MAGURA MT TRAIL CARBON BRAKES

£491.99 (both ends) Maximum braking – and bank-breaking – power

With the MT Trail Carbon, Magura reckon they’ve designed the ultimate trail riding brake, combining DH stopping power with XC weight. They’ve done this in quite an unusual way, by using different size front and rear callipers. Four pistons up front give extra anchorage, while only two are used out back to save some grams. Carbon lever blades help contribute to an impressively low weight of 451g for the complete brakeset (both ends but no rotors). At nearly £500, they don’t come cheap, though. We’ve been impressed by the power of Magura’s MT brakes in the past but have had a few niggles with the levers and bleeding, so it’ll be interesting to see how these stand the test of time.