Am looking for new brakes as I can’t get my IS maguras to fit my forks. I’m not arsed with adjustability, just want something that I can stick on easily enough and they just work and are reliable. Had Hopes (ok) and Avids (hated them) in the past but both needed messing with from time to time whereas the maguras were just fit and forget.

I know more maguras would be the way to go but what else fits the above?

Nothing’s truly fit and forget, Maguras do go wrong too- yours didn’t but another set might (or your current set might have popped tomorrow)

Best reliability I’ve had was from Formula Oros, which I didn’t really expect tbh but I ran 4 sets and never had any problems with any, despite some of them being absolutely ancient.

For me it’s Hope all the way. Occasional bleed – same with all brakes really.

YMMV

Never had to even bleed any of my Shimano brakes ,SLX and Saint.As for Avids… 👿

Hope m4s.best brakes I’ve ever used…fit and forget..pads last ages….awesome!

For balance I’ve had 2 sets of elixirs fir several years and they’ve been flawless.

Hope for me. Mono Minis then Tech X2 and now Tech M4. Bleed once a year to keep them perfect and that it. Always found Shimanos got sticky piston syndrome after a few months winter riding – bit of faff to sort them. TBF that was some time ago

Another point about Hope is that the whole handlebar unit seems very resilient to crash damage. Even the levers will just bend back happily

Formula? My R 1’s have been faultless.

My XT’s (new ones and the previous version) have been really. really good. Done nothing to them after the initial bleed other than chuck new pads in every 6 months. For me, everything I can have will be shimano, it just works.

My Formula Oros were perfect for 3 years. Excellent power and modulation. Would buy Formula again without a problem.

My vote, for best-value fit-and-forget brakes, goes to Shimano SLX.

As always, I shall say BB7.

SLX. Can’t be beaten for the money and maintenance free.

Shimano SLX

Formula RX – needed a bleed after almost 2 years and have used a couple of sets of pads but that’s it. They just get on with business.

Just for balance, my slx were terrible. They just kept leaking to the point where after about 2 months the rear was empty of fluid. Power was woeful as most of the fluid ended up on the rotors.

Current bike has Hope Tech X2’s on it.

In 3 years, the only time I’ve touched them is to replace the pads in the rear.

M6TTF – Member

For balance I’ve had 2 sets of elixirs fir several years and they’ve been flawless.

Same here. Had them on both bikes for years and never had an issue. Which is just as well, as I tend to have a ‘trust in God and everything will be fine’ attitude to bike maintenance. And a hammer

Saint FTW – my Magura Louise have also been pretty trouble-free.

Have had formulas, XT and Hope V2s before, none come close to the new SLX with Ebc pads.

5 yrs in Jan 2 sets of Formula Oros, been bled once last year didn’t need it but thought it was about time. Powerful, simple, reliable and an easy pad change all you need from a set of brakes.

XT

SLX best suited, reliable and maintenance free.

I’ve got some Deore brakes that are 10+ years old and I’ve never done anything to them other than changing the pads and some fresh brake fluid when I’ve been changing cables as they’ve moved onto different bikes.

I’ve got 2012 XT and Deore brakes and they’ve been faultless and need for nothing. Although people did report some problems with the XT ones its not something that has effected me.

As for servicing, the Deore ones are sooooooooo cheap I would just be a hideous consumer and buy a new caliper/mastercylinder etc…

OROS love mine even tho they old and are on their last legs.

I bought my Minis in 2001. I recently changed the seals & pistons and they’re good as new.

Tektro Aurigas are good at the budget end.

BB7, i haven’t even had to wind my pad adjusters in for a few months. Might just got another for the rear of my bike rather than piss around with slx and their questionable ceramic pistons which I don’t have a whole load of faith in any more! My Juicy 5s were really reliable as well surprisingly, just a bit of a hassle to bleed til you got the technique sorted. Really easy to strip down and repair as well.

I recently changed the seals & pistons and they’re good as new.

back to completely useless then?

…rather than piss around with slx and their questionable ceramic pistons…

Go on…

Shimano deore

I’m with IHN – BB7 for sure! My Formula the ones have been excellent and the original 4 pot XT were more or less bombproof. Hope we’re always variable for me although customer service good.

My workshop experience –

Avid – dont bother, you do get a few lucky ones though, most probably my fave in terms of feel, shape and power though when they’re box fresh with a good bleed

Hope – totally rebuildable/serviceable/easy to do but are never really good though, pretty rubbish actually, not worth the money

Formaula – pretty reliable, tight on pad clearance, just keep pistons clean

Magura – fine, service spares is only issue

Shimano – faultless and the consistently best performing, the odd duff set, not surprising the volume i’ve seen though. cant rebuild them though, but the way things have panned out though, the current deore are easily as good as previous XT

Canti’s? 🙂 Though TBH I can’t really remember if they were more or less hassle in terms of maintenance on an MTB.

I’ve had Elixir and Juicy’s which a lot of people whinge about. I’ve had to bleed them maybe a few times a year and do the usual change of pads. Nothing I wouldn’t expect from any other brake system.

Maintenance is inevitable. Embrace the maintenance and go with Hope. Easy to maintain unlike some others.

My Oro’s needed zero maintenance for 4 years, shame all the bolts were made of cheese which is why I binned them for BB7’s

XTR, never toucched em except for pads. Have the latest model on one bike and the previous on another, faultless after a few years of heavy use.

Cheap sub deore ones from rosebikes (m445s maybe). £45 the pair still going strong after a year of neglect on winter bike. At that price any issues I’ll bin and buy again. Power wise they’re fine maybe not quite the power of deore/slx but unless ur doing big DHs.

Only used older Avids Elixir, Juicy and now Deore

Really liking so far my boggo Deore M596 brakes, running with cheapo superstar pads – cheap, powerful, bleed easily (if needed) and just work. So cheap that a quick google suggests if they do go wrong its not a disaster to pay £20-£25 for a new lever or caliper.

Avid Elixir R’s to be fair were even cheaper to buy in the sale and if and its a big if, they do run perfectly provide greater feel and a tad more power with organic pads. However, performance and reliability is too variable, and yes rebuilds can be cheap depending what needs fixing, as they are cheap in the sale to start with, can always just buy a new complete unit.

Hope for me, had some m4’s changed and went through new style XT, elixir 5, formula rx in 5 months now back on hope and not changing again.