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I've got Shimano M445 'entry level' brakes on my bike, and in fact I'm pretty happy with them in most respects except one - the lever travel. It takes most of the lever travel for them to engage, and I'm practically touching the bars by the time I stop. (and before someone suggests a bleed or whatnot, its normal for this model of brake - I've already established that)
So I'm thinking servowave - supposed to reduce the travel before they bite, right? Trouble is I don't have the budget for a complete new set of brakes, and anyway I've stockpiled lots of spare pads & rotors for the M445s.
So, I'm wondering if I can get the benefit of the new servowave brakes (either XT or SLX) on the cheap by just swapping the levers, and keeping my existing hoses, calipers, pads, and rotors.
Anyone tried this kind of mix n match approach? Will it work?
I'm running servo wave slx levers on the older saint levers and they work fine.
YES
And will it make a difference - ie. the brakes will bite a lot earlier in the lever travel, or is this servowave stuff just a lot of hype?
Servowave levers push more fluid through at the beginning of the stroke, saying that mine still bite late, but that's how I like them, genuine one finger braking though!
Jay
Jasonm945, are you using the XT or SLX servowave levers? I understand the only difference is the XT ones have adjustable bite point, whereas on the SLX its fixed.
I am using XT, but they may as well be the same lever for all the good the freestroke screw does! If you're just getting the levers the deore are also servowave, and they use they old calipers, and have been highly rated by the (sic) bike press!
Jay