Launched two years ago, the SRAM Maven has undergone some tweakings. Here’s our initial thoughts.
- Brand: SRAM
- Product: Maven B1 Silver MY27
- Price: £260
- From: SRAM
- Tested by: Benji for 2 weeks
So, what’s new about the new Maven? First of all, let’s explain the model naming. Basically, the original Maven is called the Maven A1. This new Maven is called the Maven B1. And I’ve been using the Maven B1 Silver for a couple of weeks.
What’s new? One of the pistons has got a teensy bit smaller (the caliper now contains 4 x 18mm pistons, instead of 2 x 19.5mm and 2 x 18mm pistons). There’s a new SwingLink; essentially the cam-type thing that sits between the brake lever and the master cylinder piston. And finally, the lever blades have been tweaked (the Silver now has CNC forged alloy levers, the Ultimate has carbon levers).
And yes, you can retrofit the new SwingLink (£85.00) and levers to the original Maven A1 system. Note: “When installed on A1 systems, riders can expect a marginal increase in deadband – due to the slightly larger piston volume – and a subtle boost in peak power stemming from the higher mechanical advantage at full stroke.”
What do all these changes mean on the trail (and in the workstand)?
There’s less force required to get the lever moving. The Maven A1 took 8Nm of breakaway force, the Maven B1 takes 4.25Nm. FYI the entry level Maven Base A1 took 4Nm; indeed it’s riders’ and reviewers’ feedback from experiencing (and preferring) the performance of the Maven Base A1 – as OEM brakes on test bikes no doubt – that possibly partly instigated this overhaul of the Maven Silver and Ultimate.
Whether the slight reduction in diameter of one of the piston pairings has an effect on the supposed need to ‘piston massage’ the system when bleeding to prevent wandering bite-point, is something I don’t know. I’ve never experienced wandering bite-point on Maven calipers that have been aligned properly ie. by eye, not by the squeeze-lever-and-tighten-bolts ‘method’.
Installing the new Mavens was as simple, intuitive and swift as it gets these days. The Bleeding Edge two-syringe kit is really well designed and fabricated. You don’t need three hands or X-ray vision to see what’s happening at either end of the system. It just works. I’d recommend wearing nitrile gloves still. Not to protect from brake fluid (SRAM are now mineral, remember) but to help grip the syringes/kit should any fluid get on there.
In terms of adjustment, I think SRAM are also top of the tree. The lever reach and the contact-point are both very easy to fine-tune on-the-fly (although does anyone set the contact-point to be anything other than minimum?) The positively (indeed, audibly) indexed reach adjust is great anyway.
Although aesthetics shouldn’t matter (but they do), I must also comment that the styling of the SRAM Maven is just that little bit cooler than SRAM of old. The slightly rounded-off industrial-square-ness look is very pleasing.
Out on the trail, what can I say? Mavens are just brilliant. Loads of power. No squidge. Even though the blades don’t appear to have much in the way of a new shape, I do somehow prefer how they feel in operation. Maybe it’s the new SwingLink? Hard to say. Anyway, it all just feels a bit crisper. There’s significantly more feel during lighter braking instances/scenarios. I never really found the previous Mavens to be overly grabby as such but the tactility and control of these new versions has been most welcome in the UK’s current super-slidey conditions!
Are they the most powerful brakes currently available? I’d probably still give the nod to the Hope Tech 4 V4 for all out endo-inducing anchor-dropping eyeballs-on-stilts oomph. But I much prefer the lever shape and arc path of the new Maven. And the Mavens still feel significantly more powerful than the latest Shimano XT/XTR brakes – and also more than the 4 x 19mm piston Magura Gustav brakes (although I think it’s possibly the Magura 2.5mm rotors that are the weak link there – more testing required!)
Regardless, there’s no getting away from the fact that when I’ve gone from these new Maven brakes back to a bike with A.N. Other brake on it, those brakes feel weak and vague. The new Maven is easily the best brake SRAM have come out with yet. Only time will tell – if it’s consistent and reliable enough – for the Maven B1 to be declared the best mountain bike made by anyone. So far, so great.