Shimano brakes vs Avid

richardjiles

I have these basic M445's on my new bike, and I have elixirs on my kona. I must say I prefer these shimanos ones, I dont know what it is about them though, they seem as though they are much more precise, the lever is sexier. But it might be that it uses mineral oil, because that stuff doesn't destroy seals etc.
your opinions?

ride_whenever

It's nothing to do with the fluid and everything to do with the fact avids are atrocious pieces of garbage.

Replace with new shimanos for proper fun-times.

richardjiles

ride_whenever wrote:

It's nothing to do with the fluid and everything to do with the fact avids are atrocious pieces of garbage.

Replace with new shimanos for proper fun-times.

HA HA! Glad im not the only one who thinks Avids aren't so good, before I had tried other hydraulics I though avid was the best by far, well f that these basic shimanos are beauties

Chunkers1980

There's actually nothing wrong with avid brakes. I just thInk they've got their lever shape wrong.

richardjiles

Chunkers1980 wrote:

There's actually nothing wrong with avid brakes. I just thInk they've got their lever shape wrong.

I thing I also notice is the lever action is much smoother on the shimano

stubs

I have a set of XT M765 brakes on my hardtail and in 6 years all I have done to them is clean them and drop new pads in. Had a set of Elixirs on my bouncer and I was always fiddling with them. Got rid and now have the new XT M785 brakes on had trouble with a sticky piston on the rear but now thats sorted they are awesome brakes. So much feel but enough power to lock the front wheel with one finger at 30mph on tarmac. Plus they look awesome in black and silver so much better than the gash looking Avids.

I am a Shimano boy and always have been.

Red.Devil.Ghost

My brother in law has Juicies on his bike and I have SLXs on mine, whihc I prefer. I was going to get some XTs to put on and put the SLXs on a HT rebuild but I'll probably just leave them tbh. They are perfectly good enough for what I want and need.

YeehaaMcgee

XTM785, and their XTR ancestors, will go down in history as one of those "remember when..." parts, years from now, I swear.
In much the same way that us old timers still get a bit weepy when thinking back to the old M636 brakes and pedals, and STX-RC groupsets.
Phenomenal brakes, easily the very best bicycle disc brake I've ridden.

Incidentally, it has nothing to do with their choice of oil. Rather, Shimano just seem to have focused on every important detail, lever feel and shape, adjustability, pad clearance, heat handling and dissipation, and the progressive application of power.
They're just awesome. I particularly like how I always get the same braking power, every time - so that I know in advance what effect moving my finger this little bit further will do.

cooldad

The oil might not make any difference to performance, but it's much nicer than DOT when you're working on them.

YeehaaMcgee

cooldad wrote:

The oil might not make any difference to performance, but it's much nicer than DOT when you're working on them.

I like Dot, she's friendly, and very accommodating.
She does always leave me with a bad rash though.

The Northern Monkey

Don't mind my avids at the mo... changed the pads to kevlar and they're much better.

Although, Just bought saint rear mech and shifters, so it would be rude to not buy the brakes too....

cooldad

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

cooldad wrote:

The oil might not make any difference to performance, but it's much nicer than DOT when you're working on them.

I like Dot, she's friendly, and very accommodating.
She does always leave me with a bad rash though.

I said working, not walking.

YeehaaMcgee

Sorry. It's this headache, it's giving me blurry vision.

YeehaaMcgee

Ah Dot. The things I've done with her fluids.

bennett_346

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Ah Dot. The things I've done with her fluids.

She needs to bleed once every month though, becomes a right pain in the arse.

Roostoids

I recently upgraded to Shimano Deore m596 brakes front and rear from my stock set of brakes and am really happy with them.

Never used Avid brakes but 2 friends habe them and get lot of issues with the pistons and brake rub which I luckily don't.

Im a heavy bloke too so their stopping power really is impressive.

cooldad

TBH I can't think of much Shimano make that isn't as good or better than the competition. Except chains.

Bigchris

I have a set of m445's aswell. I find them ok for the best part, but a few things like the lever adjustability and adjustability in general. On the other hand I don't really have much to compare in my history with apart from v history.

I've read that you can switch the pads in the m445's to ceramics and won't make much difference apart from the callipers may overheat, but the opinions on that seem very varied. Sewell ad the rotors as they are not hardened but apparently that is not too much a problem as it will take years still for them to wear down.

Does anyone have any experience with this or pointers?

Bigchris

cooldad wrote:

TBH I can't think of much Shimano make that isn't as good or better than the competition. Except chains.

What chain/s do you suggest? I think in in for a new one shortly.

YeehaaMcgee

For chains, look no further than KMC.

cooldad

Yup, KMC

Bigchris

is it worth forking a next tenner for the rust proof/"longer lasting" version of the kmc chains?

supersonic

Not really - if you look after it, it won't rust - replace before is worn though to preserve life of other parts. I buy the cheapest I can get, and swap fairly often.

cooldad

Agreed. I do an Ebay search and buy whatever comes up cheapest.

lesz42

got some M485 brakes on my scott, 4+ years old, been bled twice, and the odd, cleaning/desticking of pistons ( about 1 a year)

minimal amount of maintenance, about 2500+ miles, and loads of pads and worn out the front rotor


was going to change them, for the hell of it ( Hope...), but why? will do so when they die, one day

chiefinspector

Roostoids wrote:

I recently upgraded to Shimano Deore m596 brakes front and rear from my stock set of brakes and am really happy with them.

Never used Avid brakes but 2 friends habe them and get lot of issues with the pistons and brake rub which I luckily don't.

Im a heavy bloke too so their stopping power really is impressive.

I recently had this happen to the rear brake on my bike (Elixer 3's). Luckily, it was covered by a warranty and got fixed for nothing but i've never been totally happy with them. I think i'll look to upgrading to the XT brakes as i'm also a big Shimano fan.