Review: Lewis LHT Brakes - by Eric Heyward

I am reviewing the Lewis LHT front and rear brake with the lewis 200 mm front rotor and a 180 mm rotor in the back I am also running the Lewis brake pads. I weigh 186 lbs. Full disclosure I paid full MSRP for these brakes. I placed an order for the bleed funnel, rotors and front and rear brakes. They arrived at my door from China in 11 days. They were packaged very nice and in a protective manner. Customer service was great and responded within 24 hours every time.

I am running them on an ibis Ripmo AF.

For reference I have used magura mt7 , shimano xt, shimano saint , shimano deore , sram G2 sram gs2 so that is mainly what I will be comparing these to

Fit and finish.

The fit and finish on these is incredible They have no visible defects scuffs or scratches. All of the parts lineup perfectly in the CNC work looks amazing. One thing I also noticed is how nice the hardware is that is provided on the same level not better than high end hardware. They look and feel extremely good quality. Comes with extra barbs and connectors just in case.

Installation

Installing these were a dream compared to some nightmares, I have had with SRAM and magura. Not that it is difficult, but getting both levers to produce a consistent and firm feel could sometimes be a challenge and would need several attempts at bleeding to get them to feel consistent.

Out of the box, the front brake was perfect length and installing was a breeze. The clamp onto the handlebars lined up perfectly and created a snug fit without too much torque one thing I really like is Barb at the lever side has a no leak system that makes it easy to take apart run through the internal routing and connect to the lever.

These were some of the easier to install brakes I have had. When removing the hose there will always be a small loss of oil or pressure. I re bled the brakes and it was a breeze. Used the Lewis thread on funnel and a standard bleed kit for the caliper. Also used the provided brake blocks. This was super easy and straight forward. It was easy to get a solid consistent feel on both brakes.

Installing the calipers on the rotors was easy and straightforward. They centered perfectly when squeezing the lever while the bolts are not fully tightened, then torquing them down. For some brakes this does not work so well. They were bedded in after about 10-15 times of getting to speed and slowly braking to a stop.

Feel and adjustment.

Now for my favorite part of these brakes and what I think sets them apart from others on the market. They have 3 different ways to adjust the feeling lever throw, bite point, and leverage ratio. Two of them the bite point adjust and the leverage ratio both have a patent pending design. The lever throw is adjusted by twisting the knurled knob. The bite point is a 2 mill allen located inside of the lever throw knob can be adjusted with the provided 2 mill allen. This can be adjusted to have a long throw feel or a very sensitive short pull to get stopping power.

The most unique one is the leverage ratio adjustment this. Moves the center point of the brake lever giving you the option to dial in this unique feel to the brakes. The different positions make the braking point start earlier and feel more consistent vs a softer feel with increasing pressure.  Some people do not like having so many things to dial in and adjust but was super quick and easy just adjusting each one at a time to see what feels best and set and forget.

I like a short throw to the bite point and the reach relatively close to the handlebars. The leverage ration was also closer to the handle bars rather than further out.

 

Performance

The feel on these is honestly something special. The only thing that I have ridden that feels close is the maguras. The throw is smooth than comes to a mild squish resistance that is very easy to modulate. The power is the best I have ridden also.

They do not feel too powerful as the modulation is so great. I haven’t felt my self grabbing too much brake throwing off my body position which has happened with the maguras before. I understand that is probably more of a me issue than the brakes but just what I have noticed. The braking action is light with a long lever feel. I’m sure you could get a sharper braking feel if you were to get different pads.

The feel on both the front and rear are incredibly consistent. And even if they are thrown off due to hardware off being able to use the bite adjustment is huge in getting them to feel perfect and both feel the same.

I never found myself wishing a had more stopping power, or felt that were not responsive enough. I was able to easily hit my braking points smoothly without and sticking or noise.

Customer support

One thing I was not sure of was the level of support behind these parts. I had concerns about getting spare parts or replacements.

The only issue I had that was 100% on me was over torquing the grub screw for the lever ratio adjust. I over torqued leaving a small dimple in the barrel that the leverage ratio rotates 360 degrees causing it to get hung up when rotating. It still functioned to 100% but didn’t feel super smooth. I reached out and was told they would replace the part free of charge if I covered shipping. To me there is nothing more I could have asked for handling this. They have always responded withing 24 hours and answered all of my questions in an informative manner.