brake upgrade choice

dimmockg

for being so helpfull the mrs has said she would kindly buy me something new for my bike

it is a rockhopper expert with numerous tweaks / changes

it has the original brakes and wheels, i plan to change the wheels early summer so have opted for a brake upgrade from the original spec juicy 4 rsl (specialized juicy 3)

my choices are:

SLX675
Formula RX
XT 785
Hope evo x2

having read for the last day or so each get +'s & -'s over the net, however SLX seem to be more of the top choice at price point for features and quality, xt are only a few quid more, then the hope / rx a few more £'s after that

for the sort of riding i do - light xc off road i am angling toward the SLX but do love the hope for the look, feel & workmanship etc

would SLX be the "safer" bet??

cheers

The Rookie

XT is just as good as the SLX, but a bit lighter, the Formula are lighter still and have a lot of fans.

Hope - not as good.

So anything but the Hopes for me, based on budget/priorities, but I'd probably go XT for no trouble super reliable, Formula if weight saving is very important, good but not quite as bomb proof as the Shimanos.

dimmockg

Cheers for the tips / advice

have to say I'm currently angling toward the formula as Merlin have sets at £150 up - assuming I can bring myself to have white levers and calipers lol

also some good prices around on elixir 5's & 7's but fancied something diff to avid

70\ʹspenguin

The slx from rosebikes seems to be the best option right now. The XT from there have a long wait list of 12 weeks. If bikediscount.de had the formula still in stock i would recommend those. However, the slx are about the best for your money. If you do buy from ze Germans just remember the brakes are the wrong way around, but its easy to swap them around.

70\ʹspenguin

Oh and rosebikes are doing free deliver over 159 euros so you could get a nice BB or something too for the same price you would spend over here on brakes alone!

dimmockg

I had seen the brakes on rose and the 'wrong way' round did put me off

I'll do a bit of digging on swapping them over, is it simple?

I also need rotors as well - so would need to factor in another £30 or so as well

supersonic

I'd look at Maguras offering, the MT2 and MT4.

rockmonkeysc

dimmockg wrote:

also some good prices around on elixir 5's & 7's but fancied something diff to avid

Don't do it. Overpriced rubbish. I have a set of Elixir X0's and even they are crap.
Shimano's are excellent, I have Zee and Deore and both are extremely good. I would go for the SLX unless your on a real weight saving mission. You are unlikely to notice the 60g weight saving you get from the XT brakes.
My Zee and Deore brakes both came from Rose and cutting and swapping the hoses was really simple. If your careful you can do it without even needing to bleed them afterwards.

dimmockg

I guess I could always run as left for front and right for rear if it were a problem swapping over

from rose they would come in at around £125 ish which is good

or could probably get xt for around £150 without rotors

Newfish

dimmockg wrote:

I had seen the brakes on rose and the 'wrong way' round did put me off

I'll do a bit of digging on swapping them over, is it simple?

I also need rotors as well - so would need to factor in another £30 or so as well

I've just put the M785's on my rockhopper. Mine were also from Rose and 'the wrong way round' however they were both too long and needed shortening so using the supplied bits I shortened the hoses and swapped them over. Very easy to do and are now perfect! Also got the bleed kit from epic solutions which is brilliant.

I don't do a massive amount to stuff on the bike but am quite handy with a set of tools. It wasn't hard to do at all, this is a great How To - XT M785 Bleeding guide.

Hope that helps.

ilovedirt

I have recently put some XTs on my Sunday, they're much better than the Elixir 5's on my Ragley which cost me about the same. Lots of power and consistant. They have a threaded bolt rather than a split pin to retain the pads which is what the SLX has, which is nice, but not a huge thing. They're also a little lighter and prettier. I got the XTs for £65 an end though, which was an absolute bargain, the SLXs are also very good.
I had to swap the hoses on mine, was very easy to do, but did require me to bleed them after. The bleed was also incredibly easy, someone that doesn't really know what they're doing could probably do it if they follow instructions carefully.

The Hope brakes I've tried lacked power and feel and cost a fortune, I would avoid them.
I've also owned Formula brakes, which proved to be troublesome and require a lot of maintenance. They also used got through a LOT of pads very quickly. I got through four pairs in a fortnight in Morzine.

So far my XTs have been the best brakes I've owned out of Avid Juicy Threes, Fives, Elixir Fives and Formula Megas (and some really old Hope M4s briefly).

dimmockg

Really appreciate the replies, last couple especially informative

now thinking xt or slx is the way to go

will they be fine with ashima rotas?? They will compensate a little of the Shimano offerings weight

cheers

ilovedirt

So long as they're the correct size, I don't see why not.

dimmockg

darn it, was going to get xt from crc but black have sold out (was going to use a £10 code per end) and get them for £75 each

rose are out of black, so it looks like the slx from rose is now the likely choice

just dont think silver calipers on black bike would look "right"

dimmockg

ok,

just before i make a final choice and pull the trigger, are the hayes prime sets on merlin worth a look?

the prime expert or pro??

cannot find a huge amount of info on either around the various sources, not a huge amount of end user opinions, just lovers or haters for hayes in general

i also havent discounted the magura range and quite like the looks of the 2's & 4's as well

why isn't anything simple??

but I reckon most replies (if any) will still say shimano

Greer_

Shimano!

mcnultycop

I love my MT2s.

And my Deore M596s.

dimmockg

something else i need to consider...

my bike is a rockhopper expert 2009, frame / forks as standard - both have IS mounts and the appropriate (avid) hardware to then mount caliper and use 160mm rotor, would i be correct in thinking that these (mounts & rotors) should work with the shimano???

the rotors are avid g2 clean sweep

cheers

123oldman

Go Shimano, either XT, SLX or Deore for that matter (I have Deore M596's on the HT - Superb!)
You can use the adaptors you have currently and use the rotors if keeping to 160mm! Alternatively if increasing the size of the front rotor pick up the appropiate Shimano adaptor and new rotor = Simples

If you're not bothered about a few extra grams, the Deore M596's are an absoloute steal! Highly recommended

hainman

Im running the new XT;s and got them from Merlin...they are pretty darn good i must say,they came wrong way round and i swapped them over,no hassle or having to bleed....

dimmockg

thanks for all the replies and suggestions

XT brakes inbound