Viewing 27 posts - 1 through 27 (of 27 total)
  • New brakes
  • mattyfez
    Full Member

    I’m slowly getting around to building a frame up, most bits will be transferred from current bike but it has mechanical disks, and I’m going to replace them with hydraulic but can’t really stretch to deore price.

    Ideally I want a complete set with rotors, although I don’t mind getting rotors separately.

    I was looking at clarks but also noticed merlin have a SRAM level set which looks good value https://www.merlincycles.com/sram-level-mtb-disc-brakes-with-rotor-93250.html

    Anything else worth looking at at this price or lower? I’d like good modulation rather than too grabby if possible.

    I’m not adverse to getting some second hand, but I don’t really want scuffed levers, which I appreciate is pretty much a given with used brakes lol

    I’d also rather a full set rather than mixing and matching to keep faffing about to a minimum.

    Thanks

    joebristol
    Full Member

    Aren’t those levels at £65 for front or rear? So £130 for the pair? If so I think they are expensive for what they are.

    What’s your total budget for both ends?

    Clark’s get ok reviews for £40 for the pair with rotors. Think they’re a little down on power and a bit wooden at the lever from what I’ve read but for the money nothing else gets close. I’d go with the biggest rotors you can get them with a stick in some better pads.

    Or go hunting on eBay – I got a pair of Deores from a couple of generations ago with rotors for £35 all in – they were new / old stock. They have quite long lever blades but they’re ok.

    joebristol
    Full Member

    Aren’t those levels at £65 for front or rear? So £130 for the pair? If so I think they are expensive for what they are.

    What’s your total budget for both ends?

    Clark’s get ok reviews for £40 for the pair with rotors. Think they’re a little down on power and a bit wooden at the lever from what I’ve read but for the money nothing else gets close. I’d go with the biggest rotors you can get them with a stick in some better pads.

    Or go hunting on eBay – I got a pair of Deores from a couple of generations ago with rotors for £35 all in – they were new / old stock. They have quite long lever blades but they’re ok.

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    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Ahh maybe, it says disk brake(s) plural with rotor (singular).. Oh well maybe not those then.

    Current mech disks are 160mm and are ok, so I don’t mind what size really, if it doesn’t really cost anything to go a size up then I will get 180.

    Just a bit annoying there seems to be a a big gap in the market between the clarks and spending over a hundred quid.

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    I don’t really have a budget, less than £80 I guess but there only seems to be clarks under that price.

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    I also have a large frame, 22″ so second hand might be a faf if the hoses are too short?

    Thanks

    dmck16
    Free Member

    Have you checked the Germans?

    Bike Discount should have options – a quick check looks like the Sram Level set at about 95eur delivered?

    Either that or Magura MT2’s? Winstanleys look like the cheapest at about 40 quid each end.

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    The frame came from bike discount actually haha, I didn’t think to check there!

    That could be the solution, bit more than I wanted to spend when shipping is on top, but unless I can find something more attractive it might be the way forward.

    mrjmt
    Free Member

    I just got a set of the clarks for my commuter, not fitted them yet so can only comment on appearance, but looking at the build quality they’re a steal for the money. Got mine on ebay as they come with olives so you can shorten the hoses, the ones on CRC don’t include them.
    The levers are quite long (like the old shimano levers), not an issue though, just move them up your bars a bit.

    jamj1974
    Full Member

    Shimano Alivio level brakes are good value. £16 for lever & calliper. You’ll need discs and adaptors.

    Let me know what adaptors you will need – I likely will have some I can post to you.

    Like these.

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    I am quite tempted to get the clarks tbh, the wooden feel comments put me off a bit, as that’s the only thing I like about cable disks, the modulation…

    .. but with organic pads might be ok, and for the price, there just doesn’t seem to be any competition unless you spend more than twice as much..

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Oooh thanks for the suggestion..

    Alivio might be a good shout actually, think my mate has those or very similar, and they feel OK to me.

    OK then, clarks vs alivio. How to decide lol

    I’m not an extreme rider and the mech disks I currently have do the job, but they are a pain to adjust with pad wear etc. So some reasonably priced hydraulic is definitely the what I want.

    Cheers

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Stupid question alert..
    With the ‘ready to go’ pre bled kits, would I be right in assuming the hose lengths are on the generous side for larger frames, so you can shorten them if you want to, as opposed to them being too short and having to buy new hoses etc. For XL frames?

    jamj1974
    Full Member

    They most often are Matty. Certainly in my experience fitting them to a few mates bikes.

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Ok thanks for the advice.
    Just need to choose between the clarks and the alivio I guess.

    The alivio looks a bit nicer/minimalist but I’m not sure how to choose beyond that.

    Think I’m leaning towards alivio but maybe that’s just a psychological bias, budget shimano is generally good value. And clarks seems to be a less established budget brand.

    13thfloormonk
    Full Member

    Levels feel great and work great but make an unbearable amount of noise if you brake infrequently in wet conditions.

    I spent a lot of time and money swapping pads and rotors, facing mounts, sanding rotors, blah blah blah.

    Final solution was to ditch em and replace with TRP Spyres.

    Would offer you mine (with that ringing endorsement!) but one level got pretty badly bent early on and as now covered in plier marks from when I gently persuaded it back into shape…

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    That’s one anomaly about brakes, is noise, my mech disks are basically silent once warmed up. Assuming correct set up/alignment, then noise is purely down to the disk or the pad material? Assuming no contamination?

    Anecdotally the Mrs had new brakes on the car recently and they were properly squealing and she was thinking of going back to the garage.

    I borrowed it for an hour, warmed the brakes up and then did a series of ‘Italian’ emergency stops.

    No more noise.

    boxelder
    Full Member

    I’ve just gone for the Clarks for lads bike – most Shimano sets you see are without rotors, so I figured for £40 I’ll at least get rotors to use elsewhere. Can review in a couple of weeks once bedded in.
    Those SRAM are left hand front/right hand rear I think. May not be a problem. EDIT – Alivios linked above are ‘goofy/Euro’ too.

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    What’s goofy euro? When the LH/RH levers are on the other sides of of the bars? So the front brake lever is on the left side of the bars?

    Thanks

    jamj1974
    Full Member

    Clarks have made stuff for ages – even way back when you could get brake blocks and cables from them.

    I had earlier but similar Shimano brakes back in 2013. They were absolutely fine. No fuss or drama.

    boxelder
    Full Member

    What’s goofy euro? When the LH/RH levers are on the other sides of of the bars? So the front brake lever is on the left side of the bars?

    Yes – just my clumsy name. That way around is normal to most.

    lustyd
    Free Member

    I have a set of essentially new m506 Shimano brakes with almost unused pads and CL rotors. Done about 30 miles and are pretty much immaculate, certainly no scuffs. If these would suit make me an offer on PM as I’ve just been keeping them as spares. I upgraded almost as soon as I bought the new bike 🙂
    I’m away for a few days so no good if urgent!

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Hi, certainly interested.. Are they these ones?

    eBay link

    What size frame did they come off, just worried about hose length, they will be going on a 22″ hard tail.

    slackboy
    Full Member

    Canyon are selling slx brakes for £45 per end. Deore are £35 but they only seem to have rear in stock.

    boxelder
    Full Member

    The Clarks seem great, adaptors, rotor bolts etc all included. Will need the £5 shortening kit on anything less than a L or XL, but an easy job – undo bolt, cut hose, push in new fitting, bolt up.

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Canyon are selling slx brakes for £45 per end.

    Do you have a link? That’s very tempting, thanks.

    slackboy
    Full Member
Viewing 27 posts - 1 through 27 (of 27 total)

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