I’ve added another category. Working in a shop, as all shop rats know, requires us to filter what we say about products with the understanding that not everyone can afford or wants to spend the amount of money on a bike to get what really works, really works well. So, to help me deal with not being able to always voice exactly what I want to say, I shall say it here. Note: This doesn’t mean I am a bike snob.
As an inauguration of this category, I wanted to offer the praise that is greatly deserved for Hope brakes. They work, perfectly.

Their superiority become blatantly obvious the other weekend when I rented a bike that had some Hayes Nines on it. They had plenty of stopping power but they had no modulation. You were either skidding or not slowing at all. Hopes strength becomes apparent when one is bombing a steep downhill where you don’t want to skid but you need to be able to keep your speed down a bit. The Hopes can do it all, slowly bring you to a stop or bring you skidding in right behind the other brakes.

After riding Hopes for the past 4-5 months, I will never, I repeat never ride any other hydraulic brake system. Hopes are expensive but they are worth saving your money for. They are bomb proof, have perfect modulation and will cut time off of any descent due to added control.