In true STW fashion of recommending what you use..Formula RO
I've used M4, E4, XT, R1's etc and nothing has come close to the RO's. Huge power, great modulation and a very nice lever for single finger braking.

2nd vote for Formula ROs' here. Tried a variety of quality brakes as well. Deals to be had on them hence why I've now acquired 3 sets of them.

Read that as 'all mountain breakfast'! Must be hungry...

XT.

If you don't like the feel of XTR (and they were bled satisfactorily) then XTs are not going to be any better. Avid? They're not as bad as people say and lever feel is sufficiently different to Shimano.

I read it as all mountain basket.

XT, not Avid they are as bad as people say.

SRAM Guide

Surely you mean enduro brakes?

My Formula R1s brakes weren't great on the red DH routs at Pila a few weeks ago. Some sections I was gaining speed despite pulling the levers hard enough to damage a nerve in my finger.

Now on Saints. Possibly overkill for most situations but accelerating to a jump you don't know the landing for isn't that entertaining!

I really like Hope brakes, but I don't have much to compare them to. My Tech M4's have been great

Hope M4/ new E4 IMO!

Tech 3 V4 all day long.

Used XT on holiday - was very glad to return to my Tech 3 E4 and Race Evo M4! So much better modulation but just as much power when you actually want it.

XTs for me, although HOPE Tech 3 I had a go on were ace but 3x the price.

Read this as All mountain buttocks or was that breasts.

That said I'm very happy with my Avid XO Trails. 203 front and 180 rear.

Magura Louise for me, with a massive (208?!) front rotor and a 180 rear 🙂 wonderful brakes and really nice to use too!

Just taken delivery of some zee, very nice. Breaking power is fantastic. Levers are pretty much the same as other shimano but with nice dimples. One finger pulling, half the price of hope, same power. The modulation is spot on, not as grabby as the XT brakes I have tried.

coolhandluke
My Formula R1s brakes weren't great on the red DH routs at Pila a few weeks ago. Some sections I was gaining speed despite pulling the levers hard enough to damage a nerve in my finger.

IME, Formulas are just about alright if you are a bit of a racing snake and quite "light" on brakes! I like the power and modulation they have, but i don't like the minimalist and expensive parts they are made up of.

With sintered pads i ripped down the EWS stages at La Thuile last week ok, but i suspect anyone heavier than me (~70kg) or who brakes more 😉 might struggle with R1's

Liking my Avid Xo trail brakes. Four piston calipers with amazing power and control and no fade. Also been totally reliable. Or the cheaper X9 trail also available only difference is a bush as opposed to a bearing in the lever pivot.

I find my formula the ones extremely powerful and with great modulation. Never had lacked any power? So powerful I ditched the 180 rear for a 160 (180 up front). Used them at the mega which is 1hr20 dh race and no probs at all. Got them on both my bikes.

hope tech3 e4s

got the m4evo races and they are nice, prefer them to the grabby feel of shimanos,

Also like the fact that you can get hope matchmakers to mount with your shifters, either sram or shimano

I have both m4's & tech 3's ,with 5.1 fluid in and I run Uberbike sintered pads,regular bled & serviced .both with tech levers for span adj not race.

I've got 200,180 on m4's,& 280,160 on tech 3's ,if you need more stopping power than that,buy some Brembos !.

As for feel ,you won't get better than Hope,and you can get service parts anywhere,not to mention there legendary after sales support .

Buy British ,fly the flag,job done ..

is modulation a keyword for mincing?

I've had Hope V2s and Tech M4s on both my proper bikes for about 5 years now. Faultless.

And, FWIW, I found Hope pads to be the best.

is modulation a keyword for mincing?

You what?

The excellent VFM new generation of Shimano brakes can be a bit grabby, which means it can be hard not to lock the wheels up in the sort of loose conditions we've been lucky enough to have lately.

Are you trying to be all keyboard warrior about braking techniques or something?

is modulation a keyword for mincing?

Because you love it when you can lock all the wheels on your car on a bit of gravel.

Definitely Shimano brakes! So much more power than hope brakes, easy to bleed as well...don't know why people saying there's no modulation, but I suppose coming from hope brakes which aren't that powerful shimanos will feel more sensitive but once use to to them you won't look back! 8)

Not only will Shimano be best for ' all mountain ' but also 'enduro' and 'trail' even 'freeride' and 'downhill' ....I don't know about 'adventure' though! 😆

For the OP... What do you actually not like about the XTRs? Power delivery, bite, lever feel, lever throw, ramp up? No point recommending anything else if it's got the same character.

maxtorque - Member

IME, Formulas are just about alright if you are a bit of a racing snake and quite "light" on brakes!

The R1 is an XC race brake- the fact that it can do dh trails at all's impressive but it's just the wrong tool for the job.

Oh and +1 for reading it as "all mountain breakfast".

The answer to that is much simpler... SHREDDIES!

Northwind

The R1 is an XC race brake- the fact that it can do dh trails at all's impressive but it's just the wrong tool for the job.

Indeedy. Hence my suggestion they are OK for harder stuff if you are a lightweight like me! 😉

In fact, i'm impressed with my R1's, and after a recent massive OTB on the La Varda trail (luckily not over the edge.....) i rode the second half of that trail, and another couple of techy steep trails with my brake lever hanging on by a tiny bit of bent ally (the main lever had snapped from the impact around the reach adjuster thumbscrew!)

But, what i don't like is twofold:

1) Aiming to get the weight down (as you would expect for an XC brake set) has left the system with loads of really small parts, that make "field repairs" really difficult, and the pads don't last long when abused because they are so thin / small area

2) The costs of replacement parts, and the fact you can't get individual components, so end up buying half the system just to get one screw!

So, whilst i'd heartly recommend anyone to run them for more XC duty, if they want a very light and powerful system, for proper "AM" or "Enduro" use, they wouldn't be my first recommendation.

🙂

Formula The Ones were my favourite brakes….until I bought a set of R0’s from Merlin back in February when they were offering a complete set for £280. Great power and feel.

I have a set of Formula the ones, IIRC they are 4 years old, on the HT and a set of XT on the FS, bought 3 months ago.

The XT are not really an improvement on the Formula's, which I was slightly surprised at tbh, but they were about a third of the price tbf.

Not sure of my point, just an observation.

I bought SLX and will never ever look at another brand/or brakeset than these.

Gotcha Maxtorque, I thought you were referring to Formula in general so I just barely managed to restrain myself from just going BULLLLLLLSHIT! 🙂 Just as well!

XTs are excellent, and great value for money.

Also, they run on mineral oil, so theres no need to bleed them every year like normal brake fluid (that eats seals and absorbs moisture if not changed).

Formula The Ones are very powerful and controllable, but mine were also incredibly unreliable.

Can't go wrong with XT.

IMO:-

The current/last couple of years shimano XT's are the best I've used, good power, excellent modulation, never overheated them (inc alps riding).

You really need to use the official shimano pads though, I havent found a 3rd party pad that feels/works as well as the genuine article.

They are million miles better than others I've tried, which are:-

- Hayes
- Avids
- Magura's (although these were also pretty good at the time)
- Older shimano XT brakes

It would take a very good brake to be better than the shimano XT's.

SLX ftw, if you've got a few bob spare then Hope.

I'm running Zee and they're without a doubt the best I have used. As has been stated, for some reason they are a bit less grabby than XT/XTR but have tons more top end power, really good for when you're tired or have bad arm pump.

Cheap, lightish, stupidly powerful and easy to get cheap pads for (I use Superstar sintered in a pack of 4 for £22). Interested to try the new SRAM Guide up against them for comparison, but they'd have to be incredible to make me change.

🙂

Heard a few people say Zee have better modulation. Might be my next all mountain breakfast. Are people using them with the same rotor size as XT or SLX to compare?