Anyone else having problems with Shimano XT Brakes. There’s 4 of us who ride and we have all got Shimano XT brakes. The oldest set are no more than 8 months old. The oldest set are now onto the 3rd warranty replacement. My rear failed yesterday at Bike Park Wales and my front is on the way out. Both of the other rides the rear is failing as well.

The issue is that they all become very soft and the lever then pulls all the way to the handlebar. I checked the pads in my rear set (which are only 8 weeks old) and one of the pads has worn down completely whilst the other is 50% worn, so obviously a sticky piston. New pads in and the lever still pulls to the bar.

try bleeding them

If I had a quid for every time I post this I could afford xtr’s 🙂

Drop the wheel & pads out and pump the lever until the pistons sit slightly proud of where they once were. They’ll need to be clean and properly centred to do so.

I’ve had both the front and rear on mine go, 18 months apart.

First time the front went when in the Alps, seal went, fluid everywhere, had to limp down with just the rear brake, nice chap in show in Bourg swapped it over with an SLX caliper from a bike in the shop.

The rear went just before Christmas, third ride on a set of pads, but one piston looks like it stuck on and one pad had gone completely (25 miles of shitty muddy riding), piston jammed skew wiff, fluid everywhere and now immovable.

Just bought an SLX caliper for 23 quid. Will be going back to Hope when I can afford them.

Drop the wheel & pads out and pump the lever until the pistons sit slightly proud of where they once were. They’ll need to be clean and properly centred to do so.

No idea how that would help, can you elaborate?

Wouldn’t help with blown seals but as the pads wear & the brakes feel softer its brings the sharpness back to the brakes, or something more eloquent

Course, sticky pistons can’t cause the lever to pull to the bar. And bad bleeds can cause a merely slightly slow piston to appear completely stuck… So personally I would do that first, quick clean, good bleed, reset basically.

And if that doesn’t work then back to shimano but 3 replacements is unreasonable.

Have I told any of you how much I dislike Shimano brakes? Never again.

Drop the wheel & pads out and pump the lever until the pistons sit slightly proud of where they once were. They’ll need to be clean and properly centred to do so.

Wouldn’t help with blown seals but as the pads wear & the brakes feel softer its brings the sharpness back to the brakes, or something more eloquent

I’m at a loss as to how that works/helps. Surely if I pump the lever whilst the wheel is out the pads just get forced together, then I can’t get the wheel back in.

try bleeding them

These are only 8 weeks old. They really shouldn’t need a bleed. And it would account for all the sets needing a bleed.

should of gone to…. hope tech ;P

BigSteve – Member

These are only 8 weeks old. They really shouldn’t need a bleed. And it would account for all the sets needing a bleed.

TBF, there’s 2 times brakes are most likely to need a bleed- one is when they’re fairly new and the other is when someone’s just bled them 😉 They can leave the factory with an adequate-feeling bleed but air still in the reservoir, which then transfers into the working fluid as the pads wear or as the bike moves.

Still, you’d hope SHimano would spot that before replacing them. But they do have a pretty liberal replacement policy.

If the lever’s inconsistently pulling to the bar then it’s a good first call. And if nothing else it’s educational- it’s got to be one of 2 things realistically, a leak or a bad bleed and if it’s a leak, rebleeding will show it up (as you will find changes in fluid level). So it’s possible fix/possible diagnostic but always worthwhile.

It’s quite often the primary seal in the master cylinder that fails, so you won’t necessarily lose fluid or have air in the system.We’ve had quite a few fail(including mine), all replaced under warranty with no quibble, but they’re nowhere near as reliable as the older ones used to be.

What rotors are you using?

no probs with mine a year down the line. Are you storing your bike upside down? Only thing I’ve noticed is if the bike has been upside down or hanging from the front wheel they are a bit spongy for the first full pulls but soon pump up.

I fitted XT brakes this summer and haven’t had any problems. Is the warranty a year ?

i had murder with mine, i got them working again with a good bleed, giving the caliper a good tap with a rubber mallet to loosen off any bubbles, then closed the pads right up with the disc out and opening them up with a screwdriver so i could just fit the disc in. work fine now and i was on the verge of t
hrowing them out

Have I told any of you how much I dislike Shimano brakes?

Yes )
I’ve had a couple of Shimano sets replaced, out of a fair few set owned in the 10+ years I’ve used them.
Currently I have 2 sets of M775 XTs that have done 5yrs plus each, and one set’s done many thousand miles across 3 bikes including loaded off-road tours and Alpine trips. They have had gen-1 issues across some models but when you get a good set they’re bombproof. That goes with mass production and what I’d consider higher levels of design / function than Hopes (I like simpler / functional, I’m not saying that’s a negative). It’s just not as simple as 1 brand over another, it’s not football )

It’s quite often the primary seal in the master cylinder that fails, so you won’t necessarily lose fluid or have air in the system.We’ve had quite a few fail(including mine), all replaced under warranty with no quibble, but they’re nowhere near as reliable as the older ones used to be.

I had some piston seal issues with gen 1 775s too, so it’s not just the new versions. These days I don’t buy anything complex when it’s first released, but on a complete bike it’s tricker to say when the parts were made. All in all, I still think Shimano make great kit.

Well, I ventured out today on my bike here in sunny south Somerset and didn’t use my XT brakes once. No chance of them going wrong then. The ground is absolutely saturated to an extent I’ve never seen before,and I’ve seen a lot being 50 years old !
Even crossing a flat grass field is hard work. Stop pedalling and the bike just stops.

My front brake has gone (XT) – blown seal.

Being fixed under warranty no issues. Warranty (according to my friend who works in a bike shop) is 2 years.

It seems if they go they go in the first few months and if you get through the first 6-7 months or so they are ok.

“one of the pads has worn down completely whilst the other is 50% worn, so obviously a sticky piston. New pads in and the lever still pulls to the bar.

Drop the wheel & pads out and pump the lever until the pistons sit slightly proud of where they once were. They’ll need to be clean and properly centred to do so.

No idea how that would help, can you elaborate?”

The reason why banks suggested this is to fix the problem of a lazy piston. If you make sure the pistons are equally pushed out and centred then you will not get 1 worn pad before the other.

Also by starting with the pistons out a bit when you put the pads and rotors back in you will have the biting point. Obviously this is a trail side fix and they should be bled properly asap.

Make sure when you do this you don’t push them too far, you still need space to get the pads and rotor in.

If it rubs re centre the caliper.

BigSteve – Member
Anyone else having problems with Shimano XT Brakes.

The issue is that they all become very soft and the lever then pulls all the way to the handlebar. I checked the pads in my rear set (which are only 8 weeks old) and one of the pads has worn down completely whilst the other is 50% worn, so obviously a sticky piston. New pads in and the lever still pulls to the bar.

hmm, mine have done this. noticed a bit as pad wore down- but after changing pads- really noticed- wound all the adjusters out and it seems okay- but I think I may have a closer look now- mine are around a thousand miles/8months old….