Looking for some advise of the best disc brake set for £250 to £300, to go on an all mountain setup.

What is the best?

Shimano Xt/slx-personal experinece-well priced, well made, reasonable weight, utilitarian looking, best all rounder probably.

Avids-From personal experience again,wouldn’t bother with the juicy’s. Good performace, but never got a good feel. Bleedings a bit of a faff comapred to shimano. Spares are hard to come by and the pistons have a habit of seizing

Hope M4- some love hope, some dont. Good spares availbilty and custoemr service. Look great, and endless list of custimisation available.

Magura-Seem to get rave reviews, 5 year leak proof warranty, german engineering.

Would also be tempted by Formula The On because they look so nice!

Many thanks, any views on the Hayes Stroker Trails?

dinty, have some avid ultimates for sale in the classifieds.

Current bike I have 2007 M4’s on, but fancy trying something different / better is poss.

Got hope mono mini pros on my 5, look great work great 180/160, only issue i’ve had is when the pads are 60/70% worn I tend to mangle the springs. Got SLX on my SS and they’ve beem outstanding without the bling factor.

Avid Elixirs seem to be getting good reviews as a more powerful than a juicy, but lighter than juicy 3s, 5s and 7s I think

Merlin have them for £160 per pair at the moment too, I’m very tempted, though my current juicy 3’s are techincally just fine

Weve got Hayes 9s on 8 bikes and also Stroker Trails on my Marin and they have never let us down in UK or in the Alps. Had Shimano Deore and XT, Hope, Avid and Magura in the past but find the Hayes more reliable especially in Verbier

Tracey

Got some hayes stroker carbons you could have for £140 posted

Hayes Stroker Trails or Hayes Stroker Carbons are great brakes
See above or go to Merlin Cycles

Very happy with my Elixirs. Don’t think the CR’s are worth the extra over the R’s though, so go for them.

Running 160mm rotors because 185mm were too powerful for me 🙂

Hayes are good, try merlin for a price! My trails seem spot on, and you can have them in 203 at the moment.

My Stroker Trails have been a litney of rubbishness. First off one of the bite point adjusters came without any BBs so just span instead of ‘clicking’ (Merlin sorted that in double quick time – thanks!).

They then worked fine in the UK. However i then went to the Alps and whenever they got wet/bit mudddy they’d seize up at the caliper and i’d be left with almost zero brake at the worst possible moment (i.e. the brake calliper would retract enough that the wheel span but no further meaning I had a floppy leaver that wouldn’t ‘spring back’. In the end I swapped them out for a mates set of Juicy 3s – it happened on both levers so it didn’t seem to be an isolated thing. The descents were fairly full on (I tihnk it happpened on the Swiss National the first time – although it then happened in Chatel bike park which isn’t very hard by Alp standards), but I was running 203mm at both ends so it shouldn’t of been a problem really.

Anyway, I stuck them back on the bike in the UK and they were fine-ish (they started to stick again if were raining heavily)…. untill the back pads fell out so when I jammed the brake on the pad shot out and the piston went into the disc – buggering it.

So in short – completely rubbish. Get something else. I’ve brought Avid Exlirs, but if I were spending 300 quid I’d get the some bling Formula The Ones.

My Juicy 3SLs off my Pitch work great, and I weigh 16stone.

Shimano Saint.

I’ve ran Deore’s and XT brakes for years without any issues whatsoever. Reliability with Shimano is as close as fit and forget as you’re likely to get with disc brakes – and they are a piece of p!ss to bleed and change pads on.

XT’s are quality brakes but found them wanting a bit on long alpine decending last year which is why I’d say the Saints. XT’s are great for UK riding and cope with everything over here.

I suppose it depends what you mean by “all mountain”. If this is pootling round trail centres and the occasional trips to the Peaks or Lakes then XT’s are just the ticket, if your ridings going to be lift assisted then the Saints.

Both are simple and effective.

I like Avid Juicy brakes and have sets on 2 bikes but the pads are fiddly to change: anyone know if the pads are easier to change on the newer Exlirs?

Always find brakes a bit of a ‘mare as, until you’ve run a set for a while, its difficult to say if they are the right brake for you in terms of ‘feel’, modulation, easy of serving/pad replacement etc.

Elixir pads are much easier to change, akin to hope M4s and Shimanos.

Elixir CR’s, awesome brakes, always liked juicys but these are something else.

I like my XTs better than Juicies or Formula Oro.

The Oros have probably been most trouble-free, XTs seem to need more bleeding, but the combination of modulation and power when set up right is just great.

I like my Avid ultimates, liked my XT”s also liked Magura martas. All the same to me. Would come down to cost for me. The magura’s were easy as hell to bleed. havent needed to bleed tha avids or the XT’s. Only have Avids at the mo.

I know 2 people with Formula The Ones and both have had real problems with them, they both have terrible lever feel, one set have been back to Formula to bleed and everything, they still need to be pumped 3-4 times before the lever doesn’t hit the bars. To be avoided IMO.

Elixirs are excellent though.

Waiting for this lovely bit of bling to arrive – £297 from Wiggle

Love my Mono Minis – totally realiable, powerfull enough for me, and piece of p*ss to bleed. Had Hayes Strokers on two demo bikes I tried and thought they were the horriblest grabby brakes I have ever used. XT’s on the old bike – had a spongy feel but good modulation. The pistons do seem to stick pretty regularly though, and I head they are a bitch to bleed properly

Save yourself a fortune, Hayes HFX Nines are £80 a pair on CR. Simple, dependable and bombproof. Test them in the Alps with the dosh you’ll save (nearly).

my most trusty brake to date is hayes carbon 9’s!! bit grabby but powerful and just work, pads last ages too, bleeds are ok, why spend 300?
if you want modulation and feel then XT are great, maybe not the best alp anchors though.
the avids ive used stop ok but dont feel great and theres always something to anoy you, not tried elixrs though
i’d be cautious of all these expensive new fantastic looking brakes, i’d really like some lightweight stoppers but just cant risk all that money on brakes that could possibly be worse than what i all ready have, when these sets finally explode i may but for now if my brakes are fit and forget then thats job well done.

Reckon Dobo’s right – those Hopes look like a disaster waiting to happen, with fiddly dials and drilled bits everywhere. Mind you, if you never crash your bike, maybe they’ll last.

After having mini’s up until last year they were great. However, after my bike was stolen I moved onto Avid Elixrs and they are absolutely fantastic. They also look very good and are fantastic value.

I’m still running Hope E4 on both my bikes. Based on that, I’d be more than willing to buy Hope again. The parts are availible all over, try getting a seal kit for the old XT 4 pots! They’re well made so easy to work on and they’re really controlable. If I could find another set of E4s, they go on the wifes bike!