Hayes Stroker Ace

Hayes has been on a bit of a tear recently with the release of the Stroker line of brakes. They first started out with the Stroker trail, carbon & ryde for the 2008 season and the Stroker Ace for 2009. We got our hands on a set of Stoker Ace’s at Crankworx and put them right into use.

First off the Ace’s are the first four-piston brake that Hayes has made, working off of the master cylinder from the Stroker platform the caliper is a forged mono-bloc with a new pad design which also happens to be the largest that they have ever made. The lever was also not left untouched and it was tweaked to be slightly longer than the Trail model.

The Stroker Ace uses the same DOT4 fluid as previous models, but different size pads as noted before. The new pads are also made out of a new material which is said to be much more durable than the previous ones. The weight of the unit is comparable with Avid Codes and Shimano Saint brake sets, they all seem to hover between 430gr – 450gr.

Once I got the Ace’s onto my bike after a quick bleeding of the system I actually found them pretty easy to setup, I had them centred up without much hassle and I was off to the hill to try them out. First off I prefer the new lever to the ones that came with the Stroker trail, it just seemed to fit my hand a little bit nicer and much more comfortably. The Ace’s have a huge amount of power and they never hesitated when asked to stop me. The power was very liner and wasn’t overly grabby. It felt smooth and was accessible easily when needed. The four-piston design with the larger pad size gives you extra reassurance that the Ace’s won’t be overheating and fading away if you are pulling lots of laps back to back in the summer heat.

By closing date at the bike park we had been riding the Ace’s for just over 2 months and put 20+ days on them, without any problems. I didn’t have to bleed them again, didn’t have to change the pads or adjust them in any way. It really was a set and forget system. (For reference, with Hayes Mag brakes I would have gone through 3 sets of pads over the summer, which was about a set every 12 park days, or 50 laps.)

Opinion: The Stroker Ace are a great set of brakes that are comparable with other top of the line modes on the market.

Plus: Great power, no fade.
Minus: Carbon lever option would be nice.

MSRP: $220 USD each.
http://www.hayesdiscbrake.com/product_hyd_strokerAce.shtml

Rating: 5/5

What do you think of the Stroker Ace? Talk back here: