Right I am on the hunt for a set of disc brakes with a budget of 175-200 quid to splash.

I tend to do alot trail riding as well as longer xc rides and I dont need an anchor to stop. 😀

So far I have Shimano XT’s for £175 from Merlin on list but does the hive mind have any other recommendations before I hit the button?

Cheers in advance.

I’m about to post up some three month old pristine Hope M4’s for £225, they were on a 29er I’ve sold…… 203 front and 183 rears, still have original pads in…

Shimanos latest offerings seem to have a piston seal problem. Google leaking calipers and you’ll come up with a fair number of complaints. Mine went and I found out that you can’t fix them, you have to buy a new caliper 🙁

If I had my money again I’d have gone for Elixirs to match my other bike.

Formula are still selling Oro K24s for £140~ with all hardware and postage, I’ve not seen anything that can compete with that. They’re powerful but very predictable, good control. Reliable too, and all spares available through CRC now which used to be the only real criticism of Formula. 4 bikes, 4 sets here…

If you want to go with Shimano, XT doesn’t bring much to the table that SLX doesn’t. Marginally heavier, but same performance. You do miss out on the Mystery Adjuster though (nobody seems to be able to agree what it actually does). Decent brakes but not great.

@jonb well that’s a bummer now. Anyone else got any ideas then? Not sure on the feel of Avids tbh.

@geordiemick00 hmm thats mighty tempting, but I an stuck with a £200 quid max limit. You can also ways drop the price. 😉

slx are better ime than xt servowave or elixir rs

I’d go for Elixir’s personally, I’ve swapped my SLX & Deores for them after wrecking the Deores during the cold snap.

Great brakes, loads of feel & power

avid elixir 5 £65 each @ on-one

had mine for 2 years+ without any problems

I’m liking my TRP Dash Carbon brakes at the moment. Decidedly better than than the XT ones on my other bike

Hmm at the mo Hope seem to be the best bet for winter.

@geordiemick00 ygm

And to fight the corner of XT’s… I love mine, they can be a pain to bleed (reverse bleeding really helps though), but consistently good performance for a relatively budget price. The “mystery” adjuster on the XT’s that SLX doesn’t have adjusts the free stroke of the levers, that is to say how far the lever travels before the pads come into contact with the disc, and they do make a difference if not a massive one. £175 isn’t a bad price, though you used to be able to get them for cheaper… SLX work about 95% as well as XT though if that helps.

Just had a quick play with the new 2012 XT brakes on a bike on the Shimano stand at the Singletrack Weekender though… Hmmm… V nice! Me wants…

This is problem with the internet, it becomes hard to judge weather the seal issue is genuine bad design or whether the few who have had issues are just more vocal than those who are more that happy with there kit. 😕

Anyone with XT’s wish to step forward in support?

I like the Elixirs I have. If you can get them for £65 each thats a good deal.

I really like my m775 xt’s, very solid feel to them, prefer them to elixir. I’d be very tempted to go with the new 2012 version, which crc are selling for the same price (but looks like you’ll have to wait until August):

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=67208

One added benefit with shimano brakes, is you’ll know they’ll match with xt shifters, but fitting matchmakers isn’t tricky, just an extra cost.

mboy – Member

The “mystery” adjuster on the XT’s that SLX doesn’t have adjusts the free stroke of the levers, that is to say how far the lever travels before the pads come into contact with the disc, and they do make a difference if not a massive one

Various people had a look and said “It stiffens up the lever feel” “It reduces the servowave effect” “It adds extra lever travel before the pistons move at all” and “it retracts the pads further from the rotors for mud clearance” (all the magazines seem to think that’s what it does- mine didn’t)

Anyway- the main thing I found was that they developed a sticky piston which needed a replacement caliper as you can’t buy the little seal seperately… And that when I sold them and bought my Oros I got a more powerful, more reliable, more consistent brake. So all’s well that ends well 😉

XT’s cant imagine youd need more for xc, good thing about xt are the pads last, they also rub less than most and have more clearance and are easy to swap, they are reliable, they use mineral oil.
never had to bleed mine yet and stil feel as good as new.