I’m currently trying to choose between the two. I can find SLX from Rose bikes for about £120 and XT from ebay about £165. I’d read that there wasn’t much in it but does anyone have any experience with both? Any better prices than these out there(current stock)?

Both seem great value, but is there anything else out there I shoud consider? Its for a fun bike with more emphasis on the downs, trail centre days etc.

I’ve had both and the XT offer marginally more power. However I’m running SLX on my current bike, just come back from Les Gets and they were great…..

I have both. They’re fundamentaly the same (same caliper dimensions, lever geometry).

The XTs have free strroke adjustment, are shinier and er, more expensive. If you don’t want those, get the SLX.

XTs have a screw-in pin instead of a split pin to secure the pads. XTs have free stroke adjustment on the lever, but from many reports this doesn’t do much. The finish is different. The price is different.

Other than this they are identical, the parts are the same – the give-away to this is that the SLX calipers have the screw thread machined in them for the screw-in pad bolt even though they come with a split pin, and the levers have a blanking plug where the free-stroke adjustment is on the XT.

Sorry aguesty, but any difference in power is in your mind…

I have SLX on both bikes after using XT on a previous and find them absolutely fine and definitely no worse than XT[ I have also had Formula which are powerful but take a lot of effort to keep that way ]. Mine are older models and have the lever adjust so the only real difference is the pad retainer which is slightly more inconvenient than the threaded pin but really not worth bothering about!

only real difference is the pad retainer which is slightly more inconvenient than the threaded pin but really not worth bothering about

FOG, you can just buy the XT pad pins and fit them to SLX, as the screw threads are already there.

Part number is Y8JZ98010 and they cost a couple of quid.

And just so we’re clear, all the SLX and XTs old and new alike have lever reach adjustment. What’s extra on the XTs is they also have free-stroke adjustment, which allows you to adjust lever travel to bite point, but as I said above, all the reports I’ve seen say it does bu&&er all.

Excellent stuff, and the Ice rotors, worth getting with the brakes?

Get ICe rotor if you like paying lots for discs, I don’t so buy others.