[Closed] Zee vs XT brakes for my big bike

The quality of the lever on the Zees isn't the best and they are pretty heavy. Apart from that they are great. I'd go with XT purely because mine have been flawless for three years or so and more than enough for DH.

No need for more power... I couldnt tell the difference in a blind test between the two. I only bought zee's as I'd assumed they'd have a metal top res cap but alas it's plastic shit too.

They are great brakes both of them and the replacement levers are cheap but if you are unlucky enough to knock the top res when crashing you can pretty much guarantee it ripping off.

Granted not too likely but if that concerns you then saints it is... so it sounds like for your budget xt's are the winner.

Also don't be scared to go down a rotor size... again 160mm on my foxy rear and 180 front and the xt's are weapons!

(too elaborate - I'd probably go 180mm on the dh bike).

I've tried a lot of brakes and the new shimano range is really ace. Taken living in Morzine for 3years with no hassle.

I have XT and the missus has Zee, we've found the XT to be more 'grabby'/on-off than the Zee brakes which both of us prefer. Neither have overheated in the Alps or at home. Weight in negligible. My GF only picked the Zee because she didn't like the silver XTs and wanted the darker Zees. I would just pick the ones you like the look of best or match your bike best as both are excellent brakes

Tom KP

I've used both quite a bit and I'd go for Zee for an Alps bike without a moment's hesitation.

I also swapped to them after getting fed up with finnicky Formulas BTW, Shimano seem much more reliable.

I have run both the Xt and Zees in the Alps and in Scotland. Both are pretty awesome brakes to be honest.

There are some very nit picky comments above that i don't really agree with. If you are looking for brakes for big descents then obviously the Zees should be your first choice, its what they are designed for. Yep the XT will do, and yep i survived a week in the alps with them and didn't die but there were more than a few occasions i wanted some more stopping power and modulation and thats exactly what the Zees give me.

They are not particularly heavy, and tbh i am not sure what the lever quality or lack of refers to but they are set up really well for 1 finger braking ( as are the XT to be fair).

My choice would be, for general trail riding and some big days thrown in then XT any day.

For alpine and predominately mountainous terrain then Zee. Hands down.

I've just recently went from an old set of Hope M4's to XT and I won't be going back to Hope anytime soon. Have all the modulation I need, stop me as quickly as I need, did think about the Zee's myself but managed to get the pair of Xt's plus Ice Tech rotors for £150 of CRC a couple of months ago.

Thanks guys, some good feedback there,I think mactheknife has hit the nail on the head, the bike is more for the alps and sometimes the peak as I have a smaller bike for general trail riding and I suppose for £125 its worth a punt but at 32 pounds in weight the bike isn't light but it probably evens out as its gone 1X10 now instead of 2X9 with bash.
Cheers.

Think a lot of it depends on your weight. I'm a fat sod, and never had a complaint on the XT's until I went down BPW, when I swapped my saints on to that bike the day after - and having ridden on the same bike down the same routes with only the brakes swapped out, I massively preferred the saints. I'd also echo what others have said about amount of modulation too.
If you're on the alps, I'd go Zee. If you're a stick insect, it probably won't matter much either way.

Would not recommend XTs for a big bike. They're fine brakes I've got some meself but not in the same class as Zees when it comes to demanding braking.

For modest riding Zees feel and behave just like XTs but like any half-decent gravity product they have a lot in reserve and - critically - they deliver it in a typical Shimano way - very little effort for a lot of braking.