From Avid brakes to Shimano

delete_my_account

Embarrassed that I don't know all about this but never used anything other than Avid brakes so please go easy on me.

Currently have Elixirs fitted to my bike with 160mm rotors. The front is post mount so the calliper bolts straight to the fork (with those horrible cup and cone washers)

XT brakes just arrived and I want to fit them using the same rotors. How did Shimano intend they're fitted? Do you still have to use the nasty cup and cone washers?

Cheers.

cobba

MichaelMLFC92 wrote:

Do you still have to use the nasty cup and cone washers?

No, if you put those cup and cone washers on the underside of a Shimano caliper it will pack the caliper out too much and make the pads overhang the rotor.

Pads overhanging the rotor is a very bad setup and can lead to brake failure.

The only time cup and cone washers are used with a Shimano caliper is with the 180mm post mount adapter and the washers are only used between the bolt head and the caliper.

The cup and cone washers are used with this adapter because it doesn't leave the top side of the caliper parallel with the underside of the bolt head, these washers allow the bolt head to properly tighten down on the caliper.

Info on the 180mm PM adapter:
https://www.bike-components.de/bedienungsanleitungen/2011/shimano/mountain-bike/deore_xt/sm-ma-f180p_p2.pdf

delete_my_account

That's so much more simple than with Avid brakes. I assume for 160mm front and rear it's the simplest setup ever then. Thanks for the reply.

The Rookie

If you have a post mount fork, the. Yes 160 front and bolt the calliper direct to the fork (you need shorter bolts than for the Avid without the washers to pack it out), at the rear you just need a simple adaptor or better still an XTR IS calliper (unless you have a modern frame with PM mounts at the rear).

delete_my_account

Both brakes came with relatively short bolts so they should be fine hopefully.

No XTR brakes for me, or PM mounts on the back.

I took advantage of the 10% off the already cheap XT brakes on CRC. £104 for a pair without rotors.

delete_my_account

Both look alright when bolted straight to the mount/fork but there appears to be a slight bit of brake pad which is hanging off the outside edge of the rotor on both brakes.

Another problem is that both hoses are at least a mile long, but that's what you get...

The Rookie

It's normal to have to shorten hoses, better than them being too short!

Not unusual for a small amount of pad to overlap the disc.

delete_my_account

Shortening hoses easy? I've bled brakes before, my Avid ones. They're awful to bleed.

cooldad

Easy, I've done half a dozen without needing to bleed them.

But I did have a bleed kit handy just in case.

Best guide (and also best bleed kit)

http://www.epicbleedsolutions.com/blog/ ... -bleeding/

delete_my_account

That's great, cheers, I'll give that a go when I've got a bleed kit and a hose cutter thing. I've only got cable cutters at the moment. Guessing they won't work...

cooldad

I use a sharp modelling knife. Although I guess the cutter will be better.

FlagshipBike

Check out this article/video on how to bleed brakes without a bleed kit. http://blog.artscyclery.com/ask-a-mecha ... bleed-kit/

How old is the rotor? You may want to consider replacing that too.

Manc33

Cable cutters are hose cutters. :P

mattv

If you are careful, you can definitely get away without a bleed. Keep the pipes high when they are disconnected from the lever, make sure you have all parts you need (olive, barb, cable cutters, something like a large pin to clean the inside of the just cut hose) all easily within reach. The plastic blocks supplied are a "hose clamp". What is do is use a pair of mole grips on these, to hold the hose while I gently tap the barb in.

delete_my_account

Did exactly what the guide said. Lost no fluid from anywhere except the 8 inches of hose i cut off. The pistons don't even move when I pull the lever.

The Rookie

Then you didn't follow the guide, even though you may think you did, they'll now need a bleed, this isn't at all difficult.

delete_my_account

Yeah, I just bled it and they're better than they were from the manufacturer. Wee bit of rotor drag but the lever only moves around 5mm before stopping dead as opposed to around 25mm when I bought them. Haven't actually used them yet

Now to start all over again with the rear one. Yay.

kajjal

Once you get them sorted you will find they are very , good reliable brakes. I went from Elixir 1's to XT's and it was a big improvement, also got the XT rotors. The Elixir 1's needed constant adjustment and the front would make a gobbling noise like a turkey. The XT's after a couple of tweaks have been fit and forget, and quiet in operation.

The Rookie

I couldn't agree more, Avid brakes work, but they never feel good and need mire TLC, I'd take my 2006 over current Avid XX any day!

delete_my_account

Yeah, having ridden up the road and back they feel a lot nicer. Need to bed in the pads though as they're pretty poor atm but that's the same with every brake really. Looking forward to riding them somewhere without road signs!