Cheapo non-series s...
 

  You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more

Cheapo non-series shimano brakes. Any notes of caution?

17 Posts
15 Users
0 Reactions
1,104 Views
Posts: 4271
Full Member
Topic starter
 

The Juicy 3’s on my wife’s old boardman are finally on the way out. Am looking to replace with something that runs on mineral oil to match the rest of our bikes. The bike gets mostly used for wee rides with the kids so performance isn’t of utmost importance, but don’t want to buy something that turns out to be a nightmare.

Any reason not to get something like these?:

https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-mt201-mt200-front-disc-brake-288636.html


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 10:12 am
Posts: 6980
Full Member
 

I've got them on the pub/hack bike - ime they have a nicer lever feel and are less faffy than the posher Shimano models


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 10:28 am
 cp
Posts: 8928
Full Member
 

Lower end Shimano are the most reliable brake you can get imo.


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 10:34 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

as a serial mucker-up of Avid/Sram bleeding, and seemingly with all of my bikes ever having come with them, I generally swap them for the Deore M6100 series brakes (2 or 4 piston, but they come with the one finger levers) and have no complaints at all. Work well and easy to bleed, and cheap


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 10:37 am
Posts: 258
Free Member
 

Fantastic brakes for the price, levers are a bit long so just run them a little inbound to get a bit more leverage.


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 10:38 am
Posts: 923
Full Member
 

Mine work really well with bigger discs than the bike came with, Genesis Longitude, and now on a Big Bro. I think they might be M395s (160mm to 180mm).

But the top of the bleed nipple sheared off when I tried to bleed them. TBF, they are 4 years old, and have never been bled since I got them


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 11:10 am
Posts: 90
Free Member
 

I use Clark clout series, 2 I think. Hydraulic, something like £40 for the pair. They absolutely do the job, I can't imagine wanting to stop any faster than that. Reliable , and u quite like the amount of modulation on them


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 11:13 am
Posts: 10315
Full Member
 

those shimanos are fine


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 11:14 am
Posts: 41642
Free Member
 

They're fine, I have similar on my 150mm travel bike.

Points of caution:

The levers aren't all servo wave, which means less of that shimano "WOAAAHHHHH" hitting a brick wall braking. It's still good though.

There are 3-finger touring levers and 1 finger mtb levers. That said mine have 3 finger levers and no servo-wave so mounting them inboard gives decent power at the expense of quite a lot of free stroke. Not an issue for me as I have big hands and like the bite point as close as possible, YMMV. If someone was selling a set of brakes with knackered calipers I'd be tempted, but it's not a priority.

Odd brake pad sizes, why they can't just standardize across the range I've no idea.


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 11:26 am
Posts: 11961
Full Member
 

I have some of those low-end Shimanos on a commuter bike. I salvaged them off a bike at work that had been abandoned for years, the rotors were pitted with rust. I figured I might as well see if they worked. They're still going strong a couple of years later with the original pads, I just unbolted them from the junker and bolted them on my commuter. Not amazingly powerful with 6" rotors, but modulate well and ideal for commuting in the wet.


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 11:26 am
Posts: 13330
Full Member
 

Echo all of the above, I've got a pair on my cargo bike and they're great.


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 11:35 am
Posts: 1899
Free Member
 

I prefer the feel of these levers without servo wave.

Much more progressive and hope-like

Pair with 4 pot calipers (I think you may be able to get these stock), 200mm discs and sintered pads they are a bargain.

Shame the levers are a bit long tho, as above run inboard.


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 11:36 am
 RicB
Posts: 1518
Free Member
 

Just bought a 4100 Deore for my wife’s bike and was impressed with it.

OP I presume you’ve seen the one you’ve linked to is a front left?


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 12:02 pm
Posts: 4271
Full Member
Topic starter
 

<p>Seems fairly unanimous. If Mrs S can tell the difference between servo wave and non servo wave I’ll eat my own arse.</p><p>brakes ordered </p>


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 12:02 pm
Posts: 4271
Full Member
Topic starter
 

OP I presume you’ve seen the one you’ve linked to is a front left?

hadn’t spotted that, cheers. Thankfully I have the powers to fix that.


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 12:04 pm
Posts: 5042
Free Member
 

We had a set of those low end shimano on my wife’s old ebike.
6 years old now, with absolutely no issues.
I only say ‘had’ because we no longer have the bike, it now belongs to a mate.


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 2:59 pm
Posts: 219
Free Member
 

Things I just discovered - and correct me if I'm wrong: the low-end Shimano brake calipers are only compatible with resin pads; this is because they take the 'wide' style rotor (not the width between the calipers, but the radius of the braking surface), and Shimano only make these rotors in resin-only varieties (and only make resin pads for this size). If you want sintered pads, you need the calipers that fit the narrower rotors, as well as suitable pads/rotors.

Things I don't know: a) if third parties make 'wide' style rotors for sintered pads, as well as the pads and b) if Shimano are being conservative; they suggest in the documentation that narrower rotors will have problems with the wider-style caliper.


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 4:32 pm
Posts: 6980
Full Member
 

Will check later on, but pretty certain I'm using standard rotors. Don't remember having to keep an eye out for anything when ordering them


 
Posted : 10/08/2023 4:36 pm

6 DAYS LEFT
We are currently at 95% of our target!