I would like to take back all my previous recommendations that SRAM brakes have improved since they dropped the Avid brand.

Personally I disagree, I think the Guide RE are a brilliant and totally underrated brake (can’t talk for Guide R/T’s or Level). I’ve had them on my last two bikes, 5K miles on the last bike, I’d say that was a pretty fair test period. New bike has Code R, but I’ve done 20 miles on it, we’ll see…
I’ve been riding a loan bike with Magura MT 7, they’re very good, maybe excellent, though I’m not keen on all the lever travel, but I’m not rushing to get some.

Avid brakes are indeed shit and always have been. The problem is that Shimano brakes have gone hugely downhill in the last 10 years and are now just as bad.

I’m planning to swap mine all over to Magura in a desperate hope that they are betterer.

I was utterly gobsmacked when SRAM, with all the amazing manufacturers to choose from, decided to buy the Avid brand

Personally I disagree,

I don’t disagree that a working set is great.

The problem is that Shimano brakes have gone hugely downhill in the last 10 years and are now just as bad.

I’ve just swapped them for some as-new M785’s which pre-date the Shimano issues (fingers crossed anyway).

Only fly in the ointment is the rubbish ergonomics when paired with a Gx shifter.

Shimano XT 4 pots are fantastic, reliable brakes.

I’ve got SRAM RSC on my 2017 DH bike which have also been great.

Same brakes on my 2015 Capra have just started suffering from swollen master pistons but got a repair kit on the way.

Shimano XT 4 pots are fantastic, reliable brakes.

Except when they’re shit leaky squeally unreliable rubbish.

I’m on a 50% success rate so far. Not impressed.

Only had 2 sets of SRAM brakes myself – Guide RS and Code RSC – both have been very good. The codes are just awesomely good.
Another bike work on has Level T brakes and they have also been brilliant (rider is half my weight which probably helps).
I remember Avid brakes and the 2 pairs I have personal experience of were decent stoppers but absolute nightmares to work on.
I’ve had 2 pairs of Shimano brakes and when they were used they were good, but it was infrequent and the last set is about 8 years old and are currently on my turbo which never needs the brakes pulled.

I agree. Noting special to use and a complete plan to bleed even using the magic connector thing. Ask that dues is make it less messy getting a poor bleed

I’ve got Code RSC on a brand new Norco. They’ve had half a dozen rides and the levers are sluggish and floppy. The only thing that feels solid is the bite point adjuster which should spin freely but absolutely will not move.

Power and modulation is fine for now but they feel like they’re built down to a price like everything else Sram make.

I might as well add my usual comment which I use on threads like this, “All mountain bike brakes are shit”.

No issues with Guide RS or SLX that are on the Mrs bike. Both sets about 6 years old.

I might as well add my usual comment which I use on threads like this, “All mountain bike brakes are shit”.

The irritating thing is that it’s usually just one “cheap” bit that spoils them.

Shimano – why are the caliper pistons made of cheese?
SRAM – why are the lever pistons made of cheese?

To an extent, I’m often prepared to forgive them as I tend to buy (relatively) cheap bikes and I’m usually quite pragmatic about the whole strong/light/cheap thing, in return for things working well most of the time. But these days when bikes can cost over £13k, and still come with SRAM (or shimano) brakes which seem to have more issues than any other industry would tolerate, I’d be livid!

It’s times like this I wonder if Hope really are worth £450 + rotors…..

TINAS they look a few years old, known issue with the pistons swelling over time on the lever on the original Guides. Just needs new pistons in the levers and will be good (actually better) than new. Not a difficult or expensive job.

On the rare chance they’re in warranty, SRAM tech centre will fix/replace FOC anyway…

My Guide R levers came back to the bar on Wolf Of Wall Street on Friday. That simultaneously opened my eyes and puckered my sphincter! My mate’s Hope Tech3 front went very spongy on the same trail, something that’s never happened before or since.

The Guides feel nicer to use, but the Shimano Deore 4 pots on my Rail feel significantly more powerful.

Shark attack, give the lever a slight squeeze…just enough to apply light pressure and then try adjusting. I find if I’ve not tinkered for a while – I don’t need to between bleeds – then this helps.

On the rare chance they’re in warranty, SRAM tech centre will fix/replace FOC anyway…

They’re in warranty, just pissed that it’s yet another day riding missed due to their brakes over the years.

I’m 100 kg but that a side I’m probably fairly undemanding of brakes

I have 4 pot Sram brakes on my MTB they have a T on them (Guide T ?)

Until I owned them I thought one finger breaking was a myth. Now I’ve joined the club and they stop me with 1 finger

My only complaint is that the lever starts coming in towards the bar before the pads are worn out, but it isn’t a huge deal

If anyone wants a pair of pistons for sram guide rsc levers let me know. I ordered the wrong ones for my RS brakes so these are going foc. Going on hols for a week tomorrow so will be the week after before I can pop them in the post.

Can I have them, please? I have a set of DB5’s that are sticking, and not in a rush.

TRP, Magura or Trickstuff are the brands everyone imo should be seriously choosing.

Sram QC & R&D and Shimano QC & R&D should be ashamed of themselves and have no excuse.

Had SRAM code rsc on my Capra for 5 years now, they’re been fantastic.

Had Shimano xt 4 pot (8120) on my ebike for the last 2 years , they’ve been ok , a lever failed after 12 months.

Had hope tech 3 e4 on a previous enduro bike for a few years, they never actually failed or anything,but they just needed hulk like grip strength to get any kind of decent retardation.

SRAM code rsc for the win!

Been running Guide REs on the emtbs since 2018 with no problems including trips to the Alps and Finale.
Running Saints on the other mtbs again with no problems.
My new to me in March emtb came with Code RSCs, so far so good.
The last one we bought in June came with Magura MT7s. Jury is still out on these as they don’t feel as powerful as the others. May need to get a bleed kit to see if there is air in the system

Teethgrinder, private message me your address and I will pop them in the post for you.

Moved exclusively to sram. Had guide re’s which are a hidden gem in my opinion, cheap and effective. When my zees developed a micro leak and I was offered a warranty I took a refund and got some more guide res.

I have level t’s on my stooge, originally on a whyte where they we’re species with 200mm rotors. The extra rotor size helps with the power, and they’re fuss free stoppers.

TL:DR – since the great days (had a pair of deore that lasted 8 years) shimano have been unreliable for me and sram decent

I  only have one bike with SRAM brakes,  my Jeffsy,  which has Guide Ultimates.  They were fine for 5 years,  then last year I had to replace one of the lever internals.  I’m not really complaining.

M785’s have the piston micro leak issue but I’ve never had the wandering bite point issues.

I think a lot of brakes aren’t good enough in terms of quality, as consumers we’re probably partly to blame for wanting everything cheaper. There are better quality brakes available but they aren’t cheap.

Had guides 10 odd years ago, they were fine, but underpowered
More recently had a bike come with level Ts they were pretty good, but had a wandering bite point that freaked me out on a couple of steep descents, so they were sold pretty quickly.

I loved that MBUK review that said “these brakes are so fantastic when they work, that we can almost recommend them even though they occasionally don’t work at all”.

I’ll stick with my 2010 Formulas for a bit longer I think

In about 6 months time I’ll be in the lucky position to buy a new bike. (My previous one lasted 10+ years). I’ve been weighing up SRAM Vs Shimano (Vitus Escarpe w/ SLX or Spesh Stumpy Evo w/ Code R) and this is not helping 🙂

I’ve kept the 10 year old SLXs which in the main have been fine. I’m glad I have!

Code RSC’s are totally unnoticaceable – they just work.

The sram brakes I’ve owned in past haven’t failed or anything but they aren’t nearly as good as my magura mt5s really. My experience with magura has made me a customer for life.

Had deore 2 pot brakes and had to replace both sets after a few years as they had micro leaks on the calipers. Plenty of power when working but frustrating.

Got a bike back in 2018 that came with Level Ts. Was expecting them to be crap and in need of replacement, but was pleasantly surprised.

Then on the same bike got some Guide Ts about 6 months ago after a PSA on here. Been fine until this week where I noticed a loss of power. Upon further inspection the pistons weren’t all moving at the same rate. Quick clean and lube with DOT fluid and they’re as good as new

Son just got some Magura MT5s and they seem good. However they were a pain in the arse to bleed. Why they don’t just use a bleed nipple on the caliper like 99% of vehicle brakes I don’t know.

TRP, Magura or Trickstuff are the brands everyone imo should be seriously choosing.

Sram QC & R&D and Shimano QC & R&D should be ashamed of themselves and have no excuse.

I have less to moan about SRAM brakes than I do Trickstuff brakes…

I’ve nothing to moan about either brake (The TS one’s are better, but the Guide ultimates I had worked as they should) functionally but the customer service/buying experience from Trickstuff is a joke, in part because of how stringent their QC is.

Ime

Code rsc – very good. Reliable, stop well, good lever feel, easy to bleed

Code r – not very good at all. Way too much play in the lever that can’t be adjusted out without faffing about advancing the pistons.

I have no idea why sram made the code rs work so poorly, for what are really marginal differences in design.

Had at least three slx or xt brake levers have the master cylinder swell and stick from absorbing brake fluid over the years, like the SRAM ones in the op.

Take them apart, place then in a 50 degree oven or similar to evaporate the oils for an hour, put back together, job done.

Be nicer if they didn’t need to be sorted in the first place but not too strenuous to sort

Well I can agree with one reply here for sure, my missus Whyte came t
With TRP Slate brakes and she’s never had any issues with them at all!

My SRAM Guide RS have needed a few bleeds, also last trip to france saw the lever seal swell in the heat. The funniest bit was at Metabief I got the brakes looked at (just a bleed I think) and on the downhills they worked as I’d want them to, however soon as I finished my run they dragged… and having race matrix pads on dragging brakes was a squeaky affair!

My SLX 4 pots have arrived now so we’ll see what they’re like

Still running Elixirs on 2 bikes having previously run Juicy…cant say I’ve ever really had an major issues although the elixir in the Alps weren’t great on long descents

Now have Code rsc and they have been great aside i had the piston swell in one lever last year so replaced the piston in that one

Either you have an old guide brake with the swelling piston, which subsequently SRAM have sorted, or the piston itself is worn and won’t return.

I’ve had a worn piston in one of my code rsc’s. After 4 years of use it gets stuck further down in the brake lever because it’s worn down. Simply buy the rebuild kit, it’s a 30 min job with a brake bleed to fix.

If Shimano could fix the wandering bite point, I think everyone would be running them, but it continues to be a real issue.

Either you have an old guide brake

>2 years old 🙄, and woefully few miles on them according to STRAVA hence why I’m peeved as I was finally convinced they had sorted themselves out.

Warranty claim (hopefully) initiated and spare “titanium” pistons on the way on the slow boat from China to correct any future issues. Along with a GX shifter clamp incase I convince myself to splurge on some Tech4/V4’s. Also keeping an eye on ebay for some V2’s, mathematically they have the largest pistons so should be the most powerful of the 2nd hand options.

If Shimano could fix the wandering bite point, I think everyone would be running them, but it continues to be a real issue.

I thought the consensus was the caliper pistons wore, which caused them to stick in odd positions occasionally?

stick from absorbing brake fluid over the years, like the SRAM ones in the op.

Take them apart, place then in a 50 degree oven or similar to evaporate the oils

I feel like I’m misunderstanding something here….

I feel like I’m misunderstanding something here….

SRAM lever pistons are apparently made of plastic, which absorbs DOT fluid over time and binds in the cylinder. So he means warm them up to evaporate off some of that contamination.

Whether it works or not I’ve no idea.