Before I’m crucified by the STW collective for posting this question may I explain that even though I’ve read most of the threads on this site, MBR & B Radar… I’m now chasing my tail.
TBH ever since my first Hydro ‘Up grade’ Gremica (remember those) I’ve yet to experience trouble-free cycling. I accept that maintenance and hydros go hand in hand but all of them, including my hayes hfx 9’s and hope M4’s consumed an unpleasant amount of man-hours in ‘servicing’ tasks such as pot seal replacement, piston lubes and the most painful of all…the post new pad calliper ‘EPIC SHIM-FEST’.
Admittedly, I have suffered moments of servicing stupidity (usually when rushing or being simultaneously tortured by my children) from time to time, but I’m reasonably ‘savvy’ with all things engineering.
So, could you guys & gals (just one more time) recommend a brake that’s easy to align, reasonably powerful (2 finger braking will do) for XC rides and racing.

I’ve never achieved both units running correctly. Either the front or rear in isolation (with respect to rubbing) but never a united free-spinning utopia, post brake application.

Would I be correct in thinking the Avid brakes feature a unique alignment design? There’s overwhelming support for the Formula R1’s, from a power aspect, but they too look like they might suffer from alignment issues? I don’t know, they don’t seem to employ the easy adjustment features other manufacturers boast?
Cheers.

I seems they(Hayes, Hope)suffer from pad retraction issues rather than power?

EDIT: I’m I expecting too much, I love my MTBing but the pre-ride ‘fettling’ is really wearing thin, esp. now that spare time has become a precious commodity.

shimano.

i’ve never done any maintenence to my deore brakes other than replace the pads. over 3 years solid performance.

I find my Avid Elixirs are more hassle to set up than my XTs (on the other bike) – I think this might be because the pads are slightly closer to the rotor on Avids, so any slight kink in the rotor, or misalignment, and they rub. (No doubt someone will correct me in a moment).

My front XT brake was rubbing the other day after taking the wheel out. It took me about 30 seconds to loosen the bolts, pull the lever, and do the bolts up again, and there was absolutely no rubbing whatsoever.

I’m going to watch this thread with interest, chiefly so I can recommend something to my mate, who has yet to make it through a ride without picking up his front or rear wheel, spinning it and muttering “that’s not right, that”.

Personly, I’ve had Hope Tech X2’s for a coupleof years and they’ve largly been brilliant and maintenance free. Only trick I know is leaving the old pads in while pushing the pistons back home before fitting new pads. As long as they push all the way back (with a bit of persuasion) all is good.

xt m775 – best and most hassle free brakes i have ever owned, powers amazing, bite amazing, feel is all round amazing!

seriously if you have 200quid for some you cant go wrong, i dont think ill ever leave shimano again for brakes now…..im tempted by the new xtr ones, as if they are suppose to be even better than the current xt’s then they must be pretty much amazing!

ive had juicy 3’s, 5, elixir cr, hope tech x2 for the comparison, so ive tried a few!

also to add to the point :- mine elixir cr used to constantly catch on the rotor, to the point i was shouting at my bike whilst ridign 😆 along the lines of STFU you piece of shiteeee!

since having the xt’s no such issues, even with brand new thicker pads there still seems to be plenty of distance between the rotors and pads, without it affecting the the amount the lever comes in….

i honestly cant recommend them enough!

Shimano’s servo-wave system (SLX, XT & new XTR) is meant to allow the pads to run further off the rotors, with the level pull being on a sort of cam so the first part of the movement brings the pads into contact with the rotors. Should mean less wrries with slightly misaligned calipers/out of true rotors causing drag.

I’m always amazed by how varied people’s experience of the same brakes are! For every ‘X is rubbish’ there is a ‘X is maintenance free’.

I’ve run Hopes for the last 10 years (including 5 years on Mono M4s) and would never change, but you’ve discounted those!

…Avid BB7 Mechanical?

shimano – loosen bolts, apply brake while wheel turns, tighten bolts

not bled mine either in 4 years. XT M775s are way better than the old saints too.

+1 for Shimano. Can’t advise much about maintaining them – they just never seem to need any fettling. Fit & forget. I could never say that about any make of V’s I ever used

(n.b. For clarity, “V’s” in this context is an abbreviation of “V-Brakes”, not ‘versus’.)

Thanks for all the feedback, I’m still laughing at the STFU squealing comment… I feel your pain 🙂

Yeah, just got back from researching Avids…loads of folks mention the tight disc clearance issue.

I so wanted my Hopes to be the final chapter; supporting the brit industry, but it’s looking like the the ‘Big S’ has won the day……..again.

Probably go for the XTR if I can stretch it, I’ll feedback after initial thrash.
Thanks again for advice.

Avids (Juicy 5’s) very easy to set and forget – it takes about 20 seconds. The pads are a bugger to change though – it’s a good job they last ages.

I can’t rant enough about how I dislike the Hope Minis I bought by mistake. I assume Hope have ditched the whole spacer washer design that never worked by now. And they never really work – by that I mean reducing speed / stopping. Bah humbug.

This is the closest to consensus I have ever seen on brakes. Lots of people in favour of Shimanos here.

Thanks for all the feedback, I’m still laughing at the STFU squealing comment… I feel your pain 🙂

Yeah, just got back from researching Avids…loads of folks mention the tight disc clearance issue.

I so wanted my Hopes to be the final chapter; supporting the brit industry, but it’s looking like the the ‘Big S’ has won the day……..again.

Groupo wise, does it run SLX, XT then XTR?

Cheers
Probably go for the XTR if I can stretch it, I’ll feedback after initial thrash.
Thanks again for advice.

Don’t think you’ll gain a lot from XTR over XT other than bling value.I’ve got XTs on one bike and Elixirs on the other,the Elixirs are a bit faffier to set up,but brake better,neither need much in the way of maintenance once setup.
Ian

Love Tubs – Member
…recommend a brake that’s easy to align, reasonably powerful for XC rides and racing…

Sturmey-Archer 90mm drum brake.:)

Just be aware that only the latest XTR incarnations boast Servo-wave, the older ones didn’t have it (and delivered fairly modest stopping power tbh). Get a pair of XT M775, as recommended repeatedly above, they’re virtually “invisible” from day one and are a great balance of performance and cost.

Hope tech4’s are great, easy to set up and require minimal maintenance.

Troll?

I’m going to watch this thread with interest, chiefly so I can recommend something to my mate, who has yet to make it through a ride without picking up his front or rear wheel, spinning it and muttering “that’s not right, that”.

Think we have the same mate! 🙂

12 years of using hydro’s here. No issues. I must be the lucky one.

Went from avids to maguras

Went from pita to perfect

Shimano, regular pad removal and cleaning/lubing the pots or they stick slightly, grazing the disk, and then it rings like a scalded cat. Drives me nuts.
It depends on the sort of dirt. It’s gritty here and winter wet is bad for it. Happens much less during the summer or dry weather.

You simply need to set them up properly

Tehre are two stages to the proper centralisation of brakes – centralise the caliper – using shims if is mount or using the slots if post mount then centralise the pistons – the method is bst expalied by the videos on the hope site.

Do this and they will be fine

http://www.hopetech.com/page.aspx?itemID=SPG150

Has anyone mentioned wonky IS mounts yet? I know most stuff is post mount now but facing off my mounts with the Hope tool made everything much better.

I do find those various post mount adaptors rather ugly.

I’ve run Deore 525’s (two lots), Juicy 3’s, Juicy 5’s (two lots), Mono mini’s, Tech x2’s, Tech m4’s.
Only the Shimano were truly fit & forget. Avids were most powerful & easiest to set up. Problem is how close they run. Hopes work ok. Lovely bit of machining. Not tried Juicy 7’s yet. They have a bite adjuster but not sure if that actually affects disc-pad clearance ?

Shimano Deore 525’s on my old Sub 5 did 7 years hard labour and I once had to elastic band a lever overnight to drive a smidge of air out of a caliper. Other than that, ride, change pads, ride repeat repeat etc.

My new Juicy’s are a pain in the royal and need a bleed every few months, then faff with pistons not retracting etc etc

Cheers all, XT’s with the 2nd wave system it is. TJ, believe me I’ve followed every HOW TO threat, youtube on how to centralise, with or without shims.

Apologies for repeating myslef earlier with the ‘last chapter’ comment.

Funny, I’ll default straight to shimano for all group-o related stuff…that said I’m very impressed with Hope’s BB (nice bit of turning that)…but I’ve been drawn to the ‘exotic’ in search of the holy brakes.

The answer was under my very nose 🙂

As previously stated, will post back with how it goes…for the greater good of mankind

I promise this’ll be my last entry to the thread. I’ll not be purchasing these, but oh how pretty? Step aside Megan Fox 😯

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/magura-marta-sl-red-disc-brake-with-storm-sl-rotor/?&source=MaxiFeed&id=5360055358