I’m about to start building up a replacement for my stolen Stanton. I was gong to plump for Shimano brakes again but remembered that the Guides get a lot of love.

How are they longevity wise?

I had XTR a Trails on my Stanton which I picked up cheap in the sale. They were pretty good but the newer versions seem to suffer more with inconsistent lever feel.

Yes!

Running RSCs, feel great, happier with them than the XTs on my other rig

Running RCs and they are very good indeed…I’d really like the RSCs as I’d like a wee bit less lever throw but at the same time, they are brilliant. I’d be hard pushed to replace them as they work so well…unsure I’d get a set of brakes that work as well as these again.

I can’t believe i’m about to say this about a SRAM brake, but they are some of the nicest I have used.

There, I said it.

Cheers chaos. I’m liking at the RSC’s which are cheaper than the XTR’s too.

3.5 months in on my Guide RSCs. I’ve had to replace all bearings in my frame, the BB is toast, cassette, chain and chainring are goosed.

The RSC are snappy and tight. Don’t need a bleed.

Guide R any good or are they the cheap/rubbish versions?

I have no idea but I have a brand new Guide R set off my Bird that I need to sell!

Guide RSCs on my new bike are better than my Formula The Ones which were previously the best brakes I’d ever used.

I used to be a committed Avid brake hater too.

I just found your stolen thread. 🙁 Utter bastards!

They’re bloody good- kind of like Grum, they remind me of my The Ones. I prefer the Formulas tbh but if I had to get a modern brake it’d quite likely be a guide of some sort.

Reliability still not very convincing though from what I’ve seen? Or maybe it’s just that because they’re SRAM, issues get a receptive audience? But everyone I know of that’s had Guides has had at least bleed issues and there’s been a few warranty replacements etc. I always wonder, with SRAM, how much of it is incompetent user bleeding though…

Must be about a year on my RS now, been absolutely faultless other than a tendency for the lever travel to increase a bit when pads are about 3/4 worn but I just take that as a handy wear indicator since pads are so cheap nowadays.
Wifes have been on for 6-7 months and work just as well.

I have Guides (not sure which version) on my ICT. Even with wee rotors, they have no probs controlling very nicely the tremendous physical forces of gigantic wheels driven by a large fat man.

Not as snappy as nicely set up XTs, but seem to have less fade on looooong steep descents, and more progression.

Guide R’s on my fatty, top bit of kit…..I’ve always been an Avid/Elixir hater, but these are the dogs.

Yep Guides all the way for me. We have around 50% guide, 50% XT brakes in our demo fleet. I think the guides are all still running on original factory bleeds. I am pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to find an XT that hadn’t had at least one bleed if not more. Reliability wise the Guides are as good as I have ever seen. They do eat pads at a fair rate though. I would recommend you do yourself a favour and bin the organics that come with them for some sintered straight away.

Levels are great too if you want to save some weight, and CRC are doing DB5s (Also good) at a silly price if you want to save some money.

Want to try a set as I’m seriously underwhelmed by the xt’s I have. Either that or back to hope. Sounds like a general positive but with decent backup if things do go wrong

Running XT M8000’s on my trail bike and Guide RSC’s on my bouncy bike and have to say that the Guides feel far better though I just managed to destroy a 3 month old set on holiday recently by somehow managing to seize both front and rear pistons (getting replaced under warranty).
When both sets are working I find the modulation on the Guides far superior to the on/off feel of the XT’s, something I understand that is an issue with 2016 M8000’s.

I have guides and hope E4s and as much as it pains me to say it, the guides are the better brake in use. Had to bleed mine as I cut the hoses and they bled very well, no probs since.

The bleed kit is a lovely thing as well. Solid syringes, connectors that fit and seal, pad blocks that fit and stay in place.

What bleed issues do people have? Any particular tips?

Mine are new, hoses trimmed and bled. I seem to be getting a bit of variance in lever feel – setting them up to bite very close to the bar I found I fiddled with the bite point a few times. Wondering if I messed up the bleed somehow.

Nope, just pushed up from the caliper then bled the lever in isolation and flicked the lever quite a lot.

Do they still howl like Elixirs did?

Prefer Guides RC over Shimano SLX/XT as I find them a bit less ‘grabby’. I don’t however like the shape of the blade compared to Shimano’s which maybe something to think about too.

Cheers chaps.

A mate has them on his YT and reckons they’re better than the XT’s on the other bike. I’m running SRAM GX so I may give them a whirl and run matchmaker clamps to tidy thinks up a bit. Also the saving means I can get a posher shifter.

Had Guides for about a year now, first few months in the UK, then 4 in various resorts in France and Andorra, now back home again. My experience was that they felt like a good replacement for M4s when I got them out the box and used them here. The levers felt like Juicy 7s which I liked and the modulation was more Hope than Shimano, which I was used to as well. So I kept them on my bike after thinking I might swap out for the M4s I was running on my old bike.

They didnt feel quite so good in Euro bike parks and long descents. Maybe they need a bleed, but they faded in a way that my Hope’s never did. I planned to replace them with Saints or XTs. I’m suing 200 / 180 rotors.

Now I’ve been back in the UK for a while they are fine. But, in the last few weeks they have started ‘gobbling’ like various sets of Avids I’ve had previously used to do. Annoying, but I’m going to swap the pads (whose life has been very good) and clean the rotors later today to see if that helps.

I also like running the rear lever and Reverb remote on the same clamp, so all things being equal I’ll keep them.

Only other complaint is the flimsy plastic bite point adjuster (if you have that version). I didnt think it would survive a whole season, but seems fine so far even if it doesnt inspire confidence or look great.

So, Jury’s still out in my case.

agent – thanks for that. That’s a very comprehensive review!

I’m still tempted given that there are lots of issues with Shimanos these days. My previous XTR’s were generally pretty good but needed a fair amount of bleeding / mucking about to get a good consistent lever feel. My previous XT’s were a bit hit and miss.

The most reliable Shimano brakes I’ve had have been Deore’s and Zee’s.

I’ve just bought a second hand Demo which has Guides on it and I like to keep both my bikes as similar with regards to set up so thought that rather than swapping out the brakes on the Demo and buying two pairs of Shimano, why not keep the Guides on the Demo and buy a set of RSC’s for the Stanton.