I fancy a nice set of XT M775 brakes and to buy them ready to fit they cost considerably more than it costs to buy the levers, calipers, hoses and oil.
http://www.totalcycling.com/index.php/product/BR_XT_M775.html?action=currency&id=GBP
http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/112700.html

I’ve got a couple of rotors knocking about so that isn’t an issue, are there any horror stories out there or is it a simple plug and play then fill and bleed?

If you can tighten a few nust and bleed brakes you should be fine
🙂

agreed i have avid rotors, xt calipers and slx levers

I’m deeply disappointed – was expecting this thread to be a whole lot more DIY than just bolting bits together.

I’m quite relieved, I expected tales of people getting a nut a quarter turn out resulting in blood and hydraulic fluid all over the trail.

I too was hoping for stories of problems with honing piston bores 🙁

The use of the word build is a bit OTT….

agreed i have avid rotors, xt calipers and slx levers

I thought that said “six levers”. My imagination briefly showed me an incredible multi-activated home-made brake system.. but alas it was not to be.

It’s easy. It was I think, the least difficult part of a recent build. It was, in fact having thought about it, almost disappointing.

The use of the word build is a bit OTT….

Yup, thats what I thought too… Assemble, rather.

But, yes, its pretty straighforward, and Shimanos tend to be one of the easiest to bleed, and usefully if you do end up spewing fluid everywhere, its relatively harmless stuff, rather than corrosive dot fluid to melt your eyeballs out.

Agreed Shimano brakes are a piece of piss to deal with.