are over their round pistons

361grams per wheel is a bunch heavier then The Ones


Formula RO Brake Details: (clockwise) Formula’s RO lever assembly is based upon its powerful ‘The One’ gravity brake, with the reach adjustment integrated into the forged lever blade and Formula’s ‘Feel Control System’ hydraulic engagement-adjust dial at the hose fitting • The RO caliper is forged aluminum with top-loading brake pads and a banjo hose fitting • With one brake pad removed, the oval piston is evident. The larger surface area of the piston puts even pressure on the brake pad and produces more squeeze force • A close-up of the integrated lever-reach dial, which is large enough to operate with full-finger gloves.
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and new quick connect hose.....

Speed Lock is a quick-release brake hose junction that blocks fluid loss when disconnected. The quick release operates with a slide collar in the same manner as a pneumatic hose fitting. Those who disassemble their bikes for shipment, or need to deal with a frame that features internal cable routing, will appreciate how handy Speed Lock could be. Speed Lock can be installed at the brake lever, in-line or at the caliper. We anticipate that Speed Lock will retrofit on other brake maker’s lines as well.
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HAB

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,581
2,009
Seattle
Speed lock kinda strikes me as a solution for a problem I've never run into, but kinda cool I guess.


The brakes look good. Big fan of my The Ones.
 
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Deano

Monkey
Feb 14, 2011
233
0
the honestly never needed more power, but a bit of modulation would be great.. :)

the speedlock thing is for damn nice, as i run a mondraker summum frame and its a pain in the.. if i wanna change brakes etc, granted its not that often but when its time.. it really annoys me ;)

they do seem a lot heavier as was said then The ones. so lets hope these can rival the saints for modulation and keep the power ;)
 
HAB

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,581
2,009
Seattle
Seriously? I own Ones and Saints and the Ones definitely modulate better.
 
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dropmachine

Turbo Monkey
Sep 7, 2001
2,922
10
Your face.
Oval pistons smack of marketing, and the quick connect hose is something else to break/ marketing/ solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

Seems companies are scrambling for anything to stand out these days...
 
HAB

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,581
2,009
Seattle
dropmachine.com said:
Oval pistons smack of marketing, and the quick connect hose is something else to break/ marketing/ solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

Seems companies are scrambling for anything to stand out these days...
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Oval pistons *might* be a way to go to bigger total piston area (and thus moar power) without going to 4 piston setups, but since it looks like they use the same pads as The Ones I'm skeptical they've actually done that. But maybe. With you on the quick lock thing, but it at least sounds like it's just an add on option, not something you're stuck with. I hope.


Edit: looking at the pictures better it does look like the pistons have gotten bigger. Oval pistons aren't going to do anything if they're the same area as circular ones (F=PA is still F=PA) but I can see it being a viable way to make a bigger piston fit effectively. So there's that.
 
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Udi

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
dropmachine.com said:
Oval pistons smack of marketing
...
Seems companies are scrambling for anything to stand out these days...
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More slave piston surface area = more power. The One already has very big pistons, if they made them bigger the caliper would start interfering with the adaptor. So the best way to do it would have been either more pistons or a different shaped piston.

I think more power is always merrier so appreciate what they've done with the oval piston.
 
buckoW

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,787
4,733
Champery, Switzerland
I have a set on my DH bike now and they definitely have more power and resist heat better than the Ones. The surface the pads sit on is wavy so there is less heat transfer/more air between the pads and piston. They are not fading even when riding slow on the Champery track with work boots and a chainsaw/tools on the backpack.

Mine don't have the speed lock so I have no idea how that works.
 
V

vikingboy

Monkey
Dec 15, 2009
212
2
RMboy said:
I dont understand why people complain about the saints having no modulation...

I can modulate mine just fine...Learn to brake :-)
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I think because relative to a brake that offers good modulation and control I.e the one, the saints lack some feel and are harder to feather.

Are the ROs available yet? Hadn't heard from my dealer they were yet?
 
S

Steve M

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2007
1,991
45
Whistler
HAB said:
Speed lock kinda strikes me as a solution for a problem I've never run into, but kinda cool I guess.


The brakes look good. Big fan of my The Ones.
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I've never directly thought "man I wish I had some way to disconnect and reconnect my brake lines without bleeding them" either but it would come in handy from time to time for sure. Brilliant idea IMO, the hydraulic lines on our equipment at work use quick connectors and they're way better than having to actually re-fasten the attachments/connections each time you want to change something around.

As for oval pistons - seems to offer a few advantages as Udi said, more piston area without interference with the adaptor and without having to add the cost/complexity/weight of additional pistons. The downside is that anything oval shaped is a bitch to manufacture (hence expensive), is harder to seal, and is more prone to binding than anything round. If they've gotten round those potential issues, then awesome!
 
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vikingboy

Monkey
Dec 15, 2009
212
2
karpi said:
I wonder were all the added weight is?
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Possibly in the FCS (pad adjustments), the ones I got for my the ones are quite heavy, given they are probably standard on these brakes they may contribute to advertised weight. Should be possible to remove them if the weight matters I would imagine.
The FCS' I got last year are made of steel so would be interested if they have made the new ones out of alloy or something lighter.
 
F

Frisco

Chimp
Jan 16, 2002
73
0
Vancouver, WA
I'm thinking of running my cable through the steer tube on my AM bike so I can spin the bars a bit (at least attempt to). This quick release hose adaptor might be nice so I don't have to rebleed the break to get the fork off and on the bike.
 
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Deano

Monkey
Feb 14, 2011
233
0
im not seeing the extra weight anywhere, is the weight they quoted incl discs maybe ?

they do look damn nice tho ;)
 
HAB

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,581
2,009
Seattle
RMboy said:
I dont understand why people complain about the saints having no modulation...

I can modulate mine just fine...Learn to brake :-)
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I didn't say they have no modulation, just not as much as The Ones. I can modulate mine fine too.
 
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vikingboy

Monkey
Dec 15, 2009
212
2
Sorry, garbage memory....I had to get out of bed and go check.....12g each.
So back to not sure where the .25lb comes from then.
 
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Deano

Monkey
Feb 14, 2011
233
0
HAB said:
I didn't say they have no modulation, just not as much as The Ones. I can modulate mine fine too.
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See i have the exact opposite experience, i just ride lots of roots in the wet, and i found saint and Ones have about the same power, but the saints just seem easier for me to modulate when i do need to tap the rear brake. and the Ones just locks up for me too easy.

but i guess its partially cos i also found my Ones to be super sensitive to having too worn pads in..

i would be willing to try the RO ones, just cos they look pimp ;)
 
William42

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,934
674
Deano said:
See i have the exact opposite experience, i just ride lots of roots in the wet, and i found saint and Ones have about the same power, but the saints just seem easier for me to modulate when i do need to tap the rear brake. and the Ones just locks up for me too easy.

but i guess its partially cos i also found my Ones to be super sensitive to having too worn pads in..

i would be willing to try the RO ones, just cos they look pimp ;)
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same boat here, similar power, but the ones feel a million times more grabby and on off to me.

Just need to get used to them I suppose, strong brakes require learning and practice
 
V

vikingboy

Monkey
Dec 15, 2009
212
2
I've today received the 2012 Formula brochure and it states the RO's are "361 grams (PM - including 850 mm hose,160 mm rotor, complete hardware)".
 
'size

'size

Turbo Monkey
May 30, 2007
2,000
338
AZ
karpi said:
so around 400 grams with 203mm rotors... thas a pound per brake. Whats the comparison to the ones there?
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2011 the one, pinkbike says:

- 388g Front - 203mm rotor, no adapter
- 420g Rear - 203mm rotor, with rear IS adapter
 
IH8Rice

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
'size said:
2011 the one, pinkbike says:

- 388g Front - 203mm rotor, no adapter
- 420g Rear - 203mm rotor, with rear IS adapter
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yeah, thats pretty close.
when i weighed mine, the front came out to 403grams and 417grams for the rear w/ rotors and w/out adapters and hardware
 
norbar

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,371
1,609
Warsaw :/
buckoW said:
I have a set on my DH bike now and they definitely have more power and resist heat better than the Ones. The surface the pads sit on is wavy so there is less heat transfer/more air between the pads and piston. They are not fading even when riding slow on the Champery track with work boots and a chainsaw/tools on the backpack.

Mine don't have the speed lock so I have no idea how that works.
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Are formulas still so incredibly sensitive to good bleeding (and hard to bleed perfect at the same time). I remember older oros and ones were a bitch to bleed perfect and if they were not they were a bit too moody for my taste.
My inner weight wennie wants to go back to formula and I really like the levers.
 
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buckoW

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,787
4,733
Champery, Switzerland
norbar said:
Are formulas still so incredibly sensitive to good bleeding (and hard to bleed perfect at the same time). I remember older oros and ones were a bitch to bleed perfect and if they were not they were a bit too moody for my taste.
My inner weight wennie wants to go back to formula and I really like the levers.
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They increased the size of the master cylinder in the levers every year and I don't have any issues like with some of the old brakes. The last 2 generations (the One & RO) of brakes have been great for me.

They didn't mention the wavy piston surface in the video. Seems like a good way to keep the heat lower at the pads.
 
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