Rockhopper upgrades (brakes)

Rhod81
Rhod81 Posts: 116
edited November 2015 in MTB buying advice
Hi everyone,

Over the last six years or so, I have been very much a road cyclist, but after two winters of road riding on dodgy, wet roads with ignorant drivers, poor conditions, trashing components,etc, I have decided I'm going to spend the winter getting covered in mud instead! :D unfortunately it means I'm very much out of the loop of what's about nowadays.

I have a 2011 Rockhopper SL which is pretty much standard apart from a shorter, stiffer stem and some nice carbon fibre, low rise bars. However, the frame is really decent geometry-wise, it's comfortable and looks good so I feel it deserves a bit of upgrading...

My main concern is how poor the brakes are. They have never been much good. I prefer my brakes to be quite sharp, very much on/off with minimal brake lever pull. The shimano BR M505's are soooo spongey they're horrible to use. I feel I can nearly pull the lever all the way to the bars. I have tried new pads, bleeding the oil, etc, but nothing improves the feel to how I like it. Luckily the brake levers and shifter pods are separate so I can change completely. They are 160mm rotors front and back I believe, could I go bigger? Any recommendations? Price is an issue, but I will (within reason) invest in decent brakes...

From my road bikes, I know what difference a new set of wheels can make, so this would probably be my next upgrade, but I feel the brakes are more important!

The Suntour forks, I know aren't the best, but they work and new ones are too expensive. Component-wise, mainly Deore with some Alivo, I know is basic, probably heavy, but at the end of the day it's functional.

Basically, any brake advice please !!!! Ta :mrgreen:

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