Today Hayes has announced the release of the Dominion T2 brake set. It comes built with some fancy materials to create the lightest Dominion yet without compromising on feel. It also has a bunch of neat tricks to make maintenance that bit easier. 

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Lets start with the materials that this limited edition run of brakes is made from. This brake set features carbon fibre levers designed by Reynolds which are in-house produced. Then there's titanium hardware, a composite reservoir cover and the pads get aluminium backing plates, then the whole brake is machined to shave off any extra weight.

All of these new materials and weight savings make the T2 50g lighter per brake than the Dominion A2 and Hayes claims that there's minimal difference in feel between the two.

The T2 follows the same philosophy as the rest of the Dominion family, which consists of a low effort system with a predictable, yet progressive ramp-up with a crisp bite point. Sealed ball bearings at the lever and a new glide ring on the master cylinder piston help offer this feel.

Hayes has also put considerable effort in making the lever feel consistent throughout its range. To achieve this the brand has developed the Stable Rate Linkage that's designed to deliver a consistent lever ratio, regardless of lever position. Hayes also suggests that this tech can help reduce arm pump.

With this, Hayes says that each Dominion is set from the factory to have the least dead stroke possible to provide precise engagement. Although, the bite point and reach adjust can only be done with a 2mm Allen.

To combat the dreaded wandering bite point the Dominion T2's have metal pistons in the master cylinder and phenolic pistons in the calliper to help manage heat.

Also coming with the Dominion T2 is a host of nifty maintenance tricks to make life a little easier. At the caliper mounts are two screws that Hayes calls the Crosshair Alignment screws which help with caliper alignment which saves the sweet spot when you take the caliper off of the bike. As for bleeding, the T2 uses the double syringe method and the 2-stroke dual-port system allows the caliper to be bled separately from the lever.

Titanium rotor mountain bolts are supplied with the brakes for even more weight savings.

The Hayes Dominion T2 brakes will set you back £300 per brake without rotors.

• hayesbicycle.com

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