Juicy 7 has died, again…. It's time for a change.
I'm thinking Louise or XT as both have good write ups?
Your thoughts / suggestions please.
Cheers
Chris

Avid BB7

Avid Elixir CR…great brakes without the faffy pad changes of Juicy. Currently on cheap at Wiggle.

Hope.

Formula brakes are fantastic and so is the back up from Propel, and it just so happens i've got a pair of Oro K24's with 160mm discs with a spare set of pads for sale as i've bought a set of R1's

+1 For Hopes. Easy to maintain and as good as any other brake if not better.

Another for Hope. Less maintenance (sticking pistons etc) than XT plus great support and spares availability. The new Tech brakes are the dogs danglers – X2 for XC or M4 for "AM"

Another for Hopes but that said I used to have pair of the first shimano deore brakes. I sold them to a mate and they're still going with no bleeding ever.

XTs are great! I've changed to Hope X2s now as they came on the bike and my hubby and friends all run hopes on all there bikes (so is easier in terms of parts and maintainence, etc.) I think the XTs were perhaps better brakes though, more power and more modulation. I think you'd be very pleased with them! (Hopes are great too though and you can set them up very tight, which I like)

Hope or shimano. Hope are great brakes in power and modualtion terms,they are excellent for the fact that any spare part can be purchased, also hopes back up is excellent.

Shimano also great brakes for power and modualtion although maybe not as powerful as the most powerful brakes on the market. Where they score big is with reliability. Super reliable.

Both systems are super easy to bleed and change pads.

Agree with all above – I have a pair of hope mini's and they're superb, great power and modulation. The support hope offer, especially on the big 24 hour races is excellent. XT's are great too, very easy to set up and look after but not as powerful – I'm 94 kilos and they aren't inspiring confidence on fast descents. . . . All depends how you ride and what you want! You can also pick either up second hand for around £80 on the forum so good luck on that!

Hayes Stroker Trails

Hope Tech X2s for me. Tried allsorts over the years and think these offer the best combo of power, weight and bling!

+1 Hayes Stroker trails, hassle free, loads of power.

Saint 810's. More brake than you'll ever need. Usually.

OE Elixir CR Carbon at £100 per end on wiggle has got to be difficult to ignore. I have a set on order but currently use hopes and their support particularly at races is second to none. Im sure i'll be in the lap of the gods support wise with Avid but swithing hopes onto SS

HOPE

Hayes Stroker Trails are the worst brakes I have ever used by a long way. No modulation at all – completely on/off

I'm running Hope brakes that are over ten years old. I'd love to get some new ones but I can't justify it. These are working well and I can always get spares for them in next to no time.

If I was buying again, it would be Hope.

Just lashed out on some Hope Tech X2. They're breaking in nicely and I'm having great fun with shortening the hoses about an inch at a time to get them right.

One criticism – the levers are so fat that I've had to get a slightly wider bar so that I can hold this without my forefingers being tight against the piston rocker. Small price to pay, I guess! 😐

Shimanos have been mostly hassle free for me, as have hopes. I prefer the shimango lever feel though, and am happy as larry with some new SLX's, although I don't know how they compare with the newer hopes.
I've spent more time fixing Hayes brakes at work than anything else ever made by man. They do not like the British winter. Road salt + magnesium does not mix.
Just got new bike for GF and the reach adjuster on her Avid Elixirs is made of plastic and seized. Aint the first I've seen either. Bit unimpressed.

I'd be tempted to check out Formula, but I've been very happy with my XTs and SLX are pretty comparable. Very good indeed. I did have one sticky seal but it was very simple to sort. Performance is great, price is sensible…

Do SLX or XT have bite point adjust and lever position adjust?

Saints.

I looked into Hopes as they are far and away the best looking brake out there but too many reports of lack of power. Had Formula K18, great brake while they last but the internals are made of soft cheese.

And do Saints, for that matter?

+1 for Hope. I've been running X2 since August including a week in the Alps. They've been great. The organic pads that came as standard lasted a week of Alpine descents with no trouble (Only just replaced the rear, front still going strong).

Adjustments actually do something too and they're easy to bleed too. A fantastic brake.

My wife has been running the old Mono Mini for 4 years with no problems too.

Wouldn't consider another brake.

Hope lack power?

…if you're lardy perhaps 😉

I had Magura Louise and they where great. No need for maintenance, great power and modulation. Upon changing wheel sets I needed CL disks and got a whole new brake set which was Shimano LX. Quite a let down, I sold them after two rides and got Hope Mono M4's. The Hopes had similar performance to the Louise but squealed a lot in the wet and where a nightmare to get running (trying to get the pistons to come out evenly). I got rid of them and got Magura Marta which was great. Just as good performance, light and silent. My bike got nicked so I got Louise, works perfectly.

I've never tried Hopes but read a lot of user reviews before splashing out £300 on brakes.

I went for Saints and dont regret it one bit (12.3 stone, not that lardy just a pretty hardcore rider).

grumm, SLX and XT certainly have lever span adjust. Bite point… XT have a wee adjuster screw but it's entirely useless IMO, just introduces a vague gap between pulling the lever and getting some braking. One of the mags said it was a "pad clearance adjuster", which is mainly why I got them, and that turned out to be cobblers.