Is there anything to beat Shimano Deore at £47 an end?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=38418

Would I be right in assuming that these are sized for a 160mm disc (with the necessary bracket for IS) but without the disc itself.

May also be interested in good condition s/h at around the same price.

keppoch

YGM. Deores are great btw 🙂

tektro (not cable ones) are good (check this months What MTB brake test). You can sometimes pick them up v.cheap and they have been reliable for me.

Shimano are fit and forget.There are a number of different Deore brakes though,M525,757 and the newer M595.

The M595 for example is a much newer design.

There

a

s WMB.The 595s came out 2nd only to Formula R1s……..

The ones in the link are bloody awful brakes, possibly the worst hydraulics the big S have made.

They don't come with adaptors or rotors.

HOwso?

Casting looks same as my 525s, 6 years old and going strong.

I would recommend spending a little more and buying the BR-M595 Deore brakes instead.

The caliper is much the same, apparently different internally and the lever is bloody awful.

They're incredibly hard to bleed, loose power without warning and are basically a frikkin death trap.

My mate with his Genesis Core 20, kept saying his brakes weren't up to much but I though just a noob expecting too much, so we got them bled, not much better.

I had a go on it and old skool cable rim brakes are better, he rode my cove with old deore hydros and very nearly catapulted him self over the bars braking on the flat!!

Or go for the BR-M525 kit if you want as cheap as possible. As cynic-al says these are the same caliper as the ones you were looking at but have the older style lever attached. They also include rotors and adaptors so at a ton you will struggle to find much cheaper.

check classifieds, might get a good deal on there now and again

525's are THE budget brake IMO. They're not pretty, and they're not the lightest, but they just work. Bleeding is easy, not that you have to do it that much, they're so robust, lever's nicely shaped, pads come in all flavours and are much cheapness, and they're easily as good as brakes costing twice as much.

Note that the BR-M525 kit is LH front, so you'd probably be wanting to swap the hoses over. Still looks a good deal though.

I've got a couple of sets of Deore hydros – both great, and both bought for about £50-60 a set on the classifieds.

I'm not saying don't go Shimano, they work. Merlin are doing front and rear old model Magura Julies for £89 all in. They are very good brakes, and easy to work on when needed. (bled mine maybe three times in five years) For an extra forty quid or so they'll throw in a set of wheels too.

Thanks very much for all the suggestions and advice, any more is also welcome!

keppoch

I've just bought a set of the New deore M595 but have not fitted them yet. They look nice but i can confirm they do not come with discs or adaptors (my SLX did have adaptors though).

I have also heard bad reviews about the Deore ones in the OP's link but these new ones look nice and get very good write ups. My LBS matched CRC and did them for £55 an end.

Edit – i got 2 brand new in box rotors off the classifieds for £12 & £15 to make a whole kit for £137 (already had spare adaptors).

They're incredibly hard to bleed, loose power without warning and are basically a frikkin death trap.

Sorry, I'd suspect user-error before believing Shimano could produce a brake this bad.

3rd 525's, really good brakes for the money, got them on my play bikes and they are just superb and better than the much more expensive Hope Mono Mini's on my main bike.

4th for the 525's.
I 'upgraded' from m525's to saint m800's on my 'trouble' bike and barely noticed the difference. They are cheap to buy new, and my old set is still going very strong at six years old on a mate's bike. Never needed to bleed the back one, only bled the front cos i had to replace the hose. Pads are cheap and if you set them up and bed them in the pad wear is just fine.

5th 525's – look a bit crap (if that bothers you) but do the job really well. Not touched mine in nearly 5 years apart from pad changes.

I have a record as a shimano hater and I took a set of these off my new bike to replace with hopes.

However I had ridden the bike a few times with them on and like all shimano products they just worked.

Not rebuildable and post mount which I dislike – so replaced with second hand hope minis which are rebuldable and are IS mount.

At the price offered you won't get a better new brake. I'd rather second hand hopes but thats my choice. The shimanos worked and worked fine. When they stop working you throw them away.

525s are ace.

Or else Merlin are doing Juicy 3s for under £100, including a 185 front rotor if you want it. Or Magura Julies for a bit less.

I'd go with the merlin julies myself.