June 10, 2018, 9:24 a.m. -  Andrew Major

I think the Trail Sport is an awesome system - there is also certainly a bit more power up front, in this case, with the Magura four piston caliper. Magura has two lever blade options so they will fit a larger range of hand sizes well. For tiny hands I think the HC lever is the best option on the market. I’ll call feel at the lever a wash for now but it’s early days in the test and I haven’t ridden in all conditions. Pricing is the same here so it comes down to preference (surprisingly powerful simple 2-piston vs more powerful 4-piston front / rebuildable vs. not rebuildable). Hard to argue with the value Magura is delivering in your market! Negatives of Magura vs Cura: In my experience the Magura pads wear out quite quickly. Pads are a consumable but if you ride a lot this could affect comparable cost of ownership. The Magura MCs are not rebuildable. Technically you can take them apart and put them back together but there are no parts available. They have the excellent 5-year leak proof guarantee but, again if you ride a lot, if a lever gets sticky or sloppy the only recourse is replacing the master. Hope that’s helpful.