so going from cheap upwards can we have a rough list of common disc brakes that are worth using from cheapo up to expensive (no stupidly expensive niche stuff please)

Shimano 525 Deore.

Shimano Deore
Shimano SLX
Shimano XT

Topic done 😆

can't beat deore for the money. fantastic brakes.

Not really, new XT aren't all that TBH, plus there's Minis, Formula R1, Some of the Avids, and Maguras. Even Hayes, some of those are ultra reliable.

For budget it has to be Deore M595. Not sure I agree with Nickc, my XT are great and I forget how good they are until I use something else.

ive had quite a few different sets and my best set are my old mono m4 by a long way. my formula oro bianco are pretty good too

I love my hope minis – reliable, rebuildable, dependable and just work

I get on really well with avid. BB7 and the Juicys.

XT have done me well too.

I can't stand Hayes Sole. TBH personally I dislike the feel of Hayes brakes in general.

Hope seem to be good nowadays, I used to hate all that arseing around with stacks of washers to get them mounted that you used to have to do.

Mister P, I should have been more clear, sorry, I don't think they're bad brakes at all, I was just a bit underwhelmed by them. Half the problem comes from the fact that some of the lower range Shimano brakes are pretty damned good, so much so in fact it's hard to justify buying XT IMO.

I have owned (In order stopping power, usually with 180/180 or 180/160 rotors)
Hope Mono M4
Shimano XT (765)
Hayes HFX-9
Hope Mono Mini
Hayes Sole
Avid Juicy Three
Hayes MX2

For pure power a friend's Saint win, for feel and power I really like my M4s, plus you can bleed them very easily, strip them down easily and in UK easy to get parts. This said I paid £35 an end for my HFX9s, and based on this they win on value.

I don't like Avid brakes because they are a pain to bleed without a £40 kit. My Hayes bleed kit was £9 though. As said above Deore's are a bargain and tbh a friend runs then on 203 rotors and they stop well enough.

I can't stand Hayes Sole.

They are a bit of an anomaly being single piston, and take some fiddling to set them up nicely. Even worse with (inevitably) bent rotors. It doesn't help that the lever blades are very long, so the feel is worse (in my opinion).

Juicy 5's were a pain,
Mini Pro's are great except for bending return springs when pads are 2/3 worn and they get muddy. But would definately buy again.
Overall stopping power SLX on my SS win hands down

Hayes Soles are appalling, can't recommend them in the least!

Avid Elixirs are excellent, much easier pad change than Juicys and very powerful. The Avid XX is nearly as powerful as the Saint, whilst weighing <300g.

looks like hayes sole FTL

Shimano 525 Deore.

Are they still available? They were the older/OEM Deore model 6+ years ago.

I love Formula Oro's myself. For some reason you never see many in this country. Smaller distributor perhaps?

hayes HFX9 or MAG for shear reliability, spares availability and power, not light, but bloomin good.

Hope C2 – as above, but the closed system was a nightmare in the Peaks.

I dont personaly think shimano are all that, they're good, but theres no spare parts whereas a set of hopes could be 'as new' for a fivers worth of seals.

Just bought some mono mini pro's, hopefully they'l live upto expectatons and be everything the C2's were only a lb lighter and open system.

Shimano do feel quite nice to me the few times I have tried them but with out a doubt for me it has to be Hope's.
I don't think I will ever buy anything else, they are that bit more expensive but there customer service is second to none, not that I have had any problems with their brakes. Although, I sent an old style rotor back to have the bolts counter sunk to clear my new fork and they did it for free and posted it back for free. That, to me is pretty awesome in these days when so few really care at all about keeping customers happy. In my experience there parts just keep going and very easy to sort out if they ever stop.

I love my avid elixir crs when they work.. Had a few problems, but never on a ride thankfully.

Agree with njee on the XX front they are super powerful, had good experience with exlirs to.

another vote for hayes nines. got them on two of my bikes. super reliability and dirt cheap.

My vote goes to elixirs – more braking than you could ever need and not a single issue in 18 months

If you want a cheap reliable brake thats powerful enough for normal trail/xc with 160mm rotors and aren't bothered about loads of adjustment of them being very lightweight use hayes nine's, easy to bleed, change pads and good feel to them ,not on and off like alot of other cheap brakes.
Im not saying they're as good as hope's etc but for the money theyre pretty special.

Hope Mini and M4 have both been good for me, I also like the Magura stuff.

Personally both avoid Avid – the wife's Juicy 7 have been a constant pain in the a**e.

Got a pair of Elixir CRs and a pair of Elixir 5s, both been great and pad changing is greatly improved from Juicys.
Had old Saints and loved those but Elixirs are more powerful and the lever pivoting closer to the bar just feels very nice in use.

Bit of anti-Hayes feeling about on here … anybody any views on the Stroker Trail?

I love my hope minis – reliable, rebuildable, dependable and just work

Mini's are good (I have them on a couple of bikes) but Deore's are better.

Don't know what the other 9 should be, but IMO for outright performance Saints should be sitting at the top, with a big gap between them and the next best 🙂
I don't own them yet, but I will…

I like the haye 9, simple reliable & dead poweful, but prone to piston corrosion in later life – spares are available though. i believe the stoker is just an updated 9. Love my hopes too, mini's, & m4's work well & are fully rebuildable, you can even send them back for servicing if you don't want the hassle. Got to say I've found magura fr bat's to be the most powerful I've tried, but serving is expensive as only the distibuter can do it (bat & julies have a good review on last month whatmtb), so buy new or pay the price like I've had to. Avid's seem ok but seem a bit trouble prone (piston sticking issues), though Juice 3's are regularly sold cheap, so should be considered along with deores as a cheap entry into the disc game.

Shimano Deore 525. 7 years hard labour commuting, instructing and riding and never even bled them…

I have Hope M4's on my bike I rode a Trek with Elixirs and was very impressed by them, they seemed to be a bit more responsive than my M4's and a smoother bite and took less of a pull on the levers, however since using some ceramic compound pads the performance of my Hopes seem to of improved.

Think I would choose either Hope Tech, Elixirs or Formula's.

I've seen plenty of Strokers with a sluggish master cylinder. Plenty more 9's with sticky slave pistons. I have a feeling that the issue with the 9's is due to road salt so if you only ride them off road then they are plenty good.
I've had leaky LX callipers which was really surprising. I replaced them with 760 XTs and all is good now. For that reason I'd recommend either cheapy deores (I had one of the first ones and it was good until I replaced the calliper with the aforementioned LX's) or XT and above.
Hopes aren't all that powerful but never seem to go that wrong. squirt them with silicone lube and work them and they are suddenly good as new.

Hayes nines (HFX9) with 6" rotors for XC and 8" fo more freeride, i have 3 pairs on 3 bikes and never had any probs, stop the bike, don't squeek.

nuf said, happy days

Hope Tech M4's with braided hoses and floating rotors are worth buying just to look at. The fact that they'd stop a train is just a bonus.

martas with big rotors

+1 for hayes 9, utterly bombproof…ridiculusly cheap (especiall 2nd hand in classifieds) easy to bleed, loads and loads of stopping power with 8" rotors.

Hayes here..easy to service, easy spares, all good, pick up a pair of nines on here and you've spares for strokers to if you need them…nice and easy.

Deore M525's were brilliant if a bit heavy and ugly. A set for my second bike outgunned my Hope Mini's so I ended up with sets of M525's on both bikes.

Now on Magura Louise FR and Louise BATs and liking them both. Quality construction.

XT M765 did well in the Alps too (twice) as wells as UK duties and still have them somewhere…but I just can't bleed the rear and it needs it after a tumble.

Has anyone used both the new slx and xt's? I'm trying to decide between the two. I'm more interested in stopping power than modulation.