Motive is the second new brake from SRAM in 12 months, following on from the seriously impressive SRAM Maven Ultimate we reviewed back in 2024. The idea is to slim the range down to just three models, all using mineral oil: Maven for gravity, heavy e-bikes and DH; Motive for XC riding through to heavy-duty trail riding; and the existing DB line covering some of Motive’s ground but at a cheaper price.

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And everything else has been canned – Level, G2 and Code brakes that previously used DOT fluid have been discontinued. And while many like me might not miss Level and G2 so much, I’ve been a big fan of SRAM Codes RSCs for years and rated them alongside some of the best mountain bike disc brakes.

SRAM’s new Motive brakes cover the lighter end of the trail riding and XC market

SRAM Motive Ultimate need to know

• Brand new brake from SRAM, aimed at XC riders and trail riders alike
• Four piston calliper, and mineral oil replaces DOT to reduce service requirements
• New Direct Link lever action, with more linear and consistent pull
• Low 265g weight for calliper and lever
• Ultimate, Silver and Bronze models available, 180mm or 160mm HS2 rotors only
• £585 kit price includes two brakes, various rotors and pads
• Read out news story on SRAM’s new Motive brake and a cheaper Maven Base model 

The latest range means there are no dual piston brakes offered any more (only 4-piston) and weight-weenie XC racers as well as trail riders will now use Motive (that’s heavier than outgoing Level). More affordable builds will presumably use DBs (of which DB8 is already available, but DB6 and DB4 join it with this launch).

Motive is touted as the lightest heavy-duty brake SRAM has ever made and shares a blocky lever look that’s kind of a hybrid between DB8 and Maven. The calliper looks almost identical to current DB8s to me, albeit in some very funky splattered colours on the Ultimate ones here. Motive is significantly lighter than the ‘extreme-duty’ Mavens, with a weight saving of around 120g an end for both lever and calliper, and Motives are also around 50g lighter than old Code Stealth Ultimates.

Upper tier Motives in Ultimate and Silver guise use a sealed lever bearing for smother operation and the cheapest Bronze version uses a bushing. Ultimates also get weight-saving titanium bolts for the caliper, whereas Silver gets stainless steel, and Bronze plain old steel.

The new brakes are available as stand-alone packages (front or rear) without rotors, or as a complete kit with everything including a new Pro mineral oil bleed kit that you’ll need to replace the old SRAM DOT Bleeding Edge kit (so you can’t mix up the fluids by accident).

The lever sits oh-so-close to the bar, which is great for a clean cockpit

Design and specifications

The design language of SRAM’s other mineral oil brakes is carried over here with a low-profile (Stealth) boomerang-shaped main lever body that sits in close to the bars. There’s also a domed bolt a bit proud of the reservoir holding the mineral fluid and flip/flop levers to easily switch sides.

On this Ultimate version, the lever is carbon fibre to save extra weight, with Motive Ultimate now the only carbon-bladed lever SRAM offers. Ergonomics are great, with a smooth comfortable shape and position, and enough hook at the tip to keep your finger secure.

The Motive lets you adjust lever position, but not bite point: no problem for me, the lever contact position is spot on anyway

There’s no contact point adjust like previous SRAM models (or more expensive Mavens), but I just ran the pads fully in anyway so it’s no skin off my nose. Grabbier brakes like Shimano XT 8100 or Hope Tech 4 E4 might need the bite point backing off some, but not SRAM.

The way the lever works now is slightly different to older designs too and uses what SRAM calls Direct Link, whereas some older Guides and Codes had a Swing Link. Direct Link is touted as SRAM’s lightest weight ‘power delivery’ and has a linear feel that starts the moment you squeeze the lever.

So, whereas Swing Link used a rocker cam for a more progressive action and changed the leverage ratio deeper into the stroke for extra power, Direct Link has the same amount of force compressing the fluid and pushing on the four pistons right through the stroke. The idea is offering a more consistent feel, and there must be a small weight saving too with less components in the lever.

SRAM says its new seal design is super reliable and low maintenance, and I wouldn’t disagree with excellent consistency and reliability on all DB8 and Maven mineral oil brakes we’ve tested here so far. In fact, part of the reason to swap to mineral oil in the first place is because it is hydrophobic, which means it won’t ingest moisture into the fluid over time like DOT can.

This phobia for H2O should keep the brakes feeling consistent for longer and reduce the need for bleeding. SRAM also uses its own mineral oil developed with Maxima Racing Oils (that it works with on its suspension lubricants) for better results.

You can buy the Motive asa complete set, which SRAM calls its Expert box. Inside is a pair of brakes and various accessories as a full package. The box includes four rotors and two sets of pads (organic and sintered) to precisely tune ride feel and power. It says a fair bit about where Motive is pitched in terms of intended use that the four rotors are 2 x 180mm HS2 rotors and 2 x 160mm, rather than any 200mm rotors. This is despite being advertised as targeting aggressive trail riding and having ‘World Cup DH’ power.

I suspected that even with the more powerful (7% more on the dyno apparently) HS2 rotors, 180mm and 160mm rotors might not be enough for me, so I opted for a front 200mm and rear 180mm HS2 pair for testing. SRAM says that a 20mm jump in rotor size adds 14% more stopping power.

This rotor package got me thinking about SRAM’s philosophy with its new mineral oil brake line up. There are probably a lot of aggressive trail riders on bikes with 120-160mm travel (the majority of mountain bikers?) that want a powerful brake, but maybe not as powerful and heavy as a Maven. Keeping one eye on overall bike weight (especially if it’s not an e-bike) is important to me, and once you start adding heavier-duty brakes, tyres and everything else, it’s easy to add an extra kilo or more that changes the remit of your bike.

Having a bigger gap in the range between Motive XC/trail brakes and monster Maven DH brakes might therefore leave some riders out in the cold. Riders who don’t want a set of stoppers that adds up to an extra 240g in total (over half a pound) of weight at the end of the swingarm or fork leg.

Motive doesn’t have the raw power of the old Codes, and a suspect it might be too heavy for properly weight conscious riders

Performance

Motive is touted as having ‘Code-like’ and ‘DH’ power and the ability to allow you to brake later, but my first couple of rides with it using the stock organic pads had me questioning SRAM’s claims. The Motives felt consistent, but also consistently like there wasn’t enough power on tap to slow my 82kg weight as fast as I’d like; even on a 120mm trail bike with a 200mm front rotor that’s 20mm bigger than standard Motive spec.

The brakes were installed and bled by a World Cup DH mechanic and presumably had a perfect bleed (they certainly felt solid in the finger), so knowing set up wasn’t the issue, I set about swapping the pads out. SRAM says its organic brake pads ‘offer a strong initial bite and less overall noise’ and that ‘riders who brake hard and sharp to control speed should go organic’. My experience was opposite to this though, sintered brakes pads gave a much more positive feel and stronger grab and hold at the rotor.

Organic pads didn’t seem to connect well with the rotor, switching to sintered was a huge improvement though, especially in the wet

On my first couple of rides with the organic pads, braking feel was as if the pads were scuffing over the rotor – they never really locked onto the wheel fully. The sound and overall sensation was a bit like when pads are slightly dirty and corrupted, but they were in fact brand new and riding conditions were dry. Even pulling the lever really hard, I couldn’t get as much bite and stopping force as I wanted. This sensation was hugely improved with the Sintered pads, where the feel at the rotor was much more solid. This sensation remained even in the wet and mud on subsequent rides too.

Motive power is totally adequate and there’s a very consistent, solid feel at the lever when the pads hit the rotor, so you can quickly learn exactly how much force to put in. The point at which the bite happens never changes either. I found the ability to scrub off speed is quite a bit less than with Codes though (but hugely better than old Levels). And no matter how hard I pulled the lever, I couldn’t emulate the huge stopping force of the Mavens, something you I can actuate with the lightest touch.

My pick of SRAM’s brakes is still the Maven, it generates more power, while weight saving isn’t super important for me

If you need proper DH-level power therefore (even on a lighter bike), the right choice is likely Mavens with smaller (180mm?) rotors to dial back the ‘grabbiness’ and shed a few grams of weight from the overall package.

I really rate the Motive lever ergonomics, how cleanly it sits out of the way on the bar, and obviously how it plays very nicely with my other SRAM controls. I also like how the lever pivots from very close to the bar, so there’s no sense of the arc of the lever pull being a bit weird and curvy like on a Magura brake for example.

Outside of the layout and lever shape, there’s that sense of quite a bit less power than Codes that I’m used to. There’s also a slightly less snappy feel at the lever in the way the blade returns to the position. The pricier Code lever with its bearing inside returned to its original postion in a very positive way after each lever pull, but the blade here feels a bit more slow and vague. Combined with less sheer bite to lock the wheels, Motive therefore comes over a tad less solid and positive feeling overall.

The SRAM DB8 calliper looks pretty similar to the new Motive, but the new brake’s lever pull is significantly better

The Motive works a lot like SRAM DB8 too – which are pretty solid and decent brakes to be fair, especially with HS2 rotors – albeit with much better ergonomics and a lighter action. In terms of power, there’s not really much more noticeable clout here for the extra cash, but what you are getting is a very meaningful weight saving of around 100g an end. This means Motive is light enough for Nino Schurter to race World Cup XC on, and obviously, the colourful caliper here looks a bit more blingy too.

Compared to other brakes I’ve tested recently, overall feel and power is very similar to TRP’s Trail Evo brakes, with the big advantage here of being able to position the lever blade exactly where you want it and also a nicer, slightly lighter feel to the action. I’d say Shimano XT 4-piston brakes that are very similar in terms of weight pack more grunt when they are working well, but have a slightly more grabby, on/off, feel.