Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 52 total)
  • Shimano brake's… very pleasantly surprised
  • chilled76
    Free Member

    Just picked up a rear slx from leisure lakes for £68 as an emergency as I snapped the lever on my formula lever last weekend.

    Having fitted it, it blows all the other brakes I’ve ever owned out of the water! Very nice surprise, no rub fitting in seconds and really powerful!

    Have all manufacturers brakes improved that much in the last 3 years or have Shimano just raised the bar with this generation of brake?

    Having just used this I’m definitely going to get some xtr’s on both my bikes in the new year!

    cp
    Full Member

    Welcome to Shimano brakes! Nothing else comes close to the bang for buck.

    tragicallyhip
    Free Member

    Agreed, I’ve got Shimano on all my bikes now (Saint, XT, XTR) having used Hope for years and whilst the Saints and XTs are impressive the XTRs on my Enduro bike are phenomenally good, I really can’t fault them tbh.

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    mattbibbings
    Free Member

    This generation of slx brakes are just amazing. Anyone who gets on my bike who doesn’t know about the power and feel of the brakes is physically amazed by them. They are just that good.

    dirtyrider
    Free Member

    Shimano > Everything else,

    its like Canti’s > V-Brakes

    sharkattack
    Full Member

    SLX’s and Saints here. Both amazing.

    Someone will be along any second to tell you how crap they are.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    cp – Member
    Welcome to Shimano brakes! Nothing else comes close to the bang for buck.

    True they are well priced, still prefer the feel and power of my hopes, they cost more but will still be going in a long time.

    ChunkyMTB
    Free Member

    Shimano on all of my bikes. They make a mockery of my old Hopes.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    ChunkyMTB – Member
    Shimano on all of my bikes. They make a mockery of my old Hopes.

    my new hopes make a mockery of old shimano 🙂

    (new brakes being better than old brake shocker)

    fatboyjon
    Full Member

    mattbibbings – Member

    This generation of slx brakes are just amazing. Anyone who gets on my bike who doesn’t know about the power and feel of the brakes is physically amazed by them. They are just that good.

    Physically amazed? Your mates all need some baggier shorts pal.

    But yes, Shimano brakes on all my bikes and they’re fantastic. Never given me wood though.

    ChunkyMTB
    Free Member

    A Hope fanboy spits his dummy shocker

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    ChunkyMTB – Member
    A Hope fanboy spits his dummy shocker

    Not really but having tried a lot of different brakes just not that blown away by the shimano offering, there is an immediate power which kicks hard but no real feel in there at all, people mention needing an very light touch but that just doesn’t fit with being bounced round on a technical descent or going flat out through the rough stuff. Still they are cheap and when they break you just throw them away and buy a new one.

    We did a heap of bike swapping on Friday night at a race for some pissing round and as Hope is as common as rocking horse crap out here in Tassie nobody really knew what my brakes were. it was about 70/30 in favour of the hopes after some razzing round with everyone mentioning feel being one of the key things (along with looks and really nice levers)

    sobriety
    Free Member

    I used to love hope (started on XC4s, then went to minis with the wavy rotors), but after having 2 sets of the original mono M4s that just would not work correctly no matter how much I bled, cleaned and generally tinkered with them I tried Shimano and didn’t look back.

    I’d love to try new hopes, but I just can’t justify the cost 🙁

    mikey74
    Free Member

    Shimano all the way. Best, most reliable brakes around.

    Crag
    Free Member

    They are very good brakes which happen to be very reasonably,nay cheaply, priced.

    Other brakes of similar or superior quality are available at comparibly extortionate prices, the owners of which will be along to justify their purchase shortly.

    chip
    Free Member

    My xt brakes are excellent, I just have to learn to stop using them inappropriately.
    What I need is ABS as I keep forgetting trying to change direction while still on the front brake normally ends with me on the floor trying to stop every cubic mm of breath from leaving my body, while thinking the whole time if I do not manage to take a breath soon I will surely die.

    But the brakes them selfs are great.
    (ABS pleases, someone)

    devash
    Free Member

    They work
    No constant messing with pad clearance
    Cheap
    Easy to bleed
    Tons of power

    I have full Shimano kit on both my full sus mtb and my commuter and unless something seriously goes wrong with the company I shall run Shimano for all eternity.

    Even their ‘low end’ road stuff on my commuter rarely misses a beat.

    makecoldplayhistory
    Free Member

    I do like them. A lot. Saints in particular are fantastic.

    Bit dull looking though aren’t they :whistle:

    one_happy_hippy
    Free Member

    I was looking at the Zee brakes as a poor mans Saint for my cheap DH bike build.

    Any experience? Have read somewhere the seals go?

    cupid-stunt
    Free Member

    Had two sets of Zee’s in the Alps for a year now, both faultless.

    Teetosugars
    Free Member

    There’s no need for an apostrophe.
    😉

    ChunkyMTB
    Free Member

    devash – Member

    They work
    No constant messing with pad clearance
    Cheap
    Easy to bleed
    Tons of power

    I have full Shimano kit on both my full sus mtb and my commuter and unless something seriously goes wrong with the company I shall run Shimano for all eternity.

    Even their ‘low end’ road stuff on my commuter rarely misses a beat.

    Yup. I got the mega cheap Deore deal from Merlin a while back also. The brakes are fantastic. They replaced M4’s. I won’t quote the performance difference, as not to upset the Hope fanboys.

    creamegg
    Free Member

    I have Hope & Shimano XT’s and prefer the Hope overall. However value for money Shimano wins.

    Mister-P
    Free Member

    What puzzles me most is people will write “Deores” correctly but then put an apostrophe in “XT’s” for no apparent reason.

    muddyfunster
    Free Member

    one_happy_hippy

    I was looking at the Zee brakes as a poor mans Saint for my cheap DH bike build.

    Any experience? Have read somewhere the seals go?

    The only thing I’d say is that they’re not exactly “poor mans” price. They come very close to saints.

    I had an issue with the lever on mine which seemed to be of lower quality than slx or deore. If I was going for shimano brakes with big power I see about getting some zee calipers built on to slx or xt levers.

    stcolin
    Free Member

    Mixed reports on Shimano brakes. Had 2008 Deore LX on the Meta which became a constant nightmare with sticky pistons. Then had basic Shimano M445, or something like that, on my Ridgeback Storm which ended up leaking after a light 18 months of use. Now on the Deore M596 on the Meta and so far so good. They are good value for money, I like how easy they are to bleed, and the are powerful, however I still think they feel quite wooden compared to other manufacturers brakes.

    jedi
    Full Member

    i got xt. best brake ive used 🙂

    chilled76
    Free Member

    ^^^^^ Spent the money on brakes and couldn’t afford a shift key for the keyboard. 😉

    Dibbs
    Free Member

    28 posts and no one’s mentioned the wonderful Hope customer service and spares availability. 😉

    Crag
    Free Member

    muddyfunster – Member

    one_happy_hippy

    I was looking at the Zee brakes as a poor mans Saint for my cheap DH bike build.

    Any experience? Have read somewhere the seals go?

    The only thing I’d say is that they’re not exactly “poor mans” price. They come very close to saints

    I recently got a set from Tweeks for £82 an end so still very reasonable.

    purser_mark
    Free Member

    They are ace, have been ace for years but you can’t service them. If they go wrong you chuck em away.

    I had some Formula brakes on another bike, got back on my SLX equipped hardtail and nearly went over the freakin bars……Shimano all the way, even the old SLX is still good.

    Kunstler
    Full Member

    I really liked my Deore M596’s – just looking to order some more but it seems that they are now replaced with M615. They look the same.

    nikk
    Free Member

    They break in freezing conditions (-5, both ends failed in 1 ride)

    When the seals go, they spray a fine mist of mineral oil onto pads and discs, writing them off. (pads cannot be recovered with any known method at all)

    When the seals go, you have to buy new calipers as they don’t do spare seals. (buy cheap, buy twice)

    Apart from that, they are good brakes, almost as good as Hope.

    😈

    julians
    Free Member

    The last couple of years of shimano XT’s are the best mountain bike brakes known to man.

    – never overheat , even on long descents on proper mountains unlike all the other brakes I’ve tried.
    – never need adjusting (well not yet after 2 years of use)
    – not snatchy
    – cheap compared to everyone elses equivalent model.
    – pads last well

    gwj72
    Free Member

    I’ve got m395’s on here and they are impressive enough.

    Scamper
    Free Member

    So if a seal go on a shimano its a cheap brake. But if one goes on a Hope its a serviceable part? 🙂

    @Kunstler. The latest 615 have a new caliper which takes the ice tech pads if you wish. Cosmetically completely different and look nicer.

    ransos
    Free Member

    28 posts and no one’s mentioned the wonderful Hope customer service and spares availability.

    Here goes: in my experience Hope’s customer service is fantastic. This is a good thing, as you’ll be needing to use it quite often.

    rsl1
    Free Member

    When the seals go, you use the 2 year warranty to get them replaced for free.
    Or notice that you could upgrade deore to xt for £20 (thanks crc!)

    nikk
    Free Member

    Put in a warranty request -> wait -> maybe receive new parts -> fit -> ride.

    How many weeks will that take?

    Buy seal kit -> install. Done in minutes.

    if a seal go on a shimano its a cheap brake. But if one goes on a Hope its a serviceable part?

    No. Yes. What?

    in my experience Hope’s customer service is fantastic. This is a good thing, as you’ll be needing to use it quite often.

    Yeh, better to buy your bike parts from a company on the other side of the world, who make fishing kit, and don’t supply spare parts for their stuff.

    ransos
    Free Member

    Yeh, better to buy your bike parts from a company on the other side of the world, who make fishing kit, and don’t supply spare parts for their stuff.

    I don’t need spare parts, because my brakes are made by Shimano, not Hope.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 52 total)

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