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Magura Marta SL disc brake review

Recently, I was given the chance to take a set of 160mm Marta SL disc brakes out for a good thrashing in the field. Thanks to our good friends over at SpokeWrench.com, an online shop based in Ontario, for hooking me up with this stuff. These are the same guys who are making preparations to run the TransRockies later this summer.

If you want a lightweight disc brake for cross country use there are only a few really good options. In many of the head to head tests on disc brakes, the offerings from Avid have come out as being the standard that other companies have to live up to. The Avid BB7 mechanicals are simply the best and most powerful cable-actuated disc brakes on the market, and the Avid Juicy 7s are among the best hydraulic disc brakes available. When SRAM/Avid unveiled the Juicy Carbon with a lighter weight and the same ease of use, it gave competitors another bar to try and clear.

But at the same time Avid was working on the Juicy Carbon, Magura was already tweaking and refining it’s Marta SL brake. For 2006, the Marta SL offers a gorgeous setup that performs as well as it looks.

The Marta SLs were installed on my Cannondale Rush 1000, which is now sporting a SRAM X.0-dominated drivetrain with Shimano XTR cranks. Prior to installing the Maguras, I had been running Juicy 7s and the Avids fit perfectly with the X.0 triggers; they were highly adjustable, powerful and, generally, just a fantastic brake. So the Martas had a lot to live up to.

Product specifications

The Magura Marta SL is definitely designed to be a cross country disc brake system, although there is a 180mm option for those of you who need a little extra bite. The 160mm option weighs around 325 grams, which is around 70 grams lighter than the 160mm Avid Juicy Carbon model.

The 2006 SL comes with a new carbon fiber two-finger lever. The rest of the lever and the dual-piston calipers are cold-forged aluminum. It’s an open hydraulic system with an integrated reservoir and the calipers have automatic pad wear adjustment in a one-piece design. The Martas come pre-bled and ready to install and Magura offers a five-year leakproof warranty for the first buyer if you register online. As with all Magura brakes, the Martas use Mineral oil for easier servicing.

MSRP: $600 (usd) a set (front and rear), although you can find them for much cheaper. SpokeWrench.com currently has them for $550 (cad) for the pair

Manufacturer’s website: www.magura.com

The good

Light wieght. Let’s get something established right off the start here. These brakes are designed for cross country race use. At just 324 grams (front, 160mm) they’re significantly lighter than the Avids and shave a major amount of weight off many other systems. So it’s fair to say if you’re a true weight weenie, these are the brakes to go with. Period.

Feel the power. Thankfully not all the r&d went into making the Marta SL lightweight. They’re also incredibly powerful and, even with a 160mm rotor, the Maguras have an incredible amount of stopping power. The important thing is that you break them in properly. It’s a pain in the behind and takes a while to do (30km/h to 0 km/h braking hard 30 times), but you can feel the brakes getting more and more powerful as you go through the process.

The looks. I know, I know, this isn’t supposed to be important, but in my opinion carbon brake lever blades are one of the coolest looking components on a bike. Matched up with a carbon bar and the carbon SRAM X.0 trigger shifters and it’s a cockpit worth drooling over.

The not so good

Doesn’t play well with others. SRAM has a huge advantage in the fact it owns such a variety of component makers. With Truvativ bars, SRAM shifters, and Avid brakes, everything is designed to fit together perfectly. But when you introduce an outsider like the Marta SLs, it takes some fiddling to get everything where you want it. Unfortunately you lose some adjustability because you’re limited with how everything can be positioned. I also found that the Martas were somewhat difficult to install on a Cannondale bike using the Lefty fork. Unfortunately the brake lever and reservoir setup are too big to squeeze through the space between the Lefty fork and the steerer tube, so you have to partially disassemble and remove the Lefty to get the brake lines where you want them.

Less adjustability. The Marta SL has come a long way with adjustability for things like lever throw and pad location, but it just doesn’t compare with the easy-to-use Juicys.

Finnicky Rotors. I read about this before trying the Marta SLs and I discovered it myself. Magura rotors are difficult to keep straight. Unfortunately lightweight means losing some strength, and I found it tough to keep the SL’s rotors true. Of course that makes it really difficult to keep the pads from rubbing.

Scoring

First impressions: 7 / 10. There’s no question about it, the Magura Marta SL is one of the sexiest components on the market. The carbon brake lever blade looks great, as do the aluminum lever housing and caliper. The break-in period was a pain, but the stopping power made it worth while. The Magura loses points here because even after the lengthy break-in, there were some horrible sounds coming out of the brakes for the first few rides. So much so that I was embarrassed if people were around. They were LOUD.

Performance: 38/40. It’s hard to find a negative here. The Magura SLs perform exactly how they should for a lightweight cross country disc brake. Stopping power is outstanding, yet controlled.

Durability: 16/20. Keeping rotors straight is a challenge for any disc brake system, but they shouldn’t be so delicate that they go out of true in the first few rides. Having mineral oil used makes bleeding the system a bit easier and cleaner. As for the durability of the levers, I can say I took one pretty good bail while testing the brakes and the levers escaped without so much as a scratch. I think any concerns about carbon being more fragile than aluminum is completely unwarranted.

Pricing: 17/20. At $600 for the set, these are definitely in the “expensive” category. But the cost is not at all outrageous for what you get. It’s comparable to other top-end lightweight hydraulic disc brake systems. Are they worth the money? I think so.

Wild Card: 8/10. The cool factor on these brakes is extremely high. They just look so damn good. If you’re a weight weenie or a carbon fan like me, they’re a drool-worthy item.

Overall: 86/100. Extremely good.

Summary

Let’s face it, $600 carbon hydraulic disc brakes are not something most people need. Actually, almost nobody needs these other than a professional XC racer who absolutely has to have the lightest option available.

But there’s a reason everyday schmucks like me buy this stuff: because they’re cool; they look great; they offer some of the best stopping power in the market. My recommendation is this: If you have $600 extra to upgrade your bike, spend it on improving your drivetrain. This is where you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck. But if you’ve already got what you want in that department and somehow still have an extra six bills in your wallet, go ahead and spoil yourself on a set of Magura Marta SLs.

The Magura Marta SL is for you if:

• You have to have the latest and greatest.
• You’re a certified Weight Weenie.
• You ride more XC than FR.

The Magura Marta SL isn’t for you if:

• You run a SRAM X.0 drivetrain and are finicky about brake lever position.
• You don’t like making occasional adjustments to rotors, caliper positions etc.
• You run a Cannondale Lefty fork and are too lazy to disassemble things to install the front brake line.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 12th, 2006 at 8:02 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.