I am fed up with Formula, time to swap, is there any noticeable performance difference between SLX to XT? Or are XT just lighter and more expensive?

The same for Deore to SLX? I am looking at 180mm rotor on a 140mm suspension bike, mainly used in Scotland. Three separate bike shops have told me that Shimano are far more reliable than even Hope, who you would think would be ideal for Scottish conditions!!

Thanks

SLX and XT both have ceramic pistons, Freestroke adjustment and tool free reach adjust.

Deore don’t have the ceramic pistons, neither do they have Freestroke adjust, lever reach is adjusted by allen key, so not tool free.

If it where my money I’d spend it on SLX.

Not sure about reliability, there have been a few threads relating to leaking banjos on XT

Problem with Shimano is you can’t get spares although they do come with a two year warranty, Hope are fully rebuildable but expensive compared to Shimano.

I’ve had SLX and XT and they didn’t feel any different to me, it depends if you mind spending the extra money,

Differences pretty much as above
But I actually prefer the feel and power of my Deore over my XT
But I’d take either over my Hope V2’s
(And even the Hope where a massive improvement over my original Formula Oros)

I’d question the “more reliable than Hope” thing (not our experience, although still very good) and they are near-impossible to get small parts for.

On the other hand, they are so cheap for their level of quality that repairability is almost not an issue – just buy a new one!

Got SLX on my hardtail, 2 of our other guides running XT on their main bikes. Both are great, don’t see a lot of difference between them.

I have the SLXs. I’ve had XT before and I can’t tell much difference. I’ve had Shimano brakes for a number of years now and never had any trouble with them.

I’ve got XTR and slx.I can’t tell that much difference when riding.the xtr are a wee bit less on/off and look a bit sexier I suppose.