[Closed] Cheap brakes

What’s the budget for a pair of brakes?

Ive got GX 11 speed with guide r’s and it looks nice and tidy on the handlebar with just 1 clamp, plus the brakes have loads of power and good modulation.

I’ve read Levels are ok - feel nice enough but might be lacking in outright power. If your Deore are quite old the Levels will be more powerful than those (I had some m535 Deore brakes and I thought they were gutless), but I’d think Deore M6000 would have the edge on the levels.

If you could get Guides in budget I’d recommend them - got guide r’s on both bikes and had rs’ on the last bike.

Daughters bike has some of those 40quid a pair Clarkes - they work just as well as my xtr.....

I've had/have Deore M615, XT M785, SLX M7000 and be be honest can't really tell any outright braking performance between them. Based on that I'd be happy with Deore M6000.

Swapped on two bikes the brakes recently (end of 2017) to Deore M6000.

Really happy with them. On my all mountain bike I use 180 mm rotors front and back - but would have been smarter to go for 203 mm on the front (low cost six hole Shimano rotors).

Tried - as cheap brakes - Magura MT2 on one bike for some time. Had only trouble. The Deore M6000 is way better.

Thanks all. Current brakes are Deore M615 - they seem powerful enough to me, taking me from very slow to even slower.

Bike Discount DE have the Deore M6000s for £81.54, SRAM TL for £106.93 Sram Guide RE for £158.63.

Add Problem Solvers to the Deores for £33 and the M6000 and TL come out about even.

Decisions, decisions.

SRAM are shit. SRAM Warranty Dept Uk are shit. Just DON'T do it.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/clarks-m2-hydraulic-disc-brakeset-bundle/rp-prod135593

Cheap and an absolute surprise, perfect budget xc brake, performs well above what you may expect

I think I’d pick Deore over the level tl’s even though I mostly prefer Sram brakes.

The Guide RE will be very strong brakes - they are the Guide R lever with the Code Downhill brake calipers. They’re designed to haul up ebikes with their extra weight, whilst keeping the cost down.

Ive got Guide R’s on both my hardtail and FS and I think they’re great. The Guide RS has a better lever feel butnis wuite a lot more expensive. I really wanted the RE on the FS but they’d only just been released and I couldn’t get them.

For reference I have them on the FS with 200/180 centreline diss and Uberbike race matrix pads. I don’t think I could ever need more power.

On the hardtail it has cheapie Shimano discs that came with my deores (that I got rid of as they were pap - m535’s) and standard organic Sram pads. The discs must be low end as they say don’t use with sintered pads on them. They also stop very quickly and controlled and it doesn’t feel like it needs more power.

Maybe they've fixed them now, but the Shimano brakes have had various issues, especially with oil leaks around the calipers.

I've ended up replacing all of mine with Hopes. Personally I'd only buy Hopes as they end up a lot cheaper once you factor in contaminated brake pads and general hassle. Plus blinginess.

I got some Shimano below Deore spec, Alivio or Alvioli, or something. They stop very well. £15 from CRC at the time.

Maybe they’ve fixed them now, but the Shimano brakes have had various issues, especially with oil leaks around the calipers.

Pretty sure that's just XT, not Deore. Happy to be proved wrong.

Maybe they’ve fixed them now, but the Shimano brakes have had various issues, especially with oil leaks around the calipers.

Pretty sure that’s just XT, not Deore. Happy to be proved wrong.

Failing seals are almost always caused by using non-shimano oil, it just eats them, effects all Shimano brakes equally.

I understood XT and SLX seemed to be the two Shimano brakes with the worst issues, although Zee  sometimes seem to come up as well. This would be less of a problem if Shimano sold / provided spare oil seals so people didn’t have to keep throwing whole calipers / levers out.

P Jay, I've had the seals problem and only ever use Shimano oil, so it's definitely not that.

APF

By the time you factor in the bleed kit and a litre of fluid the Deore's are probably going to work out cheaper.

Cost for me is more about what is usable across bikes... be it pads or bleed kits then buying in bulk when cheap.

This would be less of a problem if Shimano sold / provided spare oil seals so people didn’t have to keep throwing whole calipers / levers out.

Calipers are only £15 or so... if you remove the RRP of the pads.  Levers are a bit more...

I tend to end up with crash damage as often as changing levers though.  (Did have to do it on one but that was probably* 5yrs old)

*Hard to be sure I swapped bits round...

Guide R are £79.99 at Evans. Quite tempted as my Deores are getting a bit shonky.

The Shimano brakes are 10 times easier to bleed than SRAM ones....

I got a pair of Clarks for £35 to go on my HT.

180/160 with rotors and adapters, Hoses are a little on the long side but they included extra olives/barbs for shortening...

They'll take a shimano pad too.

Utter bargain IMO. Overlooked by most because of the price being so low I expect...

Ive topped shimano brakes with 3in1 oil, or ep90 oil, whatever came to hand.

didn’t have any problems, not even years later.

i reckon if you have a problem with shimano brakes you are just unlucky.

anyway, i currently use, older deores, slx and xt brakes without issues.

deore m6000 would be my choice.

From forum threads there seem to be quite a lot of unlucky Shimano brake users....!!

Anecdotally it feels like Deore are likely to be the most reliable.

I’ve never bled Shimano brakes (but have hydraulic ones on my road bike - but only for a few months so far), but Sram brakes aren’t that hard to bleed with the bleeding edge tool - I did one recently and it was ok using the sram online guide (no pun intended).

Guide R for £80 (assume that’s per end) sounds ok, although I think I’ve seen cheaper from Europe.

I got a pair of Clarks for £35 to go on my HT.

180/160 with rotors and adapters, Hoses are a little on the long side but they included extra olives/barbs for shortening…

They’ll take a shimano pad too.

Utter bargain IMO. Overlooked by most because of the price being so low I expect…

Going to put a set of these on my daughter's bike.

Lads new 26'er HT will have Deore's.

I have a set of SRAM levels going spare if anyone wants them.

Joe, well yeah, I accept that. But in reality, how many are there out there working perfectly?

people don’t (generally) start threads on here to say ‘my brakes are working perfectly’ (of whatever brand) because they are busy riding their bikes and having a good time.

if you only read the internet, you’d believe that no brake ever worked perfectly, that no car was reliable etc etc.

Fair point, but Shimano seem to have more of a problem than anyone else going on volume of threads. But maybe there are more oem sets of Shimano than other makes.

From forum threads there seem to be quite a lot of unlucky Shimano brake users….!!

That's nothing...have you seen how many hollowtech cranks snap... 😉

I can't see past mechanical disc brakes. Trp Spyke and BB7. Trp edge it but both good in all conditions. Essentially fit and forget. No bleeding etc.

I must have been very lucky with Shimano then. I have some old pin in the corner SLXes which must be 8-9 years old and are still going strong with a bleed every couple of years. I have another bike with the newer sort Deores which after 3 years needed a bleed which I did this pm in about 10 mins. However I have SRAM rival on my road bike which are absolute garbage and need piston fettling after every ride. It's so bad I have seriously thought about getting a rim brake roady again

The older Shimano brakes were alright - it’s the newer ones with dramas.

Whats causing the drama with your rivals?

I much preferred the shifting of my 2010 Sram Rival double tap shifters to the new 105 level (but not branded 105) shifters. I don’t mind the funny lump shape caused by the bleed port but the gears are so vague.

The mechanic in the lbs says it’s because they’re smooth compared to the Sram ‘angry shifting’, I still say it’s vague. Plus if you even slightly catch your finger even lightly on the main brake lever as you go to shift into a higher gear, the other lever just swings without doing anything. So annoying.

However, so far the Shimano hydraulic discs are pretty awesome. So much better than a rim brake bike - wet or dry. In the wet they can squeal a bit but it’s nice to be able to stop properly.

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P-Jay: Member

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Failing seals are almost always caused by using non-shimano oil, it just eats them, effects all Shimano brakes equally.

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It's not that, unless Shimano have started putting non-Shimano oil in their own brakes (which isn't completely impossible).

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Another vote for Clarks M2 - price rise to £50, but that's for everything needed and they work spot on.

Another vote for Clarks M2 – price rise to £50, but that’s for everything needed and they work spot on.

Does a standard Shimano bleed kit work on these?

wouldn't touch Guide's Great when new then you get the dreaded sticking lever. Had 2 replaced under warranty they went the same way after 10 months

joebristol, the pistons very rapidly become uneven in extension meaning they rub constantly. I have done all the usual wrinkles , recentre calipers, clamp one piston while moving the other, using red rubber grease on pistons, to no avail You start a ride ok and after a few miles they start to rub again. This is not due to age and wear, they have been doing it since very shortly from new.

Got a whole set of budget shimanos from eBay including rotors for 40quid. No one finger levers but bang on for the gf's bike.

FOG - can you warranty claim them?

I think I have left it too late and they did come from Planet X .....

Ah, not that good then! The Shimano road brakes work brilliantly - endos even in the wet if you want to. Just the 105 level (but non series) shifting is pap. Bike was serviced yesterday and I’d say it’s come back with the shifting worse, not better. I think I might have to tweak it a bit myself and see if I can improve it.

Im going through the same decision. My XT ones have given up and need written notice if I want them to stop me. Its a shame as I loved the older XT (silver) ones.

Im torn between guides or levels. It might come down to price because my other bike has guides so same bleed kit and only 1 sort of pads. But my wifes bike has levels so we have to have a supply of pads for them too. Im ruling out shimano reluctantly until there is consistent reports of them working properly again and because I dont want to have a third pad type floating around.

How do the levels compare to the guides?

I've just got another set of SLX calipers go, that's 2 sets now on different bikes, both about 3 years or more old so no warranty, its a right pain as brakes are a lot more expensive now than 3 to 4 years ago so can't keep replacing brakes. My XT and Deores are OK as are my older SLX. I'm sure Deore M615 were only £50 a set a while ago, now seem to be about £90 for M6000

Magura Trail Sport. Add on clamp fits your choice of shifter pod to the lever.  Buy pad axles (fiver) and replace the silly front pads with four pad replacements and you’re in business.

Another Shimano point I’ve started hearing recently is fractured pistons- especially at XTR level, and apparently (this is secondhand hearsay) warranty is being refused on these unless the actual original pads are still fitted as you’ve ‘obviously damaged the piston levering directly on it’.  The issue manifests as a sudden and complete failure to brake - absolutely no warning

Shimano do seem to have finally licked their seal issue only to discover a new problem.

As above, obviously there’s an element of ‘person shouting on the internet’ about any brake reliability thread but that argument does seem only to be applied to brands people on the thread like...