… how much of a difference is there between Deore, SLX, XT and XTR??

Thinking about swapping my old Juicy’s for some Shimano brakes for my Downhill bike and want something lightweight(ish) but effective.

I’m thinking SLX.

£ ££s and £££s

I’ve Deore and Slx …the only difference is the Slx has lever adjust knobs and Deore you need an Allen key ….I wouldn’t bother going any further up the bling chain unless you’re a weight weeny

Is that seriously the only difference??? a bloody allen key or twisty dials??

Very little to justify the difference, I’ve just recently swapped from my old school 7’s to boggo standard deores. Wouldn’t do it any other way, and wish i’d done it years earlier in hindsight!!

I’ve just ordered some slx brakes from rosé bikes, less than £50 each (without mounts and rotors), had a try of my mates slx’s yesterday and they felt really nice. Just need to swap brake levers over as they come set up euro style with front brake on the left.

I still use M525s. They do the job. I could get something a bit lighter, a bit stoppier but I’ve got a stack of pads from when they were going cheap, they rarely need bleeding, and when they do need bleeding it’s really simple.

I’ve got xt on one bike, and deore s on another
Apart from the adjusters I can’t feel any difference in braking performance at all

Do Deore still come with the cheapo monkeymetal rotors that you’re not allowed to use sintered pads on in case they explode?

I had the old XT (M775), tried the equivalent SLX and found it identical apart from the excellent Enigmatic Adjuster on the XTs, which probably changed something but nobody could ever agree what it was. And tbh that was worth it. I always had it on minimum Something.

Apparently XTR’s arent as powerful as XT or SLX, just lighter..

I’ve got the new SLX on my hard tail and the XT’s on my “proper” bike. Ice-tech rotors on both, 160&180 and 180 &200.

The bigger rotors will make a difference when I go away, other than that I think the SLX look better as the xt is a bit to shinny. XT look a bit more solid I guess

Other than that…….. Not a dot, SLX are fantastic and xt seem functionally exactly the same.

I’m just a marketing persons dream 🙂 go SLX

Just put XT on my bike. Replaced avid elixir R`s and there is no comparison. Shinseki are fantastic. ice tech rotors too. They were only a tenner more expensive than SLX at Evans so went there. Very easy to trim hoses too. Did both in about 20 mins.

Steved
Just looking at slx on rose, they are £58 each
Did you have a code

The more you spend, the nicer the finish and the more adjustments you get. Power seems to be the same across the board though.

Just replaced last gen XT’s (M775) on my full sus with new M596 Deore’s. After one ride I’ve downsized the rotors from 203/180 to 180/160 cos they were too much!

Paid £37 each for the Deore’s from CRC without rotors or mounts, which I think is faintly ridiculous! Still I’m not complaining… Will probably put some Deore’s (again to replace last gen XT’s) on my hardtail sometime in the near future too, and again probably have to downsize the rotors! The only thing I don’t like about the Deore’s is they have a split pin that you have to bend with some pliers when you want to change pads, rather than the retaining screw that the SLX’s and above have. But for a tiny bit of faff once every few months, its hardly an issue.

I have XTs on 3 bikes, the price difference @ Rose was small enough I could afford the bling. XTR was too rich for my blood.

Test rode a bike with SLX, and as others have said, they felt nigh on identical.

The other reason was at the time I couldn’t get I-Spec in SLX.

IIRC, ISpec Compatibility in typical Shimano “Trickle down” style went something like:
XTR 2011, XT 2012, SLX 2013, Deore 2014.

2007 XTR’s on my main bike, cheap M575’s on my hack.

The XTR’s are nice, lots of feel and enough power for xc, the M575’s are heavier, only a bit, but they are. Have not as nice lever shape, are more powerful, but also don’t have a lot of feel so can feel a bit wooden.

what the wookie says ^

I have M965 XTR (so yes, previous generation designs) but they have good power (not big anchors though) and excellent modulation.

I also have some sub deore ones on the luggage bike which are heavy and a bit wooden but dependable and powerful.

Finally I got some SLX for next to nothing from Rose bikes a while ago (something like £30 an end) and they are very good for the money. Nothing like the modulation of XTR, but very well built. and great stopping power.

Running ’13 Deores. Upgraded from ’08 Deore LX’s. 180mm discs. Nicer lever feel, but stopping power is about the same. Solid build, easy to bleed and at £40 an end, great value for money.

New Deores have different calipers, pistons and larger internal bore hoses to SLX and up.

Other than that **** all difference.

Might have to invest then in some deores – my Juicy’s have a tendency to be very on/off when you really don’t need them to be.

I have deore on son,s bike and slx on mine can,t tell the difference between them

easygirl – my bad, no code, just got the price wrong, not quite as cheap as what I said but still a bargain.

Deore are great brakes just replaced my Avid’s feel 100 times better leaver is short but loads of stopping power for a cheap brake set. http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/mtb-parts/brakes/disc-brakes/shimano-disc-brakes/shimano-deore-m596-disc-brake-set-front-rear.html under £90.

rosé bikes

😀

Put some Deore 596 on a few weeks ago, while my XTs are getting fixed. Very similar feel and plenty of stopping power. I’d say the XTs are more powerful, but not my a massive amount and they seem to have a bit more modulation to them too.

Switched from old m775 XT to new SLX on my HT and there was A LOT more power on the same rotos. XT on my FS and it’d be nice to have a bit more modulation. It’s like hitting a wall 😉 Have to run a 203 (only size forks supports) but really not expecting any issues in the alps with ice rotors.

Slightly off the point, does that servo wave screw do anything? I see to remember the outcome of the last debate being ‘no not really’

So in summary, SLX 🙂

this year I have new SLX on one bike and new Deore 596 on the other.
Lever action and shape is the same, only difference I can see is the finish and hte need for an allen key for reach adjust on the deore, but this is surely a one time action.

Deore has the older style calliper with older style pad shape.
This may be a bit heavier, but not much.

Can’t say I notice any difference between the two on the trail, both in power and modulation. Both are superb.

check Merlin for deals also. Or the £10 off 70 at CRC through Quidco.

nicko74 – good spot! Good old iphone/autocorrect

Do Ice Tech rotors work with anything or do you need compatible calipers? If they do is there any point in buying them over much cheaper standard discs, in other words does the technology work well enough to justify the price?

i have xt785 and slx from the same year. identical shape, power etc as far as i can tell but xt have the pad contact adjust screw which is handy

I have XT 785’s on my main bike and 2013 Deores on my BFe….don’t honk there’s much difference in power (although the BFe does have smaller rotors). There seems to be less play in the blades on the XT brakes plus the other adjustments.

I’m happy with both but the Deores are an absolute bargain…even better now the 2014 versions will take the ice tech pads. It’s going to be hard to justify buying anything over Deore now because it looks good now, works well etc.

One of the bikes at I demo’d at the weekend hd SLX brakes and hey felt like my Shimano brakes to be honest.

They dont say what the pistons are made from, Guessing as you go up the SLX/XT/XTR ladder you would expect maybe steel/stainless steel/phenolic.
However their crappy tech support doesnt tell you

http://www.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/products/disc_brakes/videos.html

It depends, XTR trail with Ice rotors and pads, are almost Saint like in their ability to detach retinas, but XTR race especially with 3rd party pads and regular rotors aren’t a massive step up in power than well set up/bedded in XT/SLX.

I believe that xt has pad contact adjust over slx, but that’s it.
I used the new xt’s with old standard xt rotors, however when I swapped to ice tech, it was genuinely better. I’ve never had brake fade and they bite like a bitey thing.
I believe the ice tech rotors work with any brake and any brake works with the ice techs

So… Icetech / Fins don’t really make much difference then?

Ice Tech rotors and finned pads are all about heat management (and reducing brake fade) rather than improving power. If you’re planning on lots of Alpine descending, they are probably worthwhile. For a few short runs of your local DH tracks, they won’t make any noticable difference at all.

Hmmm… thinking of a trip to the Alps so might go for SLX after all.

SLX ordered – thanks for the advice everyone!

Bushwacked – Member

SLX ordered – thanks for the advice everyone!

Post up what you think

I have three bikes now with Shimano brakes

M810 Saints on my main full-sus – simply brilliant brakes but a bit spendy

’12 XT’s on my XC bike if anything they are even better than the Saints, 90% of the power of the Saints less weight and about half the cost

’13 Deores on the commuter – how much!!! A brilliant brake for less than £50 an end – other than a bit a weight and a bit of adjustment they are no different to the XT’s