SRAM MAVEN REVIEW
6 SETS TESTED HONESTLY
Words by Drew Rohde
Like you, ever since the SRAM Maven brakes came out we’ve been seeing athletes, influencers and marketing materials that made bold claims about the power, stiffness and all around extreme performance these brakes were capable of. It’s probably not a secret that while others seem to only review perfect-performing SRAM brakes, we seem to regularly get brakes that are inconsistent, at best. Maybe that’s because we test and review brakes that come as OE spec on bikes from brands rather than prepped test brakes directly from SRAM, but either way, we’ve put six sets of SRAM Maven brakes to the test this year – two of each level – and have a pretty solid grasp of how they perform and what problems we’ve consistently seen.
ABOUT THE SRAM MAVENS REVIEWED
SRAM switched from DOT fluid to Mineral Oil on their well-reviewed DB8 brakes, you can check that review out here, and brought that fluid over to their completely new flagship brake. We liked the SRAM DB8s quite a bit, so we were hopeful that the Mavens would take their performance and just ramp it up as the claims suggest.
According to SRAM, the Mavens produce nearly 50% more power than their Code brakes. Thanks to four caliper pistons, a 19.5 and 18mm combo, they are massive, no doubt. Moving those calipers, pistons and pads is a robust lever that supposedly has a 32% lighter input force at the lever. We’ll touch on that claim later.
With different rotors and rotor sizes, you can control and tune the power of these massive stoppers. Along with rotor size and two different rotor options (HS2 or CenterLine) you’ve got two brake pad compounds to further tune your brake’s bite and feel.
There’s no denying that SRAM have put a lot of effort into showcasing how advanced their new Maven brakes are. Their graphics showing thermal mass, heat ducting, proprietary materials with top-grade seals and overall heat management certainly look impressive. And to be fair, they do have some amazing stopping power and are a force when working well.
SRAM offers three confusingly named (or colored) brakes, depending on how you want to look at it. The Maven Ultimate brakes are their flagship model and silver in color, while the Maven Silver brakes are black. The most affordable Maven Bronze model brakes are a “Dark Polar Anodized” color, which looks like a dark grey or silver color to everyone we asked. Does it matter? Maybe not, but we’ve talked to a few riders on the trails and they’ve all expressed confusion about remembering which models they have as colors and names don’t quite line up. Semantics aside, let’s focus on what matters, their performance.
For those who want to geek out on all the finer details and workings of the brakes, you can check out SRAM’s website here. For now, we’re going to switch to our impressions of the brakes.
THE DIRT
Over the course of this summer we’ve tested at least six sets thoroughly, with some shorter miles on a couple other pairs. We’ve put time on all three SRAM Maven models on everything from SL eMTBs to downhill bikes at Whistler Bike Park and backcountry epics in the Cascade Mountain Range of Oregon. The SRAM Maven Stealth brakes weigh about 362 grams making them the lightest of the group, with the Maven Silver brakes weighing about 371 grams, which is about 2-3 grams heavier than the Bronze brakes.
THE TEST MULES | We tested reviewed the SRAM Maven brakes with rotor sizes from 180mm up to 220mm on our wide range of bikes. We had a downhill bike, two full power eMTBs, an enduro bike, and two SL eMTBs. The range of applications was wide and we had four different riders put time on all the sets of brakes.
Power is undeniable and can not be glossed over when talking about the SRAM Mavens. During filming projects where we’d pass the camera man and need to stop as quickly as possible to prevent going too far down the trail, we felt as if we could stop 3-5 feet shorter than other brakes. Coming to a complete stop while on steep downhills is a challenge and these brakes love taking that challenge head-on. I’d put them on par as one of the strongest brakes I’ve ever ridden, certainly in my top three, if not higher.
Along with the impressive power, I felt that the brakes do in fact perform quite well under extended braking where temperatures rise. The performance, when the brakes are working, feels consistent even as heat builds up and the trail keeps pointing downhill. Heat management is another area that we think SRAM have done good things with on this brake.
While the power and heat management are standout features about the SRAM Mavens, there are two major areas that give our team pause when recommending them or thinking about buying them for our own bikes. Consistency and fatigue due to lever pull.
PROBLEMS WITH SRAM MAVENS | Of the six brakes we had, a large majority of them had some sort of issue. Most common was an inconsistent feel at the lever. We’d set the lever reach adjust and have the brake engaging at our desired reach. Then we’d begin a descent and do a little brake check for speed and have the brake be at our precise spot. However, after hitting a couple braking bumps or chunky bits mid corner and going to give another brake tap, we’d find that the lever was grabbing at full extension of our finger. The bit point had migrated out to the end of our reach and with so much power coming on so quickly, it led to a couple of scary moments where we ended up grabbing too much brake as we didn’t expect the power to be on so quickly.
Similarly, we had other brakes where we’d have to grab the levers many times to pump them up after dropping into a descent. Likely due to air in the system, which is easy to understand as the crevices inside are plentiful. This leads to another editor note. There are different SRAM Mineral Oil bleed kits, one for the DB8 and one specifically for SRAM Mavens. We went to a local shop and bought a SRAM mineral oil kit for our Mavens and the shop said, “Here you go,” and sent us on our way. We opted to not spend the $115 on the Pro bleed kit as the $74 for plastic syringes and bits was enough for us. Clearly, we’re out of touch as we had no idea bleed kits are that expensive. It wasn’t until we opened the box that we realized that the attachments were incorrect and the kit we purchased was only for the DB8 brakes. Both our crew and the mechanics at the shop learned something new that day. We put the brake bleed kit on backorder since QBP and everyone else were out of them and crossed our fingers for a quick delivery. Luckily another shop had a bleeder, and they loaned it out to us for a couple of quick bleeds. Eventually our own kit arrived, and we conducted at least four more bleeds, and piston massages over the next six months.
The bleeding process itself isn’t anything special or difficult, though time should be given to do it properly, following a couple of very important steps. Also, we found that lots of little air bubbles can hide. We also had at least two sets that require “Piston massages” after our first couple rides. These were brand new bikes with price tags ranging from $7,500 to $10,000. In our opinion, if a person is dropping this kind of money, and expecting top-tier components, pulling brakes apart to massage pistons is not acceptable. If it were one set that came on a bike with an issue, we’d likely chalk it up to the builder or assembler not doing a great job that day, but with nearly every one of our six brakes having issues, it’s too many to overlook.
The last small annoyance, not detrimental to the performance as far as we could tell, was the creaking sound that two sets developed. You can hear soundbites in our video review above.
Now, moving away from reliability and moving into what is another major performance factor that would likely bump these brakes down in my recommendation list even if they had no reliability issues. The initial lever pull.
SRAM makes some big claims on ease of lever pull, however we found that to be a bit deceptive as the energy to pull them to full stop, may in fact be lower, however, the initial pull of the levers feels notably stiffer. Even to newer riders who we had grab the levers, they all commented that the brakes felt stiffer or harder to pull. This increased arm pump and hand fatigue, despite our initial hopes that they would help. Apparently this is a side effect of the very tight seals required to keep the mineral oil inside the system, of which we also had one brake develop a leak around the piston.
While some riders are more or less prone to arm and hand fatigue, at least half of our testers agreed that they noticed more energy or force to pull these brake levers on our test rides. It was less of an issue for some than others, but we all agreed it was noticeable.
The Wolf’s Last Word
Our long-term review of the SRAM Maven brakes included six different brakes, two of each model and over six months of collective riding under several testers. Without a doubt, the SRAM Maven brakes are some of, if not the most powerful brakes we’ve ridden, yet they come with two major issues that give us pause. First is the reliability, inconsistency and need for service. The second and arguably the more important is the increased hand and arm fatigue due to the stiffer initial lever pull. If you’re a rider with forearms like Popeye and don’t mind bleeding, massaging or working on your brakes, then you’ll likely enjoy the outright power and performance of these big and burly stoppers. For us, we’ll stick with some of our other favorites that perform a bit more consistently and offer a lighter lever feel. 
Price: $300 ea. (Ultimate) w/o Rotor
Website: SRAM.com
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