Sea Otter - Magura MT8 Carbon Brakes

Magura had their stunning new MT8 brakes on display, and they were incredibly lightweight (278g w/ 160mm rotor) and drop-dead gorgeous. The high tech works of art use some amazingly innovative production techniques and materials to create a light and strong brake for any type of riding, from x-country to downhill.

The reservoir is created by injecting their proprietary Carbon Matrix material into a mold, and the fibers are aligned to optimize strength and lightness, in what they call their Carboflow Process. The mold work is so precise it requires no post machine processing. The flip-flop designed Carbotecture SL body attaches to the bar with a Carbolay clamp (2 grams), and uses their EBT or easy bleed technology, set up in a dual port manner (for the flip-flop). The ergonomic carbon lever is made with their Carbolay technology, and uses a trick and light hollow-pivot to attach to the body.

The single piece aluminum caliper uses a double arch (just like their forks), and the shape optimizes the caliper's strength in the direction that encounters the largest load forces, with less material being required (saving weight). The upper or front one does the oil transfer between the sides of the caliper, and might help with cooling (a guess)? The caliper uses top-loading pads, for what they call EPR or easy pad replacement, so the wheel doesn't need to be removed for changes.

The top of the line MT8s are part of their MT brake family, which also includes the MT6, MT4, and MT2 ($399, $299, $199, $129 respectively). The entire brake family share the same basic technology, with some subtle tweaks and lighter materials for the upper level models. They all have a carbon master body with the flip/flop design, an alloy double arch caliper with top loading pads, and dual EBT ports for bleeding.

Description	MT8	MT6	MT4	MT2
Master Body	Carbotecture SL	Carbotecture SL	Carbotecture	Carbotecture
Lever	Carbolay	Alloy	Alloy	Alloy
Split Clamp	Carbolay	Alloy	Alloy	Alloy
Pivot	Hollow	Hollow	Normal	Normal
Weight w/ 160mm rotor	278 grams	310 grams	320 grams	335 grams
Price	$399	$299	$199	$129
Rotor Size	140-203mm	160-203mm	160-203mm	160-203mm
Rotor Model	Storm SL	Storm SL	Storm	Storm

www.magura.com