The first thing everyone wants from a set of brakes is plenty of power, but there’s more to making great brakes than just that. Good modulation is also key to ensure you don’t over or underbrake while bombing a trail. Beyond on-trail performance, it’s nice to have a set that are easy to set up and don’t require regular maintenance. After riding SRAM’s Maven Ultimate brakes since last Spring, I’d score them two and a half out of three on these main points.
The Mavens are impressively powerful and offer great modulation, but seem to be finicky to dial in. Following their initial set up, I had problems with the bite point moving in and out on both brakes, and they would sometimes pump up after hard braking. However, after their second bleed the brakes remained consistent and did not require a re-bleed after sitting through the winter.
SRAM Maven Ultimate Brakes – Key Specs:
For a complete rundown on the Maven brakes, check out my launch article from last spring. Since you’re here, I’ll summarize the key aspects of the Mavens.
Aside from their promise of incredible power, the big deal with the Mavens was SRAM’s shift to mineral oil (which preceded all SRAM MTB brakes moving to mineral oil). To accommodate the mineral oil, SRAM developed new seals with a material they found to be resistant to temperature variations and offer excellent elasticity. SRAM claims the advantage of mineral oil is lower maintenance and the ability to retain setup for long periods of time without adjustment… This eventually proved true, but only after my brakes were bled twice.
It’s important to point out here that my brakes were one of the very first sets of samples sent out to media. The BikeRumor crew have tested subsequent versions of the Mavens that came equipped on stock bikes and didn’t have the same issues. So it’s possible this was due to issues in early production, or in the bleed process when setting up new brakes.
The Maven calipers feature four large pistons – two 19.5mm and two 18mm in diameter. The beefy caliper bodies were designed to maintain a desirable level of heat instead of dumping it quickly, ensuring more consistent brake performance throughout a ride. Those big calipers take a new XL size brake pad to ensure plenty of rotor contact.
The Maven brakes do not use unique rotors, SRAM simply recommends their HS2 rotors for maximum stopping power. SRAM’s Centerline rotors are ideal if you wish to shave a few grams and don’t mind a slight reduction in power.
The Maven levers use larger than normal pistons (they need to match the large caliper pistons for optimal performance). SRAM even optimized their SwingLink levers for the Maven brakes, making their power ramp up more through the stroke with less effort required vs. the well-established Code brakes. While some models differ, the Maven Ultimate levers I tested offer both reach and pad contact adjustments.
I was in a hurry to set up these brakes, and wanted to eliminate any possibility of me not bleeding them perfectly, so I had my local shop’s experienced staff install them. I’m not a heavy guy, so my brakes were set up with 180mm rotors front and rear. I started with the organic pads, and later installed the sintered set for comparison.
Ride Impressions: Power
I’ll start by confirming the Mavens do offer awesome stopping power. Of all the brakes I’ve ridden, nothing matches the Mavens in terms of how little effort is required at the lever to bring you from a slight drag to a full wheel-locking stop. Compared to anything I’ve ridden, the Mavens handily take the ‘best yet’ title in terms of bite force. Whether you’re dragging the brakes lightly or stabbing them to scrub speed quickly, the Maven Ultimates do it with such a light squeeze it took a few rides for me to get used to.
When I started riding the Mavens I was also testing an MTB with Shimano XT brakes. I’m perfectly happy with XT brakes, but by comparison the Mavens blow them away in terms of power and reduced lever force while braking!
Some readers commented on my launch article saying other journalists claim some competitors offer a lighter level feel than the Mavens, and initially I was dumbfounded by this claim as these brakes are undeniably strong. I’ve now read a few of those reviews, and realized they’re talking about how the lever pulls until the pads contact the rotors. All I can say is, I’d rather have a lever with a slightly stiffer initial pull that requires a lot less effort to actually brake than one that pulls super easily, but needs more of a squeeze to slow you down. I never felt the initial pull of my Mavens was too stiff to sacrifice modulation or be annoying at all. Any effort required in this portion of the lever stroke is more than made up for when the pads hit the rotors.
After getting familiar with the feel of the Mavens, I noticed I was braking later into corners. I felt safer riding more aggressively, trusting that I could bomb full-gas into a turn and with a last second pull the Maven’s power would reel me in quickly (and it always did). I should note that I didn’t find myself accidentally locking up wheels during these abrupt brake jabs – That option is always there with these brakes, but once adapted I found it easy to hit the ‘slow down quickly’ point without locking up instead. At this point, I started really enjoying riding my own bike because these brakes were so fun to ride with!
The power of the Maven Ultimates is also noticeable when you’re just feathering or dragging the brakes, due partly to their large pads. It is easy to maintain a very slight drag when needed with the Mavens. Just a light touch is enough to start controlling speed, and it takes little lever effort to slow yourself considerably when dragging the brakes harder. However, when panic sets in the Mavens’ power ramps up quickly with a deliberate squeeze, easily locking your wheels up.
Modulation:
While very powerful, I found the Maven Ultimates delightfully easy to modulate with the organic pads installed. On my first couple rides I was overbraking my rear wheel, sometimes accidentally dragging it down rock slabs or dusty chutes. I considered swapping the rear rotor to a 160mm (which I’m sure would still offer ample power for me), but decided I should just adapt to the lever feel instead. I did get used to squeezing that rear lever less, and I soon stopped overbraking the back wheel.
Under light braking, it’s easy to detect initial rotor contact and feather the brakes. Creeping down rock slabs in full control was no problem with the Mavens great modulation, and at no point did I find the brakes excessively or unpredictably grabby with the organic pads. As described below, I did find the sintered brake pads had a very strong bite and made modulation a bit trickier.
Organic vs. Sintered Pads:
SRAM’s organic pads bed in quickly, and in any weather conditions I never got more noise than a few very short, low squeaks. After Spring/Fall riding last year and a handful of rides this Spring, I don’t see any excessive wear or damage on the pads. The organic pads were easily grabby enough in dry conditions, with no noticeable fade on my descents. In wet conditions, the organic pads were not incredibly grabby. They were definitely still good enough to offer total control in damp conditions, and would always lock up a wheel if prompted.
This Spring I swapped in the sintered pads. My first ride with them was a wet, muddy one, and the sintered pads started squealing on the first pull. Even on the first bed-in ride, it was apparent these pads were going to grab strongly, and offer more power in wet conditions than the organic pads.
My next ride with the sintered pads was in dry conditions, and they had already bed themselves in enough to become very grabby. The pads offered a very strong bite, and I had to be careful to stay light on the levers during my first ride with them. The sintered pads are not as easy to modulate versus the organic pads, at least for a lightweight rider like me. However, after just two rides I was adapted to them and did not have ongoing issues with overbraking or locking up wheels. In dry conditions, the sintered pads also remained perfectly quiet.
Maven Ultimate Levers:
I’m totally happy with the shape and ergonomics of the Maven Ultimate levers. The reach and pad contact adjustments make it easy to fine-tune their feel, and I like the sleeker Stealth hose routing. The hinged handlebar clamps are great too, it’s a nice touch that makes maintenance quicker and easier.
I found the pad contact adjustment works very well. Turning the dial alters the contact point noticeably, providing a good range of adjustment. This feature is great for fine-tuning your preferred lever feel, but also can be used to even out the bite point between the two levers if they happen to be a bit off.
SRAM including a reach adjustment on the levers is great too. It’s always nice to have that adjustability, and it’s a good feature to include on a high-end set of brakes. While it’s nothing new, I did enjoy the fact that SRAM’s matchmaker clamps worked well with my dropper post lever and shifter, leaving me with a clean and ergonomic cockpit.
Performance/Reliability:
Unfortunately, maintenance and/or reliability did prove to be an issue with my Maven Ultimates. In the end, it seemed a second bleed brought the issues down to a very minor level, but I didn’t quite get the low-maintenance experience from the Mavens SRAM had promised.
My first few rides last Spring went fine, and I was mesmerized by the Mavens’ power. However, when I pulled my bike out after sitting for a few weeks one significant problem surfaced. I began having issues with the bite point moving in and out on both brakes, plus some noticeable pump-up after hard braking as well.
The first thing I noticed was that often on the first pull of the brakes, both levers would bite a bit further in than expected. After just one or two pulls, they would then migrate outwards to where I had set them. Once warmed up with a squeeze or two, the levers would bite consistently for the rest of the ride.
Another issue that came up was the brakes pumping up after a hard pull. At the worst, this would happen several times during a ride with either the front or rear brake. The issue corrected itself quickly each time, but for one or two pulls after a good hard brake the bite point would move out pretty obviously. For the next few weeks the brakes performed in this manner.
My bike sat for another short period unridden, then I pulled it out for a ride. This ride was disappointing, as my front brake was pulling almost to my grip, while my rear was biting where it should have. At this point, it was obvious the brakes needed a re-bleed.
In late September I started riding the freshly re-bled Mavens. I learned something interesting about the levers when I got my bike back from the shop. The bite point had been set fairly far out, as were the pad contact adjusters. While the bite point was consistent, I found myself having to pull the levers much harder than before. Thankfully I was able to adjust the pad contact point inwards quite a bit, and when I did I confirmed a suspicion.
If you set the bite point out too far, you won’t get the ideal amount of leverage from the Maven levers. When I moved the pad contact inwards, right away I could tell the lever was throwing enough to get proper leverage and the brakes felt like themselves again – super strong with minimal effort. I should note that I suspect most riders would naturally set the brakes up to bite at a point where the levers will do their job properly. Also, I’m sure this could be an issue with any hydraulic brake, but it was quite pronounced with the Mavens.
Spring 2025:
Throughout the fall the Maven Ultimates rode with very good bite point consistency, only producing some minor but tolerable ramp-ups after hard braking and quickly correcting themselves. I purposely stretched this review into this Spring, so I could see how the Mavens fared sitting through the winter.
After about three months in a cold shed, I was happy to find my Mavens did not need a re-bleed. The brakes were performing with near-perfect consistency right away. I did notice I was still getting that slightly deeper first pull on most rides, but as always the brakes stayed consistent after that initial squeeze.
Since this point the Mavens have been operating with about 95% consistency. The initial pull can still be a bit deep, and occasionally I will still feel a slight ramp-up after braking hard, but both are now very minor variations that won’t compromise control at a critical moment.
To sum it up, I found the Maven Ultimates to offer all the power SRAM promised. I was also happy to find they did so without being difficult to modulate, but it did take a few rides for me to adjust to squeezing the levers less forcefully than I would with any other brake I’ve ridden.
If you’re a rider who bleeds their own brakes and doesn’t mind a little bike maintenance here and there, I’d expect the power of the Mavens will win you over. However, if you pay your local shop for brake bleeds and don’t like missing rides due to maintenance needs, you may get frustrated if your Mavens require multiple bleeds to get properly set up or re-bleeds to maintain consistent performance. Ultimately, after two bleeds mine began performing almost perfectly and have remained that way for several months. Also, as mentioned above, this issue has been limited to the first test sample we received, and Maven brake sets on complete bikes we’ve had in for testing have performed better.
Despite being a lightweight guy, I love the reduced effort you can enjoy from a powerful set of brakes. I honestly feel like I can ride more aggressively than ever with the Maven Ultimates on my bike, so quirks aside I have no intention of removing them unless I have ongoing maintenance issues in the future.