My old Avid Juicy 7’s from 2005 are proving a bit of a pain top set up so that the pads don’t rub on the rotor as well as leaking oil. The Shimano brakes with their servo wave technology seem like a wonderful solution, almost too good to be true.

If you have been using any, what do you think of them?

Really like mine. good power easy to set up and no ongoing issues, typical Shimano really, boringly good. Swap to Sintered pads though.

they are great. huge improvement over the old non servo wave model which i also have.

Pad changes are easy

Levers all adjustable on the fly

Just sit there and quietly do there job while feeling great at the lever

Bit fiddly to bleed if you never done them before due to lever shape. Lots of areas for air to get trapped but once you hae the technique your laughing

The old non-servo are great, so if the new ones are better… jolly good.

Mine are four years old, have never needed bleeding and still work as well as day one. Very nice solid level feel. Almost boring. Very Shimano.

As ever, you need a good reason not to buy the big S.

I agree with all above, I have a set and they work great. I also have 2 sets of SLX brakes on my other bikes and they also work great. Recommended.

ditched my juicys for xts recently, really nice. pad changing is a breeze compared to the avids which were a nightmare.

It is not until I get on another bike I realise how good my XTs are. I get used to their reliable performance and take them for granted.

Having real trouble getting mine set up. Back one works fine, front one, hardly at all.

I would say rather good too. Although they were a bit of a pain to bleed. Took a couple of attempts to get right.
Also mine did have a sticky piston on front and rear. Admittedly they 2nd hand, not new. But some time spent cleaning and moving the piston in and out whilst lubing with brake fluid sorted that. Now they’re all set up im very happy with them. Plenty of power and modulation, running 203 front and 180 rear rotors with sintered pads. Im nearly 17st so i’d soon notice if they were lacking in power!

Ridden almost every shimano brake from 05′ onwards and impressed by most of them.

I would only suggest that if you’re heavier, then ditch the 160 and use a 180mm front rotor which is pretty powerful for me.

I use 160 on xtr and it’s spot on. New XT is pretty dam good improvement on it’s ’05 range.

Very good – but I’ve had the sticky piston issue like bigyinn (as have a few others) bit of working back and forth with some (Shimano) brake fluid does the job. Not the lightest either but good value.

Good reliable brakes with plenty of power, not the most powerful on the market but ample enough. Only ever use shimano brakes these days because of their reliablity/easy pad change/simple bleed procedure. Recommended.

I can feel myself being converted. Merlin are doing a set for £200 and £230 for the XTR’s! Is there any advantage to getting XTR’s instead of XT’s?

good 🙂

In the Alps my servowave levers seeped oil from the lever hingey insidey bit.

£230 for XTR? It is a tricky choice. The XTR look more pimp and are lighter but the XT have more adjustment. Ideal set up is XTR calipers and XT levers IMO.

Had mine for 6 months , had a few problems with the sticky pistons but when their working well they are up their with the best of them performance wise.

Had Hope on two bikes, then Avid on two bikes, now on new style XT & they are the best yet.
Highly recommended, great quality finish & great lever feel.

Mister P – Member

£230 for XTR? It is a tricky choice. The XTR look more pimp and are lighter but the XT have more adjustment. Ideal set up is XTR calipers and XT levers IMO.
Do the XTR calipers actually offer anything other than looks though?

Changed from a set of Deores with resin pads to XT with sintered and the power was disappointing.

So decided to put some resin pads in there… its like hitting a wall!

Excellent, you’ll not be disappointed.

I love my XTs. Modulation, power and the levers feel great…

My Xt’s (07’s) have been great. All over the UK, in the alps everywhere they’ve been in fact.

Also got some Deore M525. Can’t complain about those either.

Bleed the XT’s them (or M525’s for that matter) once in a while and they will reward you with solid, powerful, quiet brakes that just go about their business without any drama or fuss.

Another vote. Easy to bleed, set up and nuff power. The best lever feel and modulation i’ve had too. Using Ashima SOS pads – brilliant! 😆

i’m running xt calipers with xtr levers with standard hoses, absolutely superb. They have never missed a beat and are super feeling brakes and plenty powerful imo. Miles better than the minis they replaced, fine in the alps. Fit and forget…

Would you say the SOS pads offered a real improvement in braking power, or more in the way of pad logevity?

Don’t bother with XTRs. Had XTR, XT and SLX. SLX and XT much better. One of the main reasons being that the design of the lever doesn’t lend itself to that annoying lever rattle when the pivot begins to wear like the XTRS and most other disc brake levers do.