Brembo, popular purveyor of high-performance brakes for cars and motorcycles, is jumping into a new market and arena of sport: downhill mountain biking. The Formula 1 and MotoGP brake supplier will now be making cute little brake calipers for Specialized’s 2025 UCI MTB World Series race bike. And yes, they are red.
There have been some one-off custom bicycles with Brembo brakes in the past, but this is the first proper OE application on something with pedal power. The Specialized Gravity Team will be running Brembo’s new bike brake system (it’s not just the calipers) on its race bikes starting with the Val di Sole event, coming up June 20-22.
It makes sense—downhill bikes don’t hit MotoGP speeds, but absolutely go fast enough to justify extreme braking performance. Especially at the highest level of competition. I did a couple of downhill mountain bike races in my youth as an amateur—never did a full day of downhill riding without damaging a significant component (usually bent wheels).
New business relationships also surely had a hand in making this happen. Specialized has run Öhlins suspension (another brand that also does elite equipment for motorsport and road vehicles) on its race bikes for many years, and Brembo acquired Öhlins just a few months ago. The Swedish company is still providing suspension for Specialized’s race program (and some of its consumer bikes, too).
As for the mechanical details on Brembo’s new bike brakes, here’s what the brand shared:
“The braking system, both front and rear, includes an axial brake master cylinder with a floating diameter of 9 mm and a triple lever adjustment (lever ratio, lever reach, and free stroke), allowing riders to customize the braking feel according to their preferences. The brake master cylinder is paired with a post-mount caliper featuring four “isolated” aluminum pistons with 18 mm diameter to provide high braking power. The master cylinder and the caliper are connected by a braided steel hose to ensure consistent and precise lever travel. The system is completed by a fixed brake rotor, specifically designed to match the caliper, with an enlarged braking surface to optimize heat dissipation during extreme use.”
I asked my Brembo contact if the brake kit would be available as a standalone consumer option at some point, and the answer wasn’t a yes or a no. As they shared via email: “Brembo has decided to enter the cycling sector with an initial supply in the Racing applications world: this is the first step into the realm of competitive bike racing and a new sector for Brembo and our racing business unit. We cannot speak to future potential in the bicycle industry right now, but this is not an opportunistic partnership – it is strategic. Brembo and Specialized have just embarked on a journey that we hope will lead to further innovations in the near future.”
Specialized’s factory riders usually have special prototype race bikes they use in competition, so I doubt you’ll be able to grab one of these off the shelf right away. But of course, the brand goes racing to move merchandise, so I’m guessing these brakes, or at least a version of them, will trickle down to production status eventually. You can buy the Specialized Demo Race bike for about $7,100 right now, that model’s not sporting Brembos yet but it does have Öhlins suspension.
This makes me want to get out and ride—my own Specialized has been collecting dust in the garage; I’ll roll it out again if it ever stops raining here in NY.
Know about any other car-brand/mountain bike collabs? Drop the author a line at [email protected].
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