Hi looking to purchase some new brakes for my anthem xc bike tomorrow, just wondering what shimano brakes are the best. My budget is around £140 just want brakes that don’t need bleeding every ride like my Avids lol and have good braking power. First time buying brakes so have a stupid question, will i need to get new rotors or do I just leave the standard Avid exlixir ones on?

Deore.

You can get some good deals on XT, SLX and Zee brakes from both Merlin and Wiggle at the moment.

XT for weight saving, SLX -> Zee from more decent orientated stuff.

If you just want something that works get deore. I have deore and slx and cannot tell the difference. Weighs and bit more but that is not too important to me.

I’ve tried Deore, SLX and XT. They all felt pretty much about the same. All stopped the bike well well with lots of modulation and power.

You get slightly lighter components and better finish (and possibly more adjustment) the higher up the range you go. Get what ever fits your budget.

You should be able to get SLX’s for that from most places – they’ve just had a price cut.
You’ll be able to use the existing mounts and rotors from your Avids, just chuck the tri align washers.

I’ve got Deore and they are very good. Don’t get me wrong, given the choice I’d get Hope but the Deore came as standard on my new bike and are so good I can’t justify changing them.

Have got Deore and XT on two different bikes & while they are both very good there is a difference. To begin with the XTs have a better feel at the lever. The Deores have the same amount of ultimate power but they are a bit wooden in comparison. Still a long way from on/off wooden but not as surgically precise as the XTs where the lever moves accurately backwards and forwards with no up/down slop

Secondly although in isolation the workmanlike finish of the Deores is perfectly acceptable, they look a bit grim compared to the quality of the XTs. The calipers are completely different and the fittings and fasteners on the XTs are much better. Also the brilliant chrome reservoir covers perfectly reflect the colour of the sky and look especially awesome on sunny days.

Just saying like

I have XT and they cost me the same as SLX would have due to a sale period.

I nearly went Deore but everyone was out of stock at the time.

Honestly very little difference between all three

Have fitted both deore and SLX to a range of bikes. Performance is solid and really happy with them. No noticable difference in performance from me. I have had a leaky deore calliper issue which repeatedly contaminated pads with fluid, but got a new brake from CRC after I flagged this.

For bang per buck deore seems the best option to me. It might not look as nice and has slight funcional limitations (e.g. need an allen key to adjust level reach). These are insignifican factors for me though so currently feel I would stick with deore for future builds.

cheers

Deores are the best thing since sliced chips. I recently sold a set of XTs, but kept my Deores…..

Thank you all for your helpful replies, now time to go shopping 😉

If you are looking at Deores then check out my recent posts as I have a brand new rear Deore in the box for sale

£80 a set for Deores from Rose – my second set for a new build are in the post!!

I’ve had all 3 in the new style.
Deores have loose pads which can bite and move in the caliper on the steep stuff.
Slx seem to have a lot of lever travel
XT just feel Better all round and IMO worth that bit extra.

I can get a great second hand set of SLX for £90 with a warranty to , I think i should go for them over a brand new set of Deore’s?

Thanks but I think the XT’s are a bit to overpriced I bet there great but I cant justify them being worth the xtra over SLX for how much better they would be.

Mega deals on Shimano brakes at CRC at the moment

APF

Help if I buy shimano Slx brakes do i need to buy any kind of adapters or anything like that.

When buying from where? And fork/frame/rotor dependant probably yes

Chain reaction 😉

And what size rotors do you wish to run on what forks?

I have the standard avid Elxir 1 discs that I plan on using for now? Not sure what size they are lol

Rock shox reba forks

If you have Elixir with adaptors, the shimanos will directly bolt onto said adaptors

Great thanks for clearing that up wyslwg 🙂

Another question? I have a medium size giant anthem x3 what size hose should i get for front and rear? This is what I can buy
Front: 1000mm spec A 1000mm Spec B
Rear:1700mm spec A, 1700mm spec B?

Whats does spec A and B mean?

It says with fin or with out fin? What does this mean

and will 1700mm be ok for back brake ?

sorry for rookie questions first time I have bough a new set of brakes?

fin= finned brake pads

B spec means its clamp is compatible with the latest shifters

i got XT due to being more bling!

I’ve got both XT’s and Deores.

There’s not much difference in power but the finish on the Deores has stood up to crashes better than the XT’s. The raised letters if the XT’s on mine have been ripped off and look at boy poo now. The tool less adjustment isn’t really a major thing forbme because I leave the brakes as is once I’m happy.

I think the newer Deore brakes now have the same caliper because they can run the Ice Tech pads.

Thanks Just thinking what cabel size to get and yah I can get Brand new XT’S for a little more than deores at the minute

I think its 1000mm right front 1700mm left rear.

There is a guide somewhere on the net on how to cut them down with out bleeding.
This involves removing pads and sandwiching some card between extended pistons , so once cut you push out any air in the system by pushing pistons back flush.

Very simple to do and worked a treat for me .

Most important part was having a good cutter to cut the hoses.

The latest deore have a nice black enamel finish which I think looks better than xt.