Which brakes? slx or xt?

lm_trek

Currently run Avid Elxirs on my Speshi camber, just don't get on with them even after bleeding at my LBS they still feel wooly and tbh i have no confidence in them actually stopping me. I do have one bent lever which isn't helping but i have a replacement part ready to swap over.

Been looking at Merlin at this years SLX and XT both seem very similar, will i notice the difference being a trail mincer so speed isn't normal for me but i do like to stop. Ive got some deore's on my hardtail from 2010 and get on ok with those, i was going to transfer them across but i think my speshi deserves better.

Only other brakes ive used are Hayes Nines which to be honest i loved ethier on or off i know many don't like the nines due to no modulation, so any thoughts?

camerauk

I too have a spesh camber and fitted a set of XT brakes a month ago and what a difference they are great, they stop with just 1 finger and very controllable braking with no noise fantastic
I have 203 rotor on the front of mine as well which was fitted as standard
either will be much better than you have at the moment although I did not have problems with the elixir 5's they just did not feel great they stopped me fine but there was just something I was not happy with think it may have been the noise they kept making when wet or even in the dry sometimes

AndyOgy

You could get the Deores and you would still be blown away compared to what you have now.

I have got the XT's and I love them. However, I regularly ride bikes with the Deores and there is not very much difference at all.

omegas

my choice would be SLX

mister p

omegas wrote:

my choice would be SLX

Why? Care to expand a little?

I have Deores on my SS and replaced the SLX on my geared bike with XT. All work well but I like the adjustablity of the XT, and the rest of the kit is XT and I like it to match. If you aren't fussed about the bite point adjust then the SLX will serve you perfectly well.

Chunkers1980

Probably for those reasons you list.

majormantra

Just got the new SLXs and they are very, very nice. I was actually intending to buy Deores but Rose was out of stock, so I 'upgraded'. Not convinced you'd gain a great deal with the XTs.

Check Rose Bike and Bike Discount for the best prices.

milko9000

If I might jump in on this thread with more questions, I'm probably gonna buy some XT brakes from rosebike soon. Aiming to go 203mm front, 180mm rear. What I'm not certain of is do I need centrelock discs or something else, and how do I find out? And then for the adapters I'll presumably need, I need one to IS mount for the rear I know, but not sure how to work out what the (as yet not bought) fork will want? Thanks.

dusk

Free stroke adjustment is rubbish so you may as well save a few £ and buy slx

Wrekin 7

Hi mate. I to was in the same situation when I was having my sb built up but decided to go with the slx on good advice and I can tell you they are fantastic brakes ,true one finger control you will not be disappointed . Hope this helps

irvs

What's the latest slx model and what's a decent price to pay for them???

Thanks Neil.

mister p

dusk wrote:

Free stroke adjustment is rubbish so you may as well save a few £ and buy slx

This is usually down to people bleeding the brake with the screw still screwed in. If you screw it all the way out then bleed the brake it works much better. You can get slightly more fluid into the system and it is easier to get all the air out too. It should be part of the bleeding instructions IMHO.