elixr 9 carbon, formula RX, or SLX/XT?

MDobs

which brakes would be best out of following options?

2012 formula RX (with rotors) - £190
2012 Elixir 9 Carbon (with rotors) - £170
or shimano SLX/XT, which i haven't priced up fully as all the sets i've seen don't include rotors/mounts, but should be around the same price.

replacing Juicy 3s

Team515

Ive got the formula, way better than the juicy 3;s i had

lawman

Xt's from rosebikes or another german site, such as bike-discount.de. By far and away the best brakes I've ever tried, and I've tried a fair few

felix.london

You can get the new (2013) SLX brakes from Rose for £80 delivered - no rotors and they're back to front (left front, right back - if you don't mind riding like that or swapping hoses over) but still seems like a very good price

MDobs

is that 80 for both?
sure last time i priced them from rose they were about 120 without rotors and mount/adaptor.

ilovedirt

So I own some Formula Megas and some Elixir 5's, which I'm assuming are fairly close to those above.

The formulas have really good bite and are very powerful, but they require a lot of maintenance. They also get through a lot of pads, but they do look good and are very nicely made.

The avids I've only had a couple of months. They're plenty powerful, but they're a bit spongy, meaning you have to tug on the lever a bit more to get the same response. They're also noticably cheaper feeling, however in my experience, avids require less maintenance, and don't get through pads as quickly.

I tried a mate's Shimano SLXs, and they also had great bite and were very powerful, and two of the guys who came to the alps with me for a fortnight this year had the new SLXs and had absolutely zero problems with them, and only changed pads once, where I had to do it two or three times.

Hope that helped.

felix.london

MDobs wrote:

is that 80 for both?
sure last time i priced them from rose they were about 120 without rotors and mount/adaptor.

I'm talking rubbish - it's about £115 delivered but that's cos I've gotta €10 voucher (which cancels out the postage cost)

drtobiasfunke

I have the formula RX, they are pretty decent but my god are they noisey when they get wet.... screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

nferrar

that will be more the pad type you're using or the rotors...

EH_Rob

I have XTs - amazing brakes.

oodboo

I've got XTs on my enduro but looking at the SLX for the hardtail, unless they're only a few quid more then I'll get another set of XTs. Had Avid and Hayes before and the XTs are way better. Got Tecktro brakes on the hardtail at the moment and they're rubbish.

felix.london

Read this;

http://ride.io/reviews/shimano-slx-brakes-review/

rockmonkeysc

Not sure about the Elixir 9 but my Avid X0's are excellent, best brakes I have owned.

MDobs

felix.london wrote:

Read this;

http://ride.io/reviews/shimano-slx-brakes-review/

interesting. i have seen very good reviews for the SLX/XTs and you can get them cheaper from the German sites which makes them very tempting. but if i do go that route I've got to get the mounting adapter and rotors separately and also switch the cables to UK style. where as the elixir and formula are all in one package and come set up for UK.

the thing i noted from that review which i didn't realise before was the fins on the shimano's were built into the pads so you have to get specific pads for them rather than having the option to buy third party.

for the reasons above i'm now leaning towards the elixrs...

although, could i use my current rotors and mounting with the SLX?

felix.london

You can buy third party pads they just don't have fins. I'm not bothered about the fins myself. But for the money the SLX sounds like the best brake out at the moment.

I know what your sating about the formulas though. Swappable levers with all the kit ready to go

You're not really gonna go wrong with either but the SLX keep winning tests and getting rave reviews. I know what I'm getting - but I have rotors and adapters already.

stevieboy308

MDobs wrote:

felix.london wrote:

Read this;

http://ride.io/reviews/shimano-slx-brakes-review/

interesting. i have seen very good reviews for the SLX/XTs and you can get them cheaper from the German sites which makes them very tempting. but if i do go that route I've got to get the mounting adapter and rotors separately and also switch the cables to UK style. where as the elixir and formula are all in one package and come set up for UK.

the thing i noted from that review which i didn't realise before was the fins on the shimano's were built into the pads so you have to get specific pads for them rather than having the option to buy third party.

for the reasons above i'm now leaning towards the elixrs...

although, could i use my current rotors and mounting with the SLX?

i've just bought a set of xt's to replace elixir 5's, i paid more so i didn't have to swap the levers over by buying in the uk, but the lines were too long, so i had to chop and bleed them anyway, which you may have to do with any brand.

if there's nowt wrong with your rotors then there's no need to change them or buy new adapters, if you want different size rotors then it's not the biggest hardship to order a rotor and matching mount

and as been said earlier, you can get aftermarket pads just as easy as any other make, they just wont have the fins

MDobs

stevieboy308 wrote:

i've just bought a set of xt's to replace elixir 5's, i paid more so i didn't have to swap the levers over by buying in the uk, but the lines were too long, so i had to chop and bleed them anyway, which you may have to do with any brand.

if there's nowt wrong with your rotors then there's no need to change them or buy new adapters, if you want different size rotors then it's not the biggest hardship to order a rotor and matching mount

and as been said earlier, you can get aftermarket pads just as easy as any other make, they just wont have the fins

so i can just use the SLX levers and caliper with my juicy 3 rotors and adaptor? because that makes it a whole other story i can just replace the rotors when i need to then.

i understand about getting after market pads without the fins, but that's the point isn't it you're loosing that part of the performance of the brake if you do. has anyone actually tried their SLX/XT without finned rotors, what difference does it make?

oodboo

I can't remember where it was but I read a review of brakes with conned pads and they said you don't really get any benefit of the tinned pads unless you're doing long alpine descents. Might have been in singletrack.

felix.london

oodboo wrote:

I can't remember where it was but I read a review of brakes with conned pads and they said you don't really get any benefit of the tinned pads unless you're doing long alpine descents. Might have been in singletrack.

yeah - I would presume this is the case. If you're not having a problem with your current brakes over heating then there's no reason why you'll start having problems (even without the fins). Anyway - you get a set of finned pads with the brakes. If you're just riding UK XC trails I'd maybe swap them straight out for a set of 3rd parties and then if you take the bike to ride some big mountains or do some DH you can whack the fins on then.

I have a slight overheating problem on my rear disc but I am riding big Alpine descents on 7 year old brakes with only a 160mm rotor at the back. And the brake isn't overheating or fading just the rotor is getting way to hot. Will order a 180 rotor when I order the SLX brakes

oodboo

felix.london wrote:

I have a slight overheating problem on my rear disc but I am riding big Alpine descents on 7 year old brakes with only a 160mm rotor at the back. And the brake isn't overheating or fading just the rotor is getting way to hot. Will order a 180 rotor when I order the SLX brakes

Have you seen the finned saint rotors? Might be worth a look.

felix.london

Yeah - the Saint Ice Techs? - think they're around £60 each :shock: Even the XT Ice Techs are £30 odd. Think I'll just put a standard 180 on the back too and should be fine. Don't get any issues with the front 180. Or guess I could go 203/180. Think that's overkill though

felix.london

Although I'm sure there's some benefits to all this stuff (fins & whatnot) it still feels a bit gimmicky to me

felix.london

Wouldn't Shimano & co love it if every time you bought new brakes you were persuaded to by new rotors too and even better every time you need new pads you were pushed into getting their latest finned-air-drilled-titanium-backed-space-pads

oodboo

felix.london wrote:

Although I'm sure there's some benefits to all this stuff (fins & whatnot) it still feels a bit gimmicky to me

Agreed, I got xts without finned pads (from Rose) and I've got no intention of putting finned pads in, might get the ice tech rotors eventually but that's just bacause I like the look of them.

felix.london

oodboo wrote:

might get the ice tech rotors eventually but that's just bacause I like the look of them.

oodboo

felix.london wrote:

Wouldn't Shimano & co love it if every time you bought new brakes you were persuaded to by new rotors too and even better every time you need new pads you were pushed into getting their latest finned-air-drilled-titanium-backed-space-pads

Some people will do that though, and only ride their carbon wonder bikes round blue trails on sunny days.

felix.london

hahaha...I guess as long as they're happy

lawman

The icetech rotors are good, not sure they offer the benefit they say they do, but they are just as good as any other rotor I've used and far better than the superstars I had previously. Will be trying out the finned pads on one set of my xt's soon, so will have one full icetech setup and the other is just the standalone brakes with standard pads and rotors, will be interesting to see the difference.

felix.london

lawman wrote:

The icetech rotors are good, not sure they offer the benefit they say they do, but they are just as good as any other rotor I've used and far better than the superstars I had previously. Will be trying out the finned pads on one set of my xt's soon, so will have one full icetech setup and the other is just the standalone brakes with standard pads and rotors, will be interesting to see the difference.

Yes - will be definitely interested to hear what differences you notice.

playasyougo

There is a 36 page thread on mtbr forums about Avid brake noises and issues and then there is an 18 page thread on how good the XT's are, albeit with some hose issues that Shimano are sorting out no problem.

I have 2 sets of Elixirs 5's and 1 set of Elixir 7's off of my bikes, replaced all with 2012 XT's. By far a quieter, more powerful and complete system.

lawman

I say it all the time, the amount of problems I have seen with avid brakes is just insane, some are fine, but when they are wrong, chances are its new brake time as they are just too unreliable once problems start appearing. Shimano have had a few small issues, but nothing like those experienced by avid owners. New style formula brakes have shocking pad life too.