Has anyone specifically upgraded levers this way? I’m finding the Deore levers too heavy to pull when in the thick of things, whilst still keeping control of my bike.

Are the SLX M7100 levers considerably “lighter” to pull because of the servo wave feature? I thinking it might be worth £62 to upgrade the levers if so.

I don’t like the servo-wave levers. I would fit a bigger rotor if possible, try different compound pads, then go for a 4-pot caliper on the front, in that order.

M6100 are servo wave. I thought the only difference was tool free reach adjustment on SLX.

Aw, my fault.

M4100, not M6100.

Let’s start again! 😜

Here are the bike’s brake specs:

Brake, Front
Shimano MT420, 4-Piston Hydraulic Disc Brake, 203mm Rotor
Brake, Rear
Shimano MT420, 4-Piston Hydraulic Disc Brake, 180mm Rotor
Brake Levers
Shimano MT4100 Hydraulic Lever, I-Spec EV Compatible

https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/deore-m4100/BL-M4100.html

https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/shimano/BR-MT420.html

Doubt it will make any difference. Try adjusting the lever distance from the bar and get the angle and position set up well on the bars.

Anything M6100 and upwards should make a fair difference to that set up.

Cheapest way to get an easier lever pull is to improve your grip strength.

Cheapest way to get an easier lever pull is to

…is to fit a caliper spacer and a bigger diameter rotor!

Definitely not cheaper where I am!

No Sram Centerline rotors anywhere in stock. Magura, yes, but it says not to use with a centerlock adaptor on their website. Trickstuff are £90 for the rotor alone, and I Can’t find any Galfer rotors for MTBs anymore. Centerlock hub issues anyhow.

New levers would be the cheaper solution. Maybe the shift from 3 finger to 2 finger levers would be the fix.

Jag – he’s already on 203/180.

I recently upgraded MT420 levers to some older servo wave deores and they are significantly better. Well worth £62 I’d say.

Have you looked at an MT501?

“fair difference”
“significant difference”

I’ll go with that on the lever change to SLX.

A lot of the problem could be the 3 finger lever issue. Looking back I’ve always got on with 2 finger levers. Hope M4s, Avid SD5, etc. Me and 3 finger levers just don’t get on it seems.

Stocks of parts are starting to run low here in China. I’ve found sellers with LH, or RH, but not complete pairs. Maybe you guys have been discovering Alibaba (international Taobao). It might be time to project ahead and start stocking up before you lot nab everything!

If you aren’t using the ispec capabilities, and have mounted brakes and shifters separately, you could try mounting the brakes inboard of your shifters.
This brings the levers into a more natural 1 finger braking position, meaning that you maintain grip with the rest of your fingers.
I used to really struggle with aching hands until I changed to this config.

Got to be worth a try, as it costs nowt.

What you need to do, as I found out this week, is ride a bike with really rubbish brakes for a while.

Then hop on your normal bike, head down a hill, brake as normal and you’ll find you’ve not been pulling the lever as hard as you could and you’ll quickly discover the margins for breaking traction are far greater than you thought.

you’ll find you’ve not been pulling the lever as hard as you could and you’ll quickly discover the margins for breaking traction are far greater than you thought.

Yep.

I wish my bike stopped like that. I can’t pull stoppies at all on the current one. Tyres, head angle, fit, not sure. I used to pop wonderful stoppies on a PX Compo with M4s. My current SQ3 just slides at the front. Back wheel rarely wants to go up at all.

But the problem is back before that. I’m sure it’s the lever itself (3 finger) that I just don’t get on with. Can’t secure my grip on the bars and pull the brakes whilst riding over stuff.

Can’t secure my grip on the bars and pull the brakes whilst riding over stuff.

Hence my suggestion regarding swapping the brakes/shifters around

The front slides? As in the front wheel is locked up? Or just doesn’t slow down.

If the first you’ve got more than enough braking power.

If the latter I would suggest your pads and rotors are contaminated or not bedded in properly (or both)

Give the rotors a really good clean with isopropyl. New pads then some heat cycles through them once fitted. See how you get on

I’ve moved the levers inboard. No one is symmetrical, and the left blade isn’t 100% where I want it, but I’ll tweak when out riding. I have 65mm between grip and brake clamp in the left, 67mm on the right. That’s a lot more than re distance than I ve ever done before. It looks wrong, but I can Rea h the blades, and the I spec EV shifter is comfortably under my thumb and finger. Dropper post clamp on the left is outboard of the brake lever now, and in a comfortable position. I had to wind in the levers a bit to get the right placing.

I have a week’s national holiday coming up here imminently so will test it out.

I clean my brakes best I can, they came clean out of the box, they’re powerful enough (just have rotor bending issues during loooong descents, but I just use a straightening tool at the end of the day)

Sounds promising – keep us posted

Just re-read your comment, and noticed the bit about rotor bending – have you centered the calipers around the rotors?

I’m really riding in mountainous regions. Before I rode today (exercise and testing brake lever placement) I had to straighten both my front and rear rotor. Basic models, no finned pads or ice-tech.

I’ve discovered that if I brake less often, the rotors don’t go out of true 😎

Coming back down the mountain roads (they were hell to get up, some I had to walk up) I hit 51km/h according to the local maps app (Baidu: live traffic info, etc) not bad for 27.5″ rims, Assegai tyres and a 32/10t combi!!!

Here is the brake lever placement. In the end, 57mm between grips and lever clamp on the left, 67mm on the right. That’s comfortable and I’m all good now. I just never thought of running my levers this far in.

Edi: just checking the bikes post ride. Mine is fine. GF’s bike has 2pot xc brakes with 180/160 rotors. She weighs half what I do though. Today she dragged her brakes down every road (fear of speed) and both rotors are rubbing and need straighting. Front a little, Rear is terrible. This is my old “exercise” bike for riding long distance on flat roads. I’ve never had the rotors go out of true on this bike, ever! Only bought a straightening tool after we started hitting the mountains.

@mrdestructo – goods news on the lever placement.
Interesting info about the rotors – Never had that problem, myself, despite being about 90kg – maybe I’m just a bit braver, and brake less (I’ve got to over 40 mph, on an off-road descent)

@belugabob nutter! 😂

It’s bone dry here, 31c. Enjoy the happy water buffalo taking a mudbath.