Want to swop out my Maguras on my Cannondale Jekyll AM bike. Spain was involving brakes buring and not a lot of stopping !! So, the 2 choices , I believe are XT’s or Zee’s. I have some Deores on other bikes, which are great, but the pistons are different on the XT’s , so staving the issues of long descents and heat as maybe heading to the brother in laws flat in Morzine next year. So, are Zee’s overkill or XT’s suitable? I am a fatknacker , so need a bit of power. Also, best deal to buy them at the moment please.

I would say Zees, you can never have too much stopping power and the modulations great, not grabby at all.

I have both. Xt on the bandit and zee on the bottlerocket. Zee are amazing!

I have XTs on one bike and Zees on the other. 180/180 on XT 203/180 on Zee. The XT is an excellent brake – powerful, reliable and had no issues when I was in Spain last year on long descents. The Zee’s are a step up tho, they are insanely powerful, loved them in the alps this year and coming back onto my other bike definitely noticed a drop in power.

The XTs feel like they have a bit more modulation and for most stuff I ride they are more than adequate. The Zees are still a fantastic all round brake tho (if a bit heavier) so if it’s power you really want go for those.

I bought mine from Tredz (front) and CRC (rear).

I lived in Morzine for 3 years XTs are MORE than enough by a long shot.

I ran them on a 40lb dh bike and a trail bike with no issue… I did just buy zee’s for my dh bike (as I was sharing a pair) and I only bought them as I thought they were a full metal lever and not because I wanted more power.

They are not a full metal lever and I haven’t tried them yet but I’d imagine they are extremely powerful.

My trail bike has 180mm front 160mm rear rotors and I was hauling down everything.

either will do the job, but i would go for the Zees
i have a Zee on the front of mine and its been brilliant. some of the guys at my LBS are even using SLX brakes on the DH bikes so really any of the current shimano brake would most probably be fine so long as you run the most suitable rotor size

As in the ride.io review, i find them really user friendly. Tons of power but fantastic modulation. Really impressed with them. Best and cheapest brakes I’ve ever had.

Shimano Zee Brakes – First Look

Zee – I wouldn’t use anything else now. Ridiculous amounts of power, really nice modulation and easy to set up.

I use mine with cheap Superstar sintered pads (4 pack for £22 or something like) and they have been spot on.

Cheers all. Seems Zee’s are the way to go. The bike is for Wales days, foreign holidays, so more extreme than locally, as ride a hardtail everywhere else. Luckily its my birthday 😉

As I lack reliable internet today is anyone doing any deals on these/who is cheapest

TA

Come home at lunch to a Merlin voucher on the doormat ( thanks little Sis) so have ordered the Zee’s from Merlins. £180 seems OK to me.

Junkyard –
Merlin are selling them as a front/rear set for £185
CRC are selling them as single units at £89 each so £178 for the pair
Tweeks are selling them again as single unit for £82.50 so for the pair you’re looking at £165.
Rosebikes are selling for £82.16 each but you’ll have to factor in their postage costs which will bump up the price
Evans are selling them for £88 each

if you’re thinking of the CRC offer i may have a discount code knocking about that may help reduce the price, but i’ll have to see if i still have it

aye that would be most kind and drop me an e-mail re plans for the sponsored ride thingy

Ta on a sim here so internet sporadic at best

Bikediscount.de are doing them for £161.04 plus £5 postage. Usually 48hr delivery.

http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/zee-disc-brake-br-m640-b-set-86999

junkyard – no probs. i’ll send you an email this evening.

As usual, Merlins deliver a pair of monster looking brakes at 8:30 am today with the post. Nice looking brakes, with vented pads, yellow cutting blocks etc to shorten hoses. Tonight I will be mostly doing endo’s………..