Anyone ridden both?
Experiences?
Currently have the slx 4 pots but after trying a set of codes this week the feel was completely different! Power was ridiculous even with new unbedded in pads! Lever feel was great!
I'd say brakes are the one thing I've never truly been happy with on my bikes.
I'd put the brakes I've had in this order:
1. Hope Tech4 V4
2. Shimano Mt520
3. Sram Codes
4. Hope Tech3 E4
5. Sram Guides.
I'd take Shimano 4 pots over anything Sram with the possible exception of Mavens that I've not tried. Had one set of Codes that was decent and another that have been an absolute pain from day 1.
If I was to buy a set of brakes tomorrow it'd be the Tech4 V4s by a country mile or something I've not tried like the Formula Curas.
Weird isn't it how 2 of the same setup can be different in performance
I started with Code's on my eeb, hated them - just too much travel.
Swapped to Saint's, loved them.
The pistons corroded on the Saints so swapped out just the calipers for (4-pot) SLX's, still love 'em.
But, were both sets of rotors the same size, and did you have quality bedded-in pads in the SLX's?
Some folk prefer the lever 'travel' of SRAM whereas I don't want any travel, just want the brakes to start biting as soon as I touch the lever.
I prefer the off/on nature of my current SLXs vs other brands I've used in the past!
I’ve got 3 pairs of codes. 2x R and 1x RSC. All have been 100% reliable, no wandering brake point, no leaks, no need for frequent bleeds.
Had a few pairs of Shimano brakes, had 4 calipers micro leak so far.
I built a bike for my mate and he wanted SLX 4 pots. When they’re good they perform great. But they need periodic bleeding to stop the brake point wandering. His previous SLX 2 pots did the same thing.
If SLX were 100% reliable then I’d think the choice between the 2 was just based on which you preferred the feel of. I don’t think either are ‘better’ than the other - except when it comes to reliability.
Ridden both shimano and sram 4 pot brakes fairly extensively and although they are a very different feel and slightly different absolute power I like them both. (I even like guides so long as theyre RS spec or above)
Code RS and RSC can be great consistent and reliable brakes. R and lower have worse lever feel and also don't feel as powerful due to there being no swing link in the lever (similar idea to shimano's servo wave levers).
Shimano are great when they're issue free and generally give tons of fairly instantanious power but due to issues with the design and materials used this can often be short lived.
both brands can suffer from sticky pistons, (what brake used in UK conditions doesn't TBF) Sram I'd say are possibly more prone to this. but Shimano is outright winner on the leaky seal front.
absolutely no need to pick one and be a dick about it. Just choose the one you prefer the feel of and use that 2yr warranty if needed.
I'm a little confused. Did you say unbedded in pads and bedded in pads both felt great? Seems a little unusual there was absolutely no difference between the two. But where were you riding? and in what conditions? certain conditions and to some xtent, how you brake with brand new pads can have them bed in nicely all by themselves.
Codes have been great for me. Shimano...I've got a bag of old levers and pistons that have all failed. Everyone i know with shimano brakes has varying bite points...
Codes all the way imho
I can't see past Code RSC brakes...they just seem to work very well for me consistently. My only complaint is the increase in lever pull as the pads wear, but this happens over a period of many weeks. I change pads and do a bleed when I change them, fluid is always clean, but I figured new pads may as well have clean fluid and a wee reset of the adjustments on the lever.
Have tried mate's bikes with different brakes and they all work well, just a different lever feel.
I'm in the SRAM G2 RSC camp, personally. Very reliable and very good feel after the tip on here to slightly pressurise then close the Bleed-a-magig tool.
@DickBarton, I did get the change in lever pull with the centreline discs but the Magura MDR-P totally removed that and for floating discs they are not badly priced..
Usual thing is to try a few on mates bikes but your at the mercy of how good their bleed process is.... or slide round a shop as a random squeezer....
absolutely no need to pick one and be a dick about it. Just choose the one you prefer the feel of and use that 2yr warranty if needed.
Odd comment
+1 for SRAM G2 RS/RSC. Been very reliable for me once you've watched a few videos on how to treat the occasional sticky piston issue.
I've now had 12 failed Shimano calipers through my hands. Not a bloody chance I'm buying another one.
Also much prefer the feel of SRAM, nice predictable bite point and good modulation. No problems with multiple sets of G2/Codes
Never had a single issue with my Code RSCs in four years - they have been totally fit and forget.
It comes down to lever shape as well for me though. I can’t get on with the shape of Shimanos levers that seem to want you to pull them from the middle since they’re V shaped, that just doesn’t work for me as the lever blade seems to want to hit my knuckles unless I bend my hand at a weird angle to pull the end of the blade.
I prefer the feel of Shimano brakes. Have had several sets with micro-leaks around the pistons. Even the ones that don't leak seem to suck air in somehow. Compare that to Guides or Codes, years go by and I think surely they must need a bleed before I take the bike on holiday, nope, not a single bubble. I do like that Shimano resin pads mostly just get on with things in the wet rather than screaming like banshees. This has never been the case with any set of Sram brakes I've had, no matter what pads, or for that matter Shimano brakes running non-Shimano pads. The lever slop on Sram brakes without cartridge bearings is a bit shoddy. Probably deliberate to make people want to spend more for levers with bearings. Just seems poor when other brands can make lower-end brakes with tight levers just fine. I do find Codes fade with extreme heat somewhat, alps descending, they're fine in the uk. Maybe I should just strop dragging my brakes.
Looking at lab tests like enduro mtb Codes tend to apply a lot of pressure and create a lot of heat for quite average braking torque.
In conclusion I've had loads of Sram and Shimano brakes and if they weren't coming stock on a bike I'd be looking at something different like Hope, Hayes, Formula or Magura just for the novelty.
There is no real need to choose from one or the other. Other brands are available without the downsides of either.
I paid £65 for a full set of TRP 4 pots and they are vastly superior to any SRAM or Shimano brakes I have had. In fact I would happily pay 3 times as much.
Which ones nick and what do you like about them
I prefer shimano. I have slx on my Pivot shuttle lt and love them. Been shimano on bikes for years now and occasionally have bikes with sram but I end up changing them over
Currently have the slx 4 pots but after trying a set of codes this week the feel was completely different! Power was ridiculous even with new unbedded in pads! Lever feel was great!
Sounds like you might already know the answer. They are chalk and cheese in terms of feel, so everyone seems to prefer one over the other. Both can have their niggle/issues, so I'd go with what you prefer using
Which ones nick and what do you like about them
I have the Slate 4. Set up is incredibly easy as they came bled but with an hex cap on the hose.
No dead travel, really progressing modulation yet loads of power. Seemingly no maintenance, leaks or variable biting points. Basically they work great as MTB brakes. They also look great I think.
I prefer how Shimano brakes feel, but my Codes were very reliable.
So they'd be a good buy if you liked the feel.
I’ve had lots of inconsistent results with Codes, I have one great set on my wife’s enduro bike that feel lovely and have been going for years, I also have a box with several more sets that don’t work that well, sadly there are some good ones in there but I’ve lost track of which are which. I need to sort them all out at some point, but often the issues only raise their heads when they’ve been used for a little while and I got totally fed up with them. I have some old guide REs too, not amazing, but dependable.
I have several sets of shimano 4 pots too, always felt very powerful, one failure over a couple of years, but a bit challenging to modulate sometimes. These are my go to spare brakes.
I wanted something with more modulation as I frequently do jumps / drops where the landings require really controlled braking on steep / slippy surfaces at speed. I went for Formula Cura with decent pads and they seem to be working really well and build quality is so far excellent and a joy to bleed, although it’s still early days. The 2 pot Cura don’t feel quite as powerful as the others but will hopefully be more than adequate. I’m quite liking Formula as a brand!
I've got Guides on one bike and Shimano on another.
I'd say they're both powerful enough that beyond a bit of a difference in "feel" they're both fine. Albeit both are the lower spec versions.
If I was to buy a set of brakes tomorrow it’d be the Tech4 V4s by a country mile
Based on reviews that would be my thoughts too if I had a £400+ budget, but that's 2nd hand opinion. I think the big thing going for them is they've £400, which is a lot. But they've been £400 for years. My opinion that Shimano make great brakes is based on the last time I had to buy them aftermarket it was ~£115 for a pair of XT brakes, these days a pair of XT's is £300 which makes the Hopes tempting.
Have had several sets with micro-leaks around the pistons.
My experience is I've only had one (catastrophic) failure of a shimano seal, it just went pop on an old set of XTR calipers from ~2010. Other than that I've had M785 which IIRC were the last of the reliable calipers, and then more recently M500/M520 calipers which have also been fine. Have they sorted out the problem in-between?
Conversely every pair of SRAM brakes I've ever owned has had the sticking lever piston issue and ither been binned or upgraded with Chinese pistons. And unlike the Shimano micro-leak issue which seems to just rob them of power the SRAM issue just leaves you with brakes that pull to the bar which sent me comedically cartwheeling OTB into a Hawthorne bush on one of Pooks Peaks Pootles many years ago !
I also have a box with several more sets that don’t work that well, sadly there are some good ones in there but I’ve lost track of which are which. I need to sort them all out at some point,
This made me laugh, I am the same with Shimano.
We need to stick labels on them or something like that.
We run Code RSCs mostly, gone are the days of the Chinese piston though, they don't seem to need that these days for whatever reason. Every year or so we lose a brake over the course of a day and it's the piston seal in the master, which needs replacing. Sadly you can only buy the seal as part of a £30 rebuild kit and you don't actually need any of the other bits.
Recently we've had some DB8 which were Mineral Oil SRAM offerings, felt and looked very like Codes.
Standard Codes i have no issues with and run on bikes at times, i had a Code front at Dyfi recently, no issues. I have become pretty good at getting the lever feel just right for me with bleeding/advancing/pressuring.
The boy is currently on SRAM Mavens and loving them, they seem a bit fussier in some ways and have a weird thing where the first pull of the lever in say a 5 min instance isn't quite as strong as the next lot, i've not worked that out yet. But we've not had the wandering bite point that some report. The power of them is amazing and they're a lovely lovely thing. They are of course mineral oil too, which does mean a completely new bleed kit/fluid compared to Codes.
We've ran the Hope Tech4 V4 as well, however they didn't even last a morning as he didn't get on with them at all.
As with most people we've run a lot of Shimano over the years and whilst i've never had an issue with them, i just prefer SRAM.
I've been running Codes since 2010, from Avid originals, the cheapo Guide RE and now a couple of pairs of Guide RSC. All have worked very well, especially on long descents and never pump or fade. They do require correct servicing to work. Once a year bleed and lubricate the pistons a couple of times a year. Setting them up so they don't rub on the rotors takes longer than shimano, but I usually find they can be ignored for months after setup.
I've run various Shimano alongside, (currently got some 2 pot XT), they're too grabby for my liking but are almost fit and forget, as long as you don't get them hot enough to start leaking from the seals or changing bite point. I find Shimano are great for a trail bike, less maintenance, bite characteristics less of a disadvantage and can be fit and forget, especially in winter. I actually custom specced my trail bike with Shimano brakes for this reason.
Codes out perform for high temperature use or control on steep/slippery tech. They're my first choice for a bike that's going to see long descents.
My son’s bike now has SLX four pots and I have had Code RSC. Ridden both and maintained both. I have found them to be fit and forget. I had qualms about riding SRAM brakes - but I had no issues with power or reliability.