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It looks like after 6+ years of service, my Magura Julies are finally dead - despite lots of messing, they won't stop dragging.
Looking around, there don't seem to be a great many cheap brakes around to replace them. Ideally I'd go with Shimano or Magura as mineral oil is less hassle than worrying about DOT 4 going off.
Anyone got any bright suggestions? Rose Bikes have lots of Shimano brakes cheap - how hard is swapping levers left to right? Are the 445s and other "non series" Shimano hydraulics any cop? Would a new set of rotors compared to my old Magura ones (180/160) be worth bothering with?
How cheap is cheap? Merlin have the new Deore M595s for £119 a pair (I've got M595 calipers and they seem great and the M595s also won a big WMB grouptest recently). They'd probably be my choice of budget brakes.
I'm building up a bike on a budget for my partner and picked up a set of M445s for under £80 from the Woolyhat Shop via ebay. The look workmanlike in construction and haven't been ridden yet but I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be reasonable and probably cheaper than a set of BB5 mechanicals + levers.
Rose do have some great deals, switching over levers shouldn't be hard but you might need to factor in olives and inserts (although they're ridiculously cheap via Rose too) and oil if you don't have any.
How cheap is cheap? The cheapest possible brakes that are OK. I reckon 595s fit the bill - they come it at £91 for a pair with a 160 to 180 adaptor so I can run my current disks...
OK, I'm going to ignore the bit about mineral oil because I reckon the best deal on brakes out there is still the Formula factory store, £140 or so for a set of Oro K24s is just silly- you could pay more than that per end and get worse brakes. Or slightly less for K18s. Comes with choice of rotors and a hose shortening kit etc.
yeah i just got the deore 595,s from merlin good price ....takes longer to bed in tho... nver had shimano brakes b4... they look good too and they also have the finger reach adjustment too ! 😉
Yeah, Merlin Cycles are tops for brakes, recently got a pair of Formula K24s for £160 all in, was struggling to find anywhere with deals on Formulas.
Kev