I’m looking to replace the brakes on my hardtail soon. They are deores from a couple of years back. I’ve got xts in my sus bike. I like the shimano brakes, but I would buy something else. Are SRAM or maguras worth looking at?

If you’re looking for low weight good brakes my recommendation would be Formula R1s, faultless performance and one of the lowest weight out there. Can often be had for a reasonable price second hand as well.

There are better ways to reduce the weight of your bike 😛

My old X0s were half the weight of what I had previously. Could feel they were lighter in the hand. I couldn’t tell a blind bit of difference on the bike (other than they were better brakes).

Anyway, SRAM, you’d be looking at XX if you really want light. They’re just X0s (Elixir derived) with even more carbon. No where near as good as Guides though. Top end one will be lightest, though still heavier than the XX, but they are excellent brakes.