Hi I recently purchased a new bike with avid elixir 5 brakes and already dislike them, what are a good replacement, I was thinking hope?

Shimano

I thought these had a good reputation?

Have you rebled them? Have you tried the adjusters they can make a massive difference. Bought some cheap Deores the other week. Felt awful until I bled them and tweaked the bite point.

Brilliant on a budget £100 for a set (no rotors) plus adapters.another tenner.

Shimano

I’ve adjusted the brakes fully out and it’s helped a bit but have discovered a leak at the point the hose goes into the reservoir where the thread is on the rear brake, so will be back to the shop tomorrow,the bike is a week old and I’m really annoyed about this, the brakes are the only thing that let the bike down so i can see an upgrade in the not to distant future.

I have some permanently broken Elixir 5s. They are lamentably poor brakes.
I’ve never had any problems with Shimano or Formula brakes. Hope brakes don’t warrant their price-tag IMO.

Shimano.

i’ve had elixirs on my bikes for 3 years, CRs, 7s etc… 1 test ride with Shimano XT and now i’d never go back,
Shimano all the way.

Shimano or Formula, depending on budget and preference. I’m a Formula fan- they’re great value and have full spares availability- but tbh I think these days I’d go for Shimano, from germany.

No, you are correct; Hope

Budget?

The brakes you have should be fine.

shimano are value for money but non repairable.

Hopes are beautifully made and fully serviceable but cost more

Personally I’d rather have second hand hopes than new shimanos

As he said Hope

Personally I’d rather have second hand hopes than new shimanos

Which is great, cos the forum needs someone to buy all of everyone’s old Hopes off them whilst they all upgrade to Shimano! 😉

No real experience of Elixir’s only that I know other people who’ve had reliability issues with them. Seem to work well when they’re working, ie. not that often. Other than (what I discovered to be my own fault) one issue with a poor brake bleed, I’ve been running Shimano now exclusively for the best part of 10 years. Wouldn’t bother with anything else. Formula’s included (though they are silly powerful!).

Hope. After the performance & durability I’ve had from mine, 3 different types in about 12-15 years (& never even needed their awesome back up) I’d use nothing else until I’m totally convinced otherwise!

TandemJeremy – Member

shimano are value for money but non repairable.

Same myth, without fail 🙁

Same myth, without fail

So are Shimano as servicable as Hope then, & do they have a similar backup service? (not, as I said, that I’ve ever needed it)

Shimano XTs from rose bikes was what I went for a few months ago when I upgraded mine. they’ve been great, used for anything from XC to DH and cope with everything with ease, loads of one finger power when you need it. the only thing that takes a bit of getting used to is the tiny levers.

esselgruntfuttock – Member

So are Shimano as servicable as Hope then, & do they have a similar backup service?

No and no. Is that the same as “non repairable”?

Hope and Formula both have Shimano beat on spares, but Shimano can still make good sense because of the lower purchasing price- in the event you do need to service them (like I did) you generally have to buy a few more parts but you’re still coming out ahead.

(quick example- XT caliper gets sticky seals, buy a new caliper (£44 in the UK, with a quick google, which includes a set of £20 pads.) Hope Tech X2- buy 2 seals, £8. Price difference is £16, which means you can afford to do it 4 times before the Shimanos stop being cheaper. Which, realistically, you are not going to have to do) It’s irksome and wasteful but it’s a long way from “non repairable”.

And as you say, you’re not likely to have to repair any quality brake as long as it’s looked after so it all becomes much of a muchness.

Take the bike back, get them to free-up the caliper pistons properly (they’ll be sticky from new/lack of use), align the calipers properly(not just squeeze and tighten),straighten the rotors(they’ll likely have a touch of run-out which will cause rub once the pisons are free), and give them a thorough bleed (not the “I can do it in 5 mins” type), and you’ll have a thoroughly different feeling brake.This advice is based on having to do this procedure to every bl**dy set fitted to a new bike build since they introduced them(running into thousands by now),it’ll transform them into really good brake.

Bought some 2012 Shimano SLX from Germany for £140 inc rotors and adaptors. Good price but not a good brake so far. They will be going back with a second warranty issue.

1st issue was a small leak where the banjo was crimped onto the hose and the O ring was not seated properly.

2nd issue on bleading after shortening the hose on the warranty replacement unit mineral oil starting seeping past the piston. WTF!

To be fair the rear has been fine now it’s bled, but to have two seperate units with sealing issues makes me wonder what them Fella’s in the quality department are upto?

I hope this is isolated as I have never had an issue with Shimano brakes before. They can’t be serviced in the same way as Hope brakes though no way of getting at piston seals. When they work they generally work well!

I’d go with Shimano too. If you’ve a budget to keep within the basic Deore M595s are great (although you don’t get the new Icetech pads). I’m running M595 calipers and old M585 levers.