The Road CL is specifically designed for road bike hydraulic disc brake systems. As road bike disc brakes are popularising the British component specialist saw an opportunity to introduce its new floating rotor to the market.
Hope’s aluminium component design and fabrication skills are lauded in the cycling industry and with its CL rotors, the company aims to bring nearly three decades of cycling disc brake legacy to the road bike market.
The floating brake rotor idea combines the robustness and temperature management of steel pad-contact surface, with the lightness of aluminium. With Hope’s Road CL design, a steel braking surface is riveted to an aluminium central carrier.
Hope has engineered the steel outer part of this Road CL road brake rotor with a round edge. A series of ventilation holes allow for heat dissipation, if you require powerful braking inputs, on a long descent.
The Road CL-series rotor also features an aluminium carrier, with a centre-lock spline fitment in the middle. This aluminium part of the Hope Road CL reduces rotation mass, which is part of the appeal for a floating brake rotor design.
Precision is a crucial aspect of quality disc brake manufacturing. If the manufacturing tolerances are slightly misaligned, you can have annoying brake rub, which increases mechanical drag. To avoid this, Hope uses a sophisticated laser-cutting process for its brake rotors, to achieve the best possible specification control in final production.
The Hope Road CL uses a centre-lock mounting interface, reducing the need for traditional bolts, which would occasionally need to be checked for correct fastening.
Hope is marketing the Road CL rotor in six different colours and one size: 160mm. Pricing is set at £65.
