SRAM Guide rs brakes v Shimano XT

Are the Guides as bad as they appear to be?

They came fitted on my new (to me) bike but they don’t seem anywhere as powerful as my old XT Shimano.They do bring me to a stop but not a quickly as I’d like

Before I write them off totally I am comparing 180/180 XT to 180/160 Guides,could this be the lack of power I’m noticing?

I’m going to give the pads a rough up and clean everything to see if that helps any.

Anyone else gone from XTs to Guides and noticed a big difference in performance?

As bad? Guides, IMO, are far superior.

Something wrong there, having had newish XT’s on old bike, bought a new one with the Guide’s and nearly went over the bars on first “hard” stop 😆

Yes they are rubbish replace them with XT and I’ll buy them off you for £20 🙂

guides should be just as good as shimano these days. something dodgy with your set?

I have a brand new set for sale,should you want to check.

Get them properly cleaned, bled and new pads. Bed pads in…they are very good brakes as much as I want to hate them, I can’t…they work very well so I’d need a real excuse to replace them and I haven’t found one yet.

I’d suggest the set you have are setup properly, hence the clean and bleed…

What are they like to bleed as I have a new pair that need doing?I have a bought a sram bleed pro kit for the job.

cheers for the replies, just taken the pads out and they look like there on their last legs and had worn unevenly so I’ll get them changed and see what they are like then.Cleaned and scuffed the disc up with a bit of emery paper so I can start a fresh once my new pads arrive. Just didn’t want to b e flogging a dead horse 😉

Wow looks like the shimano STW love in is fading!
Think it depends a bit on the model I’ve got the rsc but yes they’re brilliant. Give them a bleed and a new set of pads and rotors and they should see you right. You don’t know what’s gone on before if it’s a second hand bike so so that’s what I’d do.

Four pot Guides versus two pot XT’s, four pot’s should win every time 😉

ALL Sram brakes have the capacity to be crap. When they work, they work fine. But if they start giving you trouble then a “full SRAM service” is otherwise known as “replace with Shimano”
I’ve come to the conclusion that DOT fluid isn’t best suited to bicycles and mineral oil works better, so stick with Shimano, Magura and Tektro and you’ll be fine, but other manufacturers have better luck with DOT fluid than SRAM, it has to be said.

The GF has Guide RSCs on her new bike and says they’re much better than the XTs from her previous bike.

I prefer the modulation of the guides over the instant on of XT.

Which version of the Guide’s?

FWIW I’ve got Guide RS’s with 180/160 rotors on my full sus, and they’ve been excellent. Maybe not quite the last 10% of pure stopping power of Shimano’s XT’s, but lots more modulation. I’ll be upping to 200/180 rotors soon for a bit more bite, but wouldn’t swap them for XT’s now as XT’s lack modulation by comparison.

Have got Guide R’s with 180/160 rotors on my HT, and by comparison I’m very underwhelmed. They lack power, feel quite wooden, and don’t inspire anything like as much confidence as the RS’s on my full sus do. I read up about the differences in the brakes before I decided to buy the cheaper ones for my HT, I genuinely wish I’d spent that bit more right now, but you live and learn!

ALL Sram brakes have the capacity to be crap. When they work, they work fine. But if they start giving you trouble then a “full SRAM service” is otherwise known as “replace with Shimano”

MegaLOL.

Have you seen the theads about the recent Shimanos? They seem to be having QA issues. Guides…. I’ve not seen a thread about them actually not working – other than proper user error. All long term reviews point to reliability and robustness, BikeMag even state in one review that the reason why they would mark down a bike is because they had Shimano XTs and not Guides on.

Random, unfounded bias doesn’t help anyone.

I’ve been through the new shape Deore, SLX, XT, and XTR, Hope Tech 3 E4, X2, Avid Taperbore X0, Avid Trail X0 and now Guide R and RS.

I’ve also have Juicys and XXs – which were shite. (I actually thought the SLX were the best of the Shimano, as blew up the XTs and XTRs)

By a good margin, the Guides are the best I’ve used. They’re more tolerant to bleed, and it’s pretty easy to get a good bleed on them. I just did a lever bleed on the Rs and they’re rock solid.

We’ll have to have a chat Mboy 🙂 I’ve got R and RS too.

Mine are the RS version.Bike was only a dozen rides old before I got it so though the pads would be like new.Hopefully it’s an easy pads swap and the performance will return.

I got a set of RS on my new Trance and thought it would be the first thing i would change but i hugely rate them. Loads of power and modulation. Only gripe is they seem to be eating pads but could just been the recent conditions.

I like my RS brakes. Haven’t deteriorated at all in performance. Pads are dead easy to swap out 🙂

OP, are the wheels fitted with proper Centerline rotors out of curiosity or Avid?

I’ve got a set of DB5’s and Guides and they are great to be honest. Easier, less picky to bleed too.

That said, I don’t like the use of DOT fluid on bike brakes, that’s me being picky though…

Rotors are Centerline

Just fitted RSC’s.

Love the lever feel and control.

Ah, that’s good. I know some are fitted with Avids.

I’ve got the guides and DB5’S fitted with Uberbike sintered at the mo. Finding them extremely good.

Going through the same dilemma. Abigales new bike has the RS carbons fitted. All our bikes have XT and we have a spare set of XT 8000. Not sure if swapping them without trying will be the right thing to do.

Not sure if swapping them without trying will be the right thing to do.

As a user of XT brakes, I nearly did this. I’m glad I didn’t, much as it hurts me to say it, the Guides are just better.

Don’t let it hurt you guys, rejoice! Guides rule! Hooray!

I still wish they used mineral oil though. 😉

All our bikes have XT and we have a spare set of XT 8000

It’ll be expensive if you do use the Guides, as you’ll want to replace those XTs on all your other bikes 🙂

Don’t be put off by the rubbish feeling reach adjuster, that almost made me swap them for Hope before trying them.

I was totally underwhelmed by my Guide RS’s that came on my Whyte T-130 Works, they were OK for the first few rides and then suffered really bad fading. I used them in mid-Wales in June and by the end of a 4 day weekend they were in dire need of a bleed. I swapped them out to my Hope Tech 3s with E4 calipers and the difference is night and day. Sold the RS’s to a riding buddy who had Elixirs (not sure which but basic model) and once the RSs had been rebleed during the fitting to his HT they’ve been totally reliable and he really likes them.

No idea why they didn’t bleed well the first 2 times but the 3rd time they’ve been faultless?

Wont be swapping any of the others. We know how they work and are so easy to bleed. Parts are cheap if you smash one. Apart from the saddle its probably the only thing to consider swapping. Every thing else is spot on. Hope the shock oerforms as good as it looks.

No idea why they didn’t bleed well the first 2 times but the 3rd time they’ve been faultless?

The key variable in there is who bled them, which could be to do with fresh oil, if yours had been open for a couple of months, or your bleed kit was pulling in air, or your mate bled them at a different angle to get hidden air out, or your frame trapped air somewhere, or or maybe you’re not as good at bleeding as your mate 😉

It’s a shame though, as the Guides are better than X2 or E4s overall.

my Guide RS’s that came on my Whyte T-130 Works

Same bike as mine,it will be a real pain if I do end up swapping them out as the gear selector is mounted to the righthand brake clamp and the dropper remote on the left.
New pads and a bleed kit on order first though before I do anything else.

I had guides come on a new bike.

Bought another pair and ditched my xt’s on my other bike.

Superior modulation and similar power to xt’s.

I’ve just ditched the SRAM Guide RSCs that came with my bike.
They let me down badly in the Alps when they were a week old.
I’ve bled them 3 times in the two months since and they were crap again on Saturday.
I just have no trust in them, have gone back to Shimano now.
It’s going to be a pain as I really like the matchmaker system.
I’ve ordered a MisMatch 1.2, that should help with the right hand side
but it’s the reverb/brake attachment on the left I’m going to miss most.

I thought my Guide RS were underpowered when compared with the Shimano they replaced until I got used to them.
Not as ‘grabby’ as the Shimano but loads more modulation.

Recently bought a new bike with rs guides on fully intended swapping them out immediately with my spare set of xt’s but due to having no time to swap them over had to ride with the guides and I’m so glad I did as most people are saying the modulation is far superior to the xt’s. Im not a light rider at over a 100kg and there was more than enough power to stop me when needed. I’m now even considering putting them on my other bikes

I’ve just ditched the SRAM Guide RSCs that came with my bike.
They let me down badly in the Alps when they were a week old.

Did you send them back for warranty repair? No brake should actually not work properly. I don’t like Shimanos brakes that much, but they still work, as should any high end brake.

Can anyone rec brake pads for guides? So far have used the ones that came with them and superstar sintered. Both shit in the wet….and have lasted 5 mins in peak grit

Was looking at goodridge. Anyone tried them?

Previous bike on shimano brakes with the top end xtr pads….looking for that kind of quality of pad and don’t mind paying bit more for it.

I assume the peeps on here who are giving good ratings on the guides have managed to get them working in the wet? Mine were decent enough until the wet weather. Using centre line rotors if that makes any difference

I found the goodridge pads to be too hard.. they didnt have the same stopping power as the Sram pads.

I use the sram sintered pads and they do wear pretty quickly.. but they work well in all conditions and are pretty reasonably priced if you get them online. Think I paid 12ea for 4 sets.