Deore, XT and SLX brakes

pesky_jones

At the end of the month Im going to be getting new brakes for the patriot. I've got a juicy three and an elxir 1 at the moment and theyre not too bad, but a combination of large holed rotors causing judders, squeaking (not that fussed about this as it may not neccessairly go with new brakes!) Im going to upgrade.

I'm looking at CRC at I've had my time with avids and want to try shimanos.

Deores are around 40, XTs are around 60 and SLX up at 80. I doubt il go SLX but I'm considering XTs - my question is are they noticebly better then the deores? Obviously rather spend as little as possible if the deores are good enough. I ride freeride and a little downhill.

peter413

If you don't care about the weight, I can't see any reason to not get the Deore's unless you really really need that tool free reach adjust and the Ice Tech pads. I put some Deore's on my Marin as a temporary thing but have decided to just keep them on there, way better than the M810 Saint's they replaced IMO, some don't like the lever feel compared to the Saints and they're maybe a little less powerful feeling to some (I can't really tell a difference) but they're a lot cheaper, slightly lighter and they've got the same lever shape as the M820 Saint's I'm running on the Rocky.

If your budget can stretch I would recommend the Zee's or M820 Saint's since they are more powerful and meant to be stronger, no idea if they are though. I also prefer the lever blade on the Saint's ever so slightly but that isn't worth nearly 4 times the price of the Deore's.

Chunkers1980

PJ I also think you've got your group heirarchy mixed up. Xc type goes Deore, slx, xt, xtr. The ones Peter mentions are gravity groups

pesky_jones

peter413 wrote:

If you don't care about the weight, I can't see any reason to not get the Deore's unless you really really need that tool free reach adjust and the Ice Tech pads. I put some Deore's on my Marin as a temporary thing but have decided to just keep them on there, way better than the M810 Saint's they replaced IMO, some don't like the lever feel compared to the Saints and they're maybe a little less powerful feeling to some (I can't really tell a difference) but they're a lot cheaper, slightly lighter and they've got the same lever shape as the M820 Saint's I'm running on the Rocky.

If your budget can stretch I would recommend the Zee's or M820 Saint's since they are more powerful and meant to be stronger, no idea if they are though. I also prefer the lever blade on the Saint's ever so slightly but that isn't worth nearly 4 times the price of the Deore's.

Weights not an issue and as long as I can adjust reasonably hastle free and not too often, i'm not fussed about adjustment benefits. Stopping power is the most important thing for me. I'd be happy to pay up 150 for both brakes, levers and calipers. I need good stopping power but im not fussed about the weight or adjusment benefits.

Chunkers1980 wrote:

PJ I also think you've got your group heirarchy mixed up. Xc type goes Deore, slx, xt, xtr. The ones Peter mentions are gravity groups

Yeah most likely, I didn't even know there were different groups for different riding to be honest.

peter413

Technically Deore, SLX, XT and XTR are XC and Zee and Saint are DH but they're all so good they can easily be used for DH. Some people will but XT's or XTR's over Saint's to save some weight if they don't need all the power Saint's have to offer.

From what I'm lead to believe XT's and Deore's have the same power and I know from experience the Deore's are powerful, I could happily use them on my DH bike if it wasn't for the fact I already had Saint's.

pesky_jones

Thanks peter really helpfull. I dont think I'll need the full stopping power of saints and If you say you could use deores on your DH then I think I might try it as well. Cheers

lostboysaint

Deores are excellent. No reason to go any higher up the food chain unless the weight (marginal) and badge (tart) bother you!

pesky_jones

lostboysaint wrote:

Deores are excellent. No reason to go any higher up the food chain unless the weight (marginal) and badge (tart) bother you!

C'est parfait! just what I wanted to hear

clamps81

Yeah, new gen shimano brakes are lovely. I'm running XT as I got it as part of a groupset deal, but I've got mates on SLX and they seem to do the job a treat as well. Expect deore to be similarly decent as well.

felix.london

If £150 is your budget I'd go for the SLX - especially as you mention hassle-free adjustment

bernie1973

I've got SLX and they're great. Great stopping power, feel and dead easy even for a monkey like me to bleed. If I was buying now I'd almost certainly go for the £40 Deores as they seem to be universally loved by magazine and users alike as THE value piece of kit.