Which new brakeset??

fwb2006

Gents, I'm in the market for a new set of brakes to put on my 575 once its arrived. I was going to going for the XT groupset from Merlin for £405 which I am happy with but am a little unsure of the 2008 XT brakes. After working out the prices with the groupset discount they will cost £175. So should I get these or some Hope X Tech 2 or Avid Elixir CR or maybe Avid Juicy 7 which are only £152 with discount.
Obviously I'd like to spend as little as possible so advice appreciated as always.

Sir HC

The merlin deal is very good, depends if you need the rest of the groupset though.

The XT's dont come with bite point adjustment, which the other options do. If it was me, I'd go for the Juicy 7's. I've had a set for 3 years now, never gone wrong, were a doddle to bleed (with the kit) when I needed to shorten the hose.

fwb2006

Sir, Yes I need the whole groupset as building from scratch. Got everything else bar groupset, XT will be fine, don't want to shell out all the extra cash for XTR, well maybe a rear mech..... This build is costing me more and more.....

It appears as if they do have reach adjustment and free stroke.

salsarider79

+1 Avid's

p.s. XTR Shifters are the only way to go. It's the Law.
p.p.s. Don't bother with XTR rear mech, go for XT Shadow rear mech.
p.p.p.s. Hang the cost, its your bike, so get what you want. Then be nice to Partner.

Chaka Ping

The XT brakes are good - I've got them on my 575 actually.

They don't feel as substantial or finely modulated as Juicy 7s, but they're not far off. More reliable so far though.

fwb2006

MMM, so is that ++1 for the Juicy 7's or Elixir's?

The main reason I was hesitant of the XT is apparently the mineral oil does not like the cold and living in NE Scotland its always ffing cold.

Chaka, what size rotors you run on your 575 dude?

Anonymous

+1 for avids.

i have a set of 3, 7 and a set of ultimates. i have used juicy 5 in the past too and to be honest, they all feel pretty much the same but the bite point adjusters on the 7 and ultimate is a handy thing (even if you do only set it once!!)

that said though, lots of folk seem to be having trouble with their juicys at the moment over in the workshop thread.

all of my sets have been amazing, i run the 7 and ultimate with 203 front discs and they are super powerfull even with my masive bulk behind them.

Chaka Ping

fwb - 180mm front, 160mm rear - perfectly adequate - but I'm not massively bulky.

fwb2006

Thanks Chaka, the groupset comes with 180 front and 160 rear so the same. I weigh around 14/14.5 stone so am also not huge but no featherweight. Whats the adjustability like? Quite like the idea of a full matching groupset so long as they are good, what the modulation like? What's the adjustability like?

fwb2006

Thanks Chaka, the groupset comes with 180 front and 160 rear so the same. I weigh around 14/14.5 stone so am also not huge but no featherweight. Whats the adjustability like? Quite like the idea of a full matching groupset so long as they are good, what the modulation like? What's the adjustability like?

BlackSpur

fwb2006 wrote:

MMM, so is that ++1 for the Juicy 7's or Elixir's?

The main reason I was hesitant of the XT is apparently the mineral oil does not like the cold and living in NE Scotland its always ffing cold.

I don't think that's true...

fwb2006

Its just what I read on the MTBR XT brake forum guvnor, honest!

fwb2006

Well apparently the freeze point of hydrolic mineral oil is -10 C but dot X brake fluid is -59 C.

Chaka Ping

Reach adjustability is good on the XT brakes. Haven't twiddled with anything else really.

fwb2006

Anyone got an opinion on Hope M4's? Found them for a cracking price....

grantway

I have the Hope M4s on my bike
Fab brakes If you want to stop and quick buy these
But put the brakes more inwards has the power of these will
stop you dead
Realy good for Steep Downhill riding

fwb2006

Anyone read this months MBUK yet (on sub) they have a supertest on disc brakes? If so what were/are the outcomes? These are the last bit of kit I need to order for my custom build.

Thanks chaps

toasty

fwb2006 wrote:

Well apparently the freeze point of hydrolic mineral oil is -10 C but dot X brake fluid is -59 C.

Well dot fluid is also very corrosive and can eat through carbon laquer, paint, rubbers etc. I've never had my brakes freeze up, some of those MTBR lot live in deepest, bleakest Canada and the like. I really wouldn't worry.

Personally I really like my XT brakes Bought a set of SLX brakes for my hardtail as I got on so well with them. Nice feeling levers, easy to adjust, very easy to bleed, decent value for money, all the parts easily replacable.

The Hopes are nice too, you're spending about £50 on them being British made and £50 on the pimp value though.

fwb2006

The XT's on your Meta toasty? What size rotors dude?

toasty

180mm front, 160mm back. I'm using 160/160 on the hardtail but I think I prefer the bigger rotor on the front, it doesn't suffer from overheating as much, probably my own fault for braking too much but still

This design is by far the easiest to bleed I've ever had due to the big reservoir at the top.

fwb2006

Well the XT's as part of the XT groupset from merlin £405 all in, just need to decide if they will do the bizz. Got all my other bits now for my 575. Noticed the tyres you got, I just ordered the same!

toasty

They'd probably sell pretty well second hand if you decided you didn't like them. There's a guy on the STW forum who put a brand new pair up a few minutes ago:

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-shimano-xt-disc-brakes-m775-centre-lock-rotors-adaptors

One thing I would mention, the XT brake lever design is made sit sit ontop of an XT (or SLX) shifter. The shape fits really badly with pre-2008 shifters, I had some old LX ones on my hardtail when I upgraded and had to run them far too downwards, forcing me to upgrade to SLX shifters as well.

Still, this shouldn't be an issue as you were getting the set, the shifters by themselves are fine and will fit with anything.

fwb2006

Thanks mate, suppose its either these or the 7's, would have to get bigger rotors for the 7's though as they're 160 F&R. The Elixir R's seem pretty good too and a decent price on Chain reaction.. Must order the rest of the kit tomorrow to get it built up for the weekend!

pothole seeker

Hayes stoker trails.

I've a 180 on the front and 160 out back. Very powerful brake. Get good reviews too, not that expensive or too heavy. I've not had any trouble with mine so far

ride_whenever

I'd totally get the tech x2 brakes, all reports say they're excellent.

The Spiderman

Winners of the MBUK test were Magura Louise BAT and Formula The One.SLX were the budget choice.Its a sign of how good most current brakes are that most of them got 8/10.