Cheap Shimano brakes, M365, M506 – Upgrade?

My new bike came with these on and they don’t feel like them have much power, it’s also difficult to 1 finger brake due to the size / shape of the lever.

I’ve seen the Deore M506 on CRC for £24.99 an end. Would these be worth upgrading to? Or should I save my money and wait to go for M615 or maybe SLX.

I think m615 Deore was where they got a better lever shape and more power. M6000 Deore meant to be even better.

I had some Deore m535’s and they had a massive long lever and not very much power. I got rid and got some decent brakes to replace them and now I don’t even have to think about the brakes on that bike – oodles of power.

I think I’d wait / shop round for one of the above to get a meaningful difference.

Assume you’ve tried different pads from a power perspective?

You can change the lever end for something with 1 finger braking… SLX/Zee .. or M6000.

Personally I hate brakes with no top loading for the pads… so I’d change calipers for that reason bit it makes no difference to brake power …

I’ll keep an eye out for some M615’s on offer then. I haven’t tried new pads, would you suggest Shimano or something like Superstar / Uberbike?

I’m not a huge Shimano fan overall so don’t have much experience of their pads. Wasn’t impressed with the m535 pads at all, although the standard pads in the Shimano hydraulic disc brakes on my racer seem quite good.

Im on Sram guides and the standard / sintered pads were quite expensive so I’ve been using uberbike ones for a few years. So far I’m been impressed with both the sintered and race matrix compounds. I haven’t tried the others though.

Thanks, the rotors say resin only so I may have to stick with Shimano I think.

would you suggest Shimano or something like Superstar / Uberbike?

I dallied with after market pads… and to be honest found them hit and miss.

I had one pair (planet X) that just never seemed to bed in or grip properly whereas others from the same batch worked fine if not as well as the genuine ones… superstar were cheaper to buy but thinner… so wear faster….

As always there is the pay a bit more…. but at the moment the SLX M7000 are a pretty good buy… you get the reach adjustment… bite point with the right safety bit etc. you might get something £10 cheaper per end… so £50 instead of £60 for both… but if at some point you go for new calipers etc. you’ll be happy with the SLX levers (functionally as good as present XT M8000) …

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/brake-spares/mtb-disc-brake-spares?f=4294964100

If you do change callipers remember you get a “free” set of pads… so its a good time to switch… but you would need new banjo’s for the SLX calipers

The general consensus is that Deore is basically as good as slx though isn’t it?

The general consensus is that Deore is basically as good as slx though isn’t it?

I haven’t actually touched the new M6000…

What I can say is the older M685/M785 were identical calipers… I have one which is half of each… (keep meaning to swap it over after I unstuck the pot and never got round to it…

The older Deore didn’t have easy reach adjust… (which I like)… but the difference in price for the SLX in the link is minimal… (I’m sure the Deore stop you perfectly well :D)

Has anyone bought a brake set from AliExpress? This seller has M6000 brake set for £68 shipped, reviews look good to –

Ali Express

I mean it seems cheap – even if you go for ice tech pads. Never bought anything from Ali Express but I’m contemplating buying a novatech rear hub onnthere at the moment. Seems like a slight leap of faith but a few other forum posts seem to suggest it’s generally ok!