Last couple of rides had issues with my 2014 XTs. Pulling right back to the bars and no power. Fitted new pads and did a full bleed midweek and they felt better, but in The Peaks yesterday I was back to no rear brake at all (even with trying to ‘pump it up’) and front feeling about 50%.

Checked pads today – worn from the Peaks grit but still serviceable.

Bled front again – no air in the system and feeling fine again.

Bled rear – LOADS of air bubbling through – eventually got it feeling firm again, but don’t have much confidence that it won’t go squidgy again.

Seem to remember XTs being notorious for leaky seals? Air is obviously getting in somewhere…

Can’t see any fluid leaking out either end, so how do I confirm this?

Second set of XTs I’ve had this issue with on the rear brake especially, whether I bleed them myself or get my usual mechanic to do it.

Should I persevere (when they work properly, they’re top brakes)? Switch out the levers/calipers (could be an expensive process), or cut my losses and switch brakes? Do SLX/Zee/Saint suffer the same leaky issues? Are Hope worth the cash (don’t really want to go Avid unless really necessary – too many bad stories about maintenance of them).

Warranty them

How long is Shimano/Madison warranty – they are over a year old?

2 years

Cool. That’s the answer then. Assumed they would be out of warranty after 12 months. Thanks.

Am interested if this is leaky seals though and whether it affects SLX too – have had something sort of similar on my older SLXs after changing pads. Seem to have settled now though.

are Hope worth the cash?
Never had an issue with Shimanos and I ran old style XT, Saint and Slx for seven years. But I’ve just switched to Hope Tech3 E4 and they are incredible. Hard to explain but so smooth and powerful, much more control and less skidding that the shimanos gave. Expensive but altogether worth it in my eyes.
I’ve had Hopes in the past and they weren’t ever great and I resisted for so long due to horror stories etc but I’ve been pleasantly surprised.

Totally warranty them first and see how you go. SLX/Zee/Deore all use pretty much the same reservoir, the XTRs use a smaller one which is a complete PITA to get the right lever of pad contact without overfilling, and blowing the seals.

As above though, if you don’t want to warranty them every 12 months for a new set…. get some Tech 3s. I went through about four sets in 12 months of XT and SLX – they were great when they worked. Got fed up, bought Tech3 E4s, bled them on arrival and cutting the hose down, have’t touched them since, in now about 10 months.

And to complete the circle, the Avid Trails and SRAM Guides have an excellent record for reliability now, and the feel and power is excellent.