I’ve had a set of ZEE brakes for a year now and have not got on with them at all. I’ve had warranty replacement parts, found them difficult to bleed, thev’ve squealled like a pig and at one point the lever pulled right into the bar and squealled then the next moment they bit so hard I had a huge OTB. I planned to change to Hope M4s after trying a set and loving the modulation however i’ve just seen a set of new XTs at half the price of the Hopes and the weight saving a good reviews are attracting me hugely. Should I go for XTs or hold out for Hopes

Shimano every time, got a set on each of my bikes, bleed them from caliper back to lever, easy

Obviously your Zees were/are bollocksed but even if they weren’t they still wouldn’t have the same feel as the Hopes, very different approaches to their power delivery. So you probably won’t like XTs either. Think you’re in the same boat as me- I can see all the arguments for Shimano, they really are a brilliant deal, fantastic performance for the price but I just don’t like ’em much.

Shimano are great – if you like disposable brakes.

My xts all 3 pairs of them vayrying ages up to first gen servowave – all lasted about 18 months before piston seals packed in

The hopes i replaced them all with are going on 5 years old now with the same maintainance ( a clean and a lube once in a while)

All depends on how much you ride i guess.

Hmm, always been a big fan of Shimano but both my SLXs have been gradually losing power over the last year despite bleeding etc. Nothing drastic, just a steady decline in braking power and I was about to buy something new. However I am not sure that the touted virtues of Hope will stop me buying Shimano again. They might not last as long but they are a hell of a lot cheaper!

All depends on how much you ride i guess

Ime more riding would favour the shimano’s, but this could just be me.

There are pro’s and con’s to either system, just get the ones you want 🙂

I have Shimano Deore /Slx on two of my bikes and Hope x2 on another ……..Shimano seem to have more power for less stroke ……Deore’s squeal a bit Slx are fine ….. Hope look and feel lovely …..but don’t seem to have the same stopping power …….could be the pads ?? ………but I get on with them fine even jumping from the other bikes .

There were some early sets with a master cylinder seal issue (I had one) but it’s a warranty job.

If you want to get ride of them, let me know – I’m actually looking for a set as we speak. 🙂

All the shimanos iv had in the workshop have been pigs to get to work properly first go however I no they get a bad rep but I’m a big avid fan been running elixir’s for 4 years with no seal issues mum has juicy 7’s with same reliability

I planned to change to Hope M4s after trying a set and loving the modulation however i’ve just seen a set of new XTs at half the price of the Hopes and the weight saving a good reviews are attracting me hugely. Should I go for XTs or hold out for Hopes

Just buy the normal Hope X2 evo’s, save both money and weight.

I doubt the x2s will be powerful enough for uplift days and the alps