Given the quite some number of riders here who don't find the Hayes brakes an issue, I'm beginning to wonder if their is something wrong with my set up!
My issue with them is that whereas the Brembos have feel and are progressive, the initial bite of and lack of feel of the Hayes are spoilers. It's taken me quite some time to 'judge' rather than feel when the Hayes are going to bite, such that for the first 1000 miles I looked like a newbie when coming to a standstill. I then discovered that when loaded up with panniers etc that manoeuvring the bike in simple situations such as reversing out of a sloped parking slope meant finding myself doing a bucking bronco.
It also seems to me that the balance between front brake and paired back brake set up has changed, such that any application of the Brembo rear in concert with the front, even at low speed makes the ABS kick in.
Don't like them at all. But, as I say, if folks could suggest what might need looking at on my setup, all thoughts welcome.