Hi,

I’ve finally reached the point where I’m sick to death of Shimano brakes, specifically the leaky calipers. I’m on my 5th caliper now, admittedly over a few years, and its always the same old story, work for a while then lose power and squeal. Fine one ride once sorted, put bike in the garage, next ride they are crap! You all know the story, its been documented enough. I don’t think I’m helped by the fact the bike can go a couple of weeks without being used, when used everyday they don’t seem as bad for whatever reason. Start of every ride (and commute) I have to ride up the big hill outside my house and bed them in again, which to be fair usually works for that ride, just not very practical. Anyway I’ve finally lost my patience with them so need opinions on what to replace them with.

The bike basically gets used for everything, commuting, trails, pootle with my son on bridleways. I’m currently running Deore M615. Power wise they are fine so any brakes with equivalent power is great. My main concern here is maintenance. I want hassle free, fit and forget brakes. I want to be able to get on the bike and have brakes that work as they did the last ride despite sitting in the garage for a couple of weeks. I don’t mind bleeding them, just not every week and I definitely don’t want to have to bed the pads in every ride.

Budget wise there isn’t really one as long as my problems are solved, although fixing a problem in the cheapest manner is always good.

I have been looking at Hope but they may be overkill (and pricy) for my use, although if they are trouble free it could be worth it. Also looked at the Magura (MT2 and MT4) offerings but there doesn’t seem to be much real world experience of these. Anyone run them hassle free.

As far as Sram go, they seem to get good reviews but my experience is somewhat tainted by owning Juicy 3s. I initially jumped to Shimano to be rid of the Juicys.

Also how does the brake choice affect my rotors and shifters. The shifters are clamped to the current brakes, can I used Shimano shifters with other manufactures brakes or do I need a new clamp? Same with my rotors, will they work (basic non Ice-tech Shimano jobbies)

So with winter coming, which means I am going to be commuting on the mountain bike rather than the road bike, what brakes are going to give me the least hassle?

Cheers.

You all know the story, its been documented enough.

News to me, mine have been faultless for years, never even had to bleed them

Sounds just like mine Dunc.

I hear ya Rob. Just did the same thing.
Went with Guides. Great brake, but I’m still struggling to get the lever throw short enough. This may be an issue for you, or not. I really liked the short throw in Shimano brakes.
Best of luck

APF

News to me too, I maintain a fleet of 30 bikes all with shimano brakes, I never touch them.
Sorry OP!

Want my crap double bit point impossible to bleed shimano’s guys?

Just got my E4’s on new rotors, awesome and I expect to be using them in 5 years time

sounds like you could do with a nice pair of sram guide RS’s…

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-full-set-of-sram-guide-rs-brakes

If I were in your shoes I’d consider Magura.

My dad was dogged by problems with leaky Shimano brakes, got a set currently going for warranty inspection (as if fluid running down the back of the pads after 11 months of almost non-use wasn’t enough of a give-away).

I’ve had SRAM, and although they worked great, the squeeling and weird resonant vibration from the rear brake in particular, has put me off them, not sure if it’s the rotors, the pads or the tolerances, but even with different rotors and a variety of pad compounds, they were just unpleasant to use.

Magura claimed to have specifically developed the MT range to for quiet use, which is a big thumbs up from me.

Problem is, this thread will go the same way as lots of other threads on this topic, i.e. lots of people who have enjoyed perfect, flawless braking from each brand. There are obviously lots of factors that the manufacturers can’t or won’t design for which affect the performance and durability of a brake, not to mention good old quality control 🙄

Anyway, Magura get my vote if you need to go hydraulic, otherwise TRP for cable, that’s what I did and it’s been relatively plain sailing since.

Guides seem good.

Saying that, I’ve not lost a drop of fluid from a Shimano since I stopped buying generic mineral oil and stuck to the Shimano stuff.

Agreed get a full set of guides, but these ones 😉

For Sale

So none you guys have heard of people having issues with leaking Shimano calipers? Not been any threads on here with others having problems?

Apologies.

Magura. My MT2’s are ace – powerful, modulated, 5 year warranty. And they are the cheap ones.

I had the same problem.

I switched to Hope, they’ve been great. Only issue is they squeal a bit in the wet when first being used, but work just fine and soon sort themselves out.

Much better modulation as well, if you like that.

durhamrob – Member
So none you guys have heard of people having issues with leaking Shimano calipers? Not been any threads on here with others having problems?

Apologies.

In your defence, there’s been a few yes. Not loads though..

Thanks for the helpful answers guys. At least I didn’t imagine the issue! 😀

So none you guys have heard of people having issues with leaking Shimano calipers? Not been any threads on here with others having problems?

Apologies.

Nah they’re having you on, it is a known problem, and I’ve junked a pile of leaky Deore / SLX and XT calipers over the years.

I’m not sure if it was the fact I stopped using Non-Shimano fluid or they fixed it, but the problem went away completely for me about 3 years ago with a set of M785 brakes. Sadly they died when the lever end broke… still the warranty M8000s are absolutely brilliant, the last brakes I had that were this good were my old Hope Tech V2s (which felt like they should pull up a Space Shuttle from an orbital descent).

The Guides are a fine brake, one of my Pals has them and loves them – he broke a little do-dar in the barrel adjuster, which oddly for a SRAM thing he was able to buy a replacement for, they’re 4 pots which is cool, if my XTs break I might consider a pair – I dislike Dot fluid, but modern brakes hardly ever seem to need to be bled any more.

Sick of Shimano brakes, what should I buy?

Some well made hoses and fittings from goodridge? Zero issues for my 2 pairs of XT just an occasional mini bleed at the lever end once in a blue moon.

In reality nobody makes trouble free brakes but a percentage of people will find them zero hassle and the rest have problems. For me Hope were the biggest disasters, with master cylinders and calipers cracking, constantly sticking pistons and leaky seals. Customer service and free repairs are brilliant but not in the middle of an 8 hour ride in the Highlands.

In your defence, there’s been a few yes. Not loads though

I’ve got 5 deore calipers than have all eventually done this, some sooner than others. 100% strike rate. I cant really comment on other peoples experiences, nor am I really bothered. My experiences of Shimano has put me off.

Might have to do a bit more reading up on the Magura MT2, my wallet likes the look of these. Although Hope do look good too.

So none you guys have heard of people having issues with leaking Shimano calipers? Not been any threads on here with others having problems?

It’s certainly a real problem, but IME, limited to the older brakes and far less of an issue with recent ones. I’ve got a set of older brakes (the older Deore ones that look like this) and they are terrible and quite high up my list of things to swap, when I get round to it. I’ve already replaced two or three other sets of a similar generation after they’ve destroyed multiple sets of pads and the replacements have all been fine.

Can’t help with recommending other brakes, but at least you know you’re not imagining it 🙂

Hope.

Bombproof these days. Four sets going strong in my family, 1 pair of 2009ish V2s, I pair of decade old minis, one pair of 2016 E4s and one pair of 2013 year old X2s.

It’s certainly a real problem, but IME, limited to the older brakes

My dad’s were 2017 model year flat mount road callipers, so not old 🙁

Find brakes a complete roulette regardless of brand.

After 5 callipers I’d suggest it’s not Shimanos fault but more like operator error somehow.

So now that my sanity has been confirmed…….

Is there any reason to go for MT4 or MT5 over the MT2 for my purposes, given the deore were enough power. Also do I need new rotors, a quick internet browse seems to suggest I should swap to Magura rotors. Also what, if anything do I need to attach my shifter?

Or will the Hopes, Tech 3 X2 be a better, if more expensive option in terms of maintainability. I think I can attach the shifters straight to the brakes and reuse rotors (after a good scrub).

On a completely unrelated topic, does anyone want to buy some nearly new shimano brakes, a spare caliper, bleed kit and about 750ml of genuine oil?

So none you guys have heard of people having issues with leaking Shimano calipers?

Yep – very early set of XTs. Not actually heard of any other models. Son has had Deores on his daily used bike, all good; my road ones fine. And even those early, leaky ones I had were fine after I changed the hoses and connectors for Uber ones. XTRs, no problems. Newer 785 XTs on my newest bike, been great.
But hey, get some Hopes!

On a completely unrelated topic, does anyone want to buy some nearly new shimano brakes, a spare caliper, bleed kit and about 750ml of genuine oil?

I love optimism in a post 🙂

14/15 ones did the double bounce impossible to bleed thing
Bored of the crap really an the E4’s kock the XT’s into next week in terms of power and feel

PeterPoddy – Member

After 5 callipers I’d suggest it’s not Shimanos fault but more like operator error somehow.

I’m not going to say it definitely isn’t user error, but i’m not sure what i’m doing to cause the issues. Fine when the bike goes away, awful next ride. I’m going with bad luck. I suspect the fact the bike can sit for a while between rides doesn’t help either.

Maybe the missus is eying up the insurance payout and applying oil to the brakes when i’m not looking!

Either way, even if it is my fault somehow, a change might eliminate that aspect of it.

PeterPoddy – Member
After 5 callipers I’d suggest it’s not Shimanos fault but more like operator error somehow.

Just luck of the draw I think, I had a set of SLX for years with no problems. I then broke a caliper in a crash and had to replace it three times before I got one which didn’t leak very slightly from the piston.

The symptom is a very slight oil leak which somehow ends up on the rotors while the bike is stored.

60 bikes from the hire fleet have Shimano hydros. Not one issue.

My own bikes with a range of M770, M970 and M8000. One issue.

I had a wandering bite point after installing the M8000 rear. A full bleed – according to the Shimano instructions – and it’s been perfect this past 18 months or so.

ive had no issues with XT or Deore brakes over the last 15yrs, Sram on the otherhand 🙄

Or will the Hopes, Tech 3 X2 be a better, if more expensive option in terms of maintainability. I think I can attach the shifters straight to the brakes and reuse rotors

Do yourself a favour and get Tech E4s.

Only go with X2s if you’re an XC weight weenie, and then the purchase that makes sense is the Race X2 model.

I’ve had two sets of borked rear Deore brakes now, so it’s not you.

Sram on the otherhand

SRAM or Avid?

60 bikes from the hire fleet have Shimano hydros. Not one issue.

I’m going to assume that these are reasonably new bikes and my experience is certainly that the newer Shimano brakes are better than the older ones, which IIRC, Shimano were warrantying anyway.

My own bikes with a range of M770, M970 and M8000. One issue.

I had to warranty my M9000 brakes when the master cylinder started to stick on both brakes when the ambient temperature rose above around 20C, so they worked great in the winter, and were unusable in the summer. This seemed to be a known issue and Madison didn’t raise any issues. This is the only issue I’ve had on recent Shimano brakes, so my experience is similar to yours.

The symptom is a very slight oil leak which somehow ends up on the rotors while the bike is stored.

I know exactly what the issue is. It’s a rare issue but it does happen. After 5 callipers I’d be looking elsewhere for the problem, that’s what I’m saying: Storage location, lubrication issues, bedding in, cheap pads, leak form the hose where it’s been removed so many times etc.

I maintain a fleet of bikes with this exact brake on. I’ve fitted something like 30+ pairs of these and I service the bikes every month. I’ve had a few squeaky ones too but every single one of them has been cured by cleaning the rotor and changing the pads. I suspect the issue with my users is that they like to spray oil everywhere, and that what does it.

In the OPs case I’d be looking at the hose connection as mentioned, and the rotor. I’ve had issues with rotors causing odd issues like this in the past, almost as if the contamination is impregnated into them.

In the OPs case I’d be looking at the hose connection as mentioned

Yup, as mentioned a set of Uber hoses with replacement connections sorted mine. Brakes on that bike are excellent.

…but every single one of them has been cured by cleaning the rotor and changing the pads…

Forgive me, but that’s not a cure. That just makes the problem go away…until it happens again. I’ve put more than one set of pads on these brakes that have become contaminated again within a month.

The comment on the hose coupling is interesting, although in the case of the ones I’ve seen, I suspect that the coupling hasn’t been disturbed since it left the factory and there’s never any visible contamination on the outside of the caliper. My own assumption has always been that the piston seals are seeping slightly, but TBH, I just replaced them and moved on at this point.

I’ve had issues with rotors causing odd issues like this in the past, almost as if the contamination is impregnated into them

I’ve had brakes much improved by changing rotors. Not able to explain why, but glad someone else has noticed it and I’m not totally imagining it. For me changing 8 year old rotors for new ones made a big difference.

Just for balance I did run a set of SLX (M666 I think) which were pretty trouble free. Sold them with the last bike.

Changing rotors, cables, pads (again) might well solve the issue but to be honest I’ve spent too much time on these things already. Every time I change them, or just clean rotors, put in new pads and bed in they are fine…..for a while at least. Leave them sat for a few weeks, and back to square 1.

So I think I’m just going to try the Magura MT2, whats the worst that can happen, cant be any worse right! Although when I price it all up, figure out what I need etc I’m not ruling out a set of Hopes.

So new Magura or used Hopes? lol

I’ve had Hopes in the past and, of course, you can get all of the parts for them to if you buy used, they are easy and cheap to service and return to mint condition. This would be my choice, if you can get a good set.