DH brakes: XT or Zee?

lochussie

Although good when new, after a few years the Elixir Rs on my DH bike are lacking in power and too spongy for my liking (this is after fluid replaces by both me and a WC mechanic). I really like the XTs on my trail bike, am tempted to get these as I know I like them. But Zee...

For:
More power?
Less fade?

Against:
I read that you have to pull lever much further before engagement, something I really dislike
Don't come with finned pads
More expensive

Can anyone comment on these things? Also, if I buy cheap from Germany, can I avoid hose swap by running the levers upside down on wrong sides, or will function or ergonomics be affected? I can live with baggy hoses until a bleed is needed.

poah

can't run the levers upside down but you can swap hoses at the lever without the need to bleed and it is piss easy to do.

rockmonkeysc

I have Zee brakes. They have immense power. I tried finned pads in them and even on long runs they make bugger all difference.

lochussie

Rockmonkey: how is the bite point? I like pads to contact rotors with little lever pull, like the XTs.
POAH: does it mess with the reservoir or something like that?

rockmonkeysc

Its fine. Not a lot of lever travel before they bite. I found them a huge improvement from Avid X0 brakes.

The Rookie

lochussie wrote:

does it mess with the reservoir or something like that?

Yes, the outlet from the resevoir is at the bottom, flip them and no braking!

rockmonkeysc

You will need to shorten the hoses anyway so swapping levers is no extra effort.

ilovedirt

Zees have a good bike point, the ones I tried had less lever travel than my XTs.
You can't run the levers upside down, but swapping them and bleeding them is ridiculously easy.
That said, my XTs without finned pads were fine in the alps. They did need a bleed though.