Hello,
Anyone got the Deore 4 pot (501/ 520) brakes and can comment on how they have found them?
Any issues with the wandering bite point like the xt have? I have had zees, which were great brakes, and deores in the past and they were fine but the xt that have come on the new bike are pretty inconsistent with how they feel (they have had a bleed and do feel better than when they were new).
Cheers
Got them on a Giant Reign that I bought last August.
Powerful brakes with good feel, not had any issues with wandering bite point but I've only ridden it about 500km so far.
Do miss having tool free reach adjustment though.
I think they're quite difficult to find for the most part. You can get the callipers from bike-discount.de for €40 an end and they apparently work fine with standard Deore levers. There's a thread no here somewhere where people go into some detail about how to do it and what they've done.
I've a set which replaced porblematic 2-pot non-series Deore.
I've had hassle with XT (bite point and caliper leak).
The 4-pots are good for power, notably better for longer descents without over heating. I've done nothing other than change pads in a year.
I'm on Kevlar Uberbike pads - they add even more bite and heat-resistence it seems.
I've had no issues with them - bought a caliper separately and stuck an SLX lever on it. Good firm feel, not too grabby, but noticeably more powerful than standard 2 pot.
I’ve had them for a year. No issues, plenty of power and they work with most Shimano levers (don’t believe the nonsense about 4 pot brakes not working with levers from 2 pot brakes - there’s no discernible difference).
I’ve replaced the pads with sintered previous generation Saint pads, which work better than the stock ones. Other than a bleed, that’s all I’ve had to do.
JP
I've had mine about 18 months. They are great to use, no wondering bite-point & plenty of modulation & power, but...
The rear one popped a caliper seal at a year old so was replaced. The front has just gone back under warranty as its leaking slightly and won't bleed, as something inside is blocked up.
If I was buying again, I'd look for 2nd hand hopes as they are totally rebuildable. Once Shimano are out of warranty, when they break, they are only good for the bin.
Calipers are only £35 each, though - you can buy quite a few of them for the price of a Hope brakeset.
JP
I paired the 4 pot deore calipers with with XT levers on one bike. No issues with that combo yet. Comparable performance wise to Zee's.
But the Shimano brake reliability thing is a bit of a shadow tbh: I'd try and get them from somewhere where you trust will be ok for any potential warranty issues, and / or have a spare set of brakes in the 'spares' box.
Magura. 😊
Cheers all. Wondering if the issue comes from the bite point adjust and whether to just get some Deore levers for now and if need be get the 4 pot callipers later down the line?
Ideally would be shimano as the shifter is I spec 2.
The Deore M520 came standard on my Vitus e-sommet bike. I think they are good brakes have same oil reserve as Saint brakes.they were great in Morzine. Now put Saint levers on & the levers are on my Ripley with Magura callipers.