Reliability and Durability
After four months of aggressive riding, the MT5 hasn’t required a single bleed, and the brake’s predictable modulation and power hasn’t changed since my first ride. I still bled them once just to see how difficult or easy it was, and I found that the process was quite straightforward and only took a few minutes. (I haven’t spent that much time working on brakes, so this is a good sign.)
Magura’s Royal Blood bleed kit was all that was necessary for the bleed. The syringe hoses attach securely to the bleed ports, so there was no leakage. The directions in the manual and Magura’s instructional video for bleeding the MT Series made the bleed a clear and straightforward process. Aside from a little spilled fluid upon removal of the hoses, the bleed was mess-free.
Fade was practically nonexistent, even while descending thousands of feet down Squamish’s famous granite slabs. The brakes squealed a bit on extremely wet days, but tended to stay silent in most conditions.
The MT5’s alloy levers look delicate, but a few awkward tumbles onto roots and granite have shown that they can handle some abuse. The larger reach adjustment knobs on some of Magura’s other brakes look a bit vulnerable to damage in a crash, but the MT5’s Torx nut is out of harm’s way enough to put most fears to rest.
One small complaint I have is that the Maguras seem to burn through their stock organic pads more quickly than any other brake I’ve ridden. But as I’ve already stated, the majority of this test was spent riding some of the steepest terrain in the world in a variety of adverse conditions, so my experience may be abnormal. The MT5’s high power and leverage ratio might have also been factors.
Magura’s magnetic pad installation system made replacement easy, but actually acquiring the new pads while in Squamish was a bit difficult. Since Magura uses a proprietary pad design that is only compatible with the 2015 MT5, I had to order new pads from the distributor, which took a week to arrive. If I had been running a Shimano or SRAM brake, I could have walked into any one of Squamish’s bike shops and been back on the trail within minutes. This is by no means a critique of the reliability of the product itself, but rather something for potential customers (especially North Americans) to be aware of when considering buying a product from a less-spec’d European brand. Depending on where you live and what distributors are close by, replacement parts may be less available.
Magura MT5 Next vs. SRAM Guide RSC vs. Shimano Zee & Saint
Both SRAM and Shimano are currently offering similarly priced brakes that offer similar power and modulation. The all-new SRAM Guide RSC may be the best brake to compare to the MT5. SRAM, much like Magura, recognized some of the deficits of its Avid lineup and completely redesigned its high-end offerings for 2015. Both brakes weigh around 270g (without rotors) and are aimed at consumers focused on conquering aggressive descents. Shimano, the reigning king of brake power, continues to offer powerful and reliable two and four-piston brakes in the form of the XT, XTR, Zee, and Saint.
The bottom line here is that there are at least three excellent manufacturers for today’s trail and gravity riders can choose from. Therefore I want to frame this review in terms of personal fit and preference. Which one you choose is largely up to personal preference for various aspects of performance, reliability and design. Several qualities of the MT5 may make them a better choice over mainstream manufacturers’ offerings, but “better” is defined here by what qualities you prioritize.
First, if you enjoy working on your own brakes and have an aversion to dealing with DOT fluid, the MT5 could be a good choice over the SRAM Guide RSC.
The MT5 could also be a good choice for downhillers and enduro riders who enjoy the power and reliability of Shimano’s Zee or Saint brakes, but crave more subtle modulation.
Likewise, if you’ve enjoyed the modulation of Avid/SRAM brakes, but want greater reliability, the MT5 could also be a good fit. Additionally, the MT5’s lever shape and feel might attract riders who are dissatisfied with Shimano’s minimalist lever design.
In short, if you are a rider who has enjoyed various aspects of both SRAM and Shimano’s past offerings but wants to try something different, I would highly recommend you check out the MT5 to see if its unique blend of power and modulation is your cup of tea.
Bottom Line
The MT5 delivers a tremendous amount of controllable power at a reasonable price for a high-end brake.
nice review! As a new MT5 owner I would like to add some additional information and experiences. I am living in south germany quite near to the mountains. In the past i was an active dh-racer and now i like Enduro-, Trail- and steep alpine technical riding. In the past 15 years I rode practically nearly all available disc brakes starting with Maguras famous HS33, Louise 99 and the GustavM. Later my favourite brakes were some Hopes and Shimanos. Unfortunaly all brake manufacturers progressed in the past except Magura so they were also out of my scope in the last couple of years. I am quite happy with the recent Shimano Xt and the Saint and I still ride them on two other bikes. Earlier this year I got a new Speci Enduro equipped with some Sram Guide brakes (sinter brake pads) and I felt that the brakes were hard to modulate and in the steep descents they have a good amount of fading. Since the first version of the Magura MT series was a big mess ( I tested an MT6) I was quite sceptical about the MT5 and MT7. But a little bit unexpectedly they got good testing results and also people talked positive in some german bike forums on the internet. Since I was not that happy with the Sram Guide I gave it a try and orderer a pair of MT5 for a very reasonable price. The MT5 brake caliper is identical to the MT7 version but has a different brakepad design and a different lever. The brakepads are interchangeable because of the same calipers, so you can use MT5 brakepads in MT7 and vice versa. There are also pads from Koolstop, Swissstop and at least one other (unknown to me) manufacturer available (at least in Europe). So the biggest difference to the MT7 is the different brake lever. The MT 7 has an external reach adjust and a bite-point/pad-contact adjuster – the MT5 “only” a T25 reach adjust as already stated. Furthermore the whole lever including the actuator piston is different. It is said that this gives the MT7 some minor extra percent of braking power but the caveat of the MT7 is the lever reach adjusting. If you have small hands you can bring the MT5 lever so much closer to the handlebar than the MT7 lever. I have both levers (the new MT6 next has the same lever as the MT7) and the MT5 is much more comfortable for smaller hands. Magura announced to provide a new MT7 lever from mid-summer to allow a better reach adjustment. On my first ride I was dialing in the brake pads carefully and even though the pads are not dialed in perfectly (concluded from the pad marks on the new Storm disc) the braking powder is tremendous. I know the Sram Guide on the Speci Enduro and I was riding the Saint with sinter pads for 2 years but I couldn’t believe that my rear wheel was lifting up effortlessly when I was braking on a high speed section just to dial in the pads a little bit more. But it was no digital “oh shit” situation because the power modulation is awesome – you can feel very well and intuitively how the brake power develops with the lever modulation. Wet roots and muddy trails are no problem at all even with this tremendous braking power. Pad wear of the organic pads is indeed a little bit higher than other brakes but this is typical for Magura pads. It seems they have a softer compound with higher wear but good braking power, modulation and very few noise production. That being said it seems that Magura is back again and has a wide range of light and powerful two and 4 piston brakes wich keeps easily up with other manufacturers at a considerable price. The only thing I’m not so happy about is the so called shiftmix, a clamp to directly attach sram triggers. The Sram clamp is much more comfortable and gives a better range of trigger adjustment ( at least for smaller hands).
I purchased the mt5 in the summer after reading this review and a number of other sources that gave them a good review. I have to say i have been disappointed. I have gone through 3 sets of calipers and 2 sets of levers, i’m still having the same issue. The problem is now only with the front brake once it heats up i start to get feedback when i pull on the lever to start braking. It’s as if a can feel all the holes from the rotor and then the power starts to fade from the brake. And that then leads to noise. Does or has anyone else had this issue? i’ve been to numerous bike shops and have bled the brakes, changed the pads, changed the brakes and had other bike mechanics work on them no success. (They feel and act like old crappy avid elixir cr brakes) Any help would be appreciated.