I have an old set of Hayes Nines that have started leaking between the two halves of the calliper piston.

I discovered this at weekend when preparing the bike, mainly un-sticking the pistons, for a trip to Spain next week.

So, I could order the port o-ring and hope it solves the problem. Or bin the brakes and get new ones.

Initial thoughts where to get some SLX brakes, but saw the Formula Mega’s on the Merlin website which seem like a good deal at £119 inc rotors.

Does anyone have anything to say about the Mega’s? Or know of any other good deals?

For reference, 15st+ when kitted up, bike goes abroad once a year for a trip to the Alps or Spain and a trip or two to Wales or the Lakes. I’m not the fastest rider!

I would go for the SLX all day long over any formula brakes.

SLX no question.

Shimano. Every time.

having had slx on my last bike (cube stereo) and formula T1’s on new bike (rose uncle jimbo) i wouldnt look past the slx. They do everything you need and a lot cheaper/than the alternatives.

Also consider clamping as my T1’s are a pain to get positioned right with slx shifter due to the massive clamp area.

SLX
German shops selling them for about £75/pair. Can’t go wrong.

I haven’t had any issues with my Formula RX, but were they to die I wouldn’t hesitate to go Shimano.

I changed last week from Hayes stroker to shimano xt.
Much much better, better lever, better feel and at £95 for the pair, can’t be sniffed at.

I’ll go so far as to say that I can’t believe Formula are still in business. I worked in a bike shop 5 years ago that were selling bikes with OEM ‘The One’ and R1’s I think. I saw every type of failure you can imagine.

My only experience of Hayes was installing about a million lever rebuild kits on a fleet of rental bikes. There’s two weeks I’ll never have back. That was surprising as I hadn’t seen anyone using Hayes since about 1998.

I used to use Formula and really like the feel of their levers and modulation, not used Megas but the shimanos are very powerful. SLX and XT are very on off, I’ve now got Zees which have lovely modulation, more like the feel of my old Formulas but with immense power.

Oh and my Formula Oros lasted way longer than any Shimano brake I’ve had, in fact they are still going 8 years down the road.

shimano all the way…its a no brainer.
mate picked up his new mondraker dune at the weekend kitted out with xt brakes…said he was going to stick some hopes on like his previous bike had…then he tried the xt’s and realised what i’d been telling him for the last 12 months.
FWIW…my previous brakeset consisted of a front hayes nine and a formula rear. the formula i had for about 4 years without any problems and the hayes was well over 10 years old. both brakes worked flawlessly for me. sold them to another friend last summer who is still using them without issue.

have had sets of shimano and formulas. formulas for feel, modulation and usable power (when they are working) and shimano for ease of bleeding and fit and forget nature.

best compromise i’ve found so far is as suggested above, go for shimano zees for best of both worlds

Formulas are lovely when they work, but get expensive very quickly when they go wrong. And there’s something distinctly bonkers about a company that will sell you a seal kit and even fancy anodised piston caps, but won’t let their dealers sell the the essential tools to fit same parts. Hell, dealers aren’t even allowed to own workshop tools. The first hint of bother and it’s back to the importer.

It could be argued that the same rings true for Shimano – levers and calipers can’t really be serviced at home. The key difference is that a replacement lever or caliper is readily available, and won’t cost you more than a complete brake did in the first place. And re: SLX and XT being distinctly on/off – this may be true of the older brakes, but the current crop (M675 SLX, M785 XT) are pretty progressive, with the 4 pots (Zee, Saint) offering even more modulation.

I’ve owned both and could write quite a bit about them but put simply, step away from the Formula’s and buy the SLX’s.

One set of SLX’s ordered complete with new bigger discs 203/180 and mounts

Ive had both and never had any issues with either. The Megas were a lot more powerful irrespective what type of pad was in them, but the Shimano have a lot more feel.

£120 for those Megas will almost get you Zees. You could fully buy two full sets of Deore 615’s for that and nearly two full sets of SLX 675.

You’d need to really believe the Megas were awesomely better at that rate. You’re asking, so you don’t. 🙂

Megas are more powerful than SLX – size for size. Had and still got Formula The Ones from 2009 that have only needed new pads and a bleed of the rear brake caused by me making a hash of things… Got a set of 2014 R0’s that are also running hassle-free and also been running SLX on another bike for last 14 months.

SLX are really good for the price and I really like mine, good power and good modulation. Formula The Ones, easily discernible that they have more power and more feel. Formula R0’s even more powerful and same high modulation. Tried Megas and they were almost up with The Ones IME. I run all 203F 180R.

I would recommend Formula and SLX all day long!

I have both. You’ll be happy with either. The MEGA is a better brake IMO, I prefer the way they feel and have never had any reliability issues. SLX are powerful but a bit on/off.

Deore have better modulation and are as powerful as SLX in my experience.

Just caught up with this thread again and see that now I’ve ordered the SLX’s all the Mega fans have contributed

I’m a Formula fan, my The Ones are still by far the best brakes I’ve used. Buuuut, SLX and the other shimanos are ridiculously good value. I don’t really like the feel- that’s a personal thing though. You just can’t beat them for price.