PSA - Shimano Deore 4 pots Merlin

Cheers, been after some new brakes for a while!

Ta, don't need any brakes but did find an SLX chainring for thirty quid, that'll do...

PSA was mentioned earlier in the 4-pot brakes review thread.

However, @bigginge then posted that CRC are doing them for £120/pair (£60 an end) as long as you don't mind swapping over the brake levers: https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-deore-m6120-oe-disc-brake/rp-prod213215

120 here if you pick carefully! https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-deore-m6120-oe-disc-brake/rp-prod213215

Bums, need a pair but got no cash atm.

now down to £110 a pair at crc with code CLEAR2022. Beware the rear hose is 1450 at its longest, which might be a touch short on some longer bikes?

Bargain at £110, great brakes

Bargain even factoring in some hose for the rear that's £118 all in.couldnt resist

They even come with the newer resin D03s pads which last ages for a resin pad but are actually slightly thicker so the I initial free stroke is short after bleeding using the bleed block which I like

Yup mine arriving tomorrow!
Will replace some 2 pot slx I paid £180 for a year ago- also merlin I think. They are going on the recently renovated hardtail.

Daft question, what do I need to order to swap the hoses round?

My frame is internally routed so I'd need to disconnect the rear caliper anyway.

Mineral Oil
Bleed kit
Inserts
?

nah if you're careful you can often do it without any of the faff, just unbolt from one lever and bolt into the other, no bleed required.

on wiggle (and hukd comments) they come the right way round anyway. If you're internally routing you might want the jbend thing to make it easier

The Merlin ones usually come with levers plugged and you can connect whichever caliper, so there's no L/R issue.

The hose is often too long ime, so you end up having to cut it down, reset the barb etc if you don't want baggy cables upfront. Will need a quick bleed if you do this.

Ive read a couole of reviews where the reviewer doesnt like the stock resin pads. What are people using instead? Or am i just derailing the thread with a 'what pad' enquiry?

Is the answer still ubers' race matrix or Shimano sintered?

Thanks

Ian

Im running the standard resin pad, in both those 4 pots and some old SLX 2 pots. feel perfect to me, plenty of power

Dunno about the 4 pots yet but the slx I bought came with Sintered up front resin at the back. Both work well, quiet, powerful. Rears wore out first and I replaced them with genuine shimano resin pads like for like.
Re the hoses, the way shimano levers come the barb is in the lever so it’s just a case of snipping to length (have to cut the last inch off to remove the plug anyway I think?) and bolting up the compression nut.
Oh and remember to slide the rubber grommet on to the hose before you connect them up. What fool would forget that eh?😂

I resisted until now, but ordered a set this morning. Going to have the most overpowered commuter brakes ever.

Re the hoses, the way shimano levers come the barb is in the lever so it’s just a case of snipping to length (have to cut the last inch off to remove the plug anyway I think?) and bolting up the compression nut.

The olive is generally in the lever. The barb has to be installed into the hose after trimming using the yellow clamp block and a small hammer or a specific tool to push the barb in.

There's not a plug on Shimano hoses other than the black rubber cover.. sounds like you snipped the barb off and didn't reinstall.

Was looking at these, MT5 or guide RE but with these the favorite at double the price.

Cheers for the heads up.

What rotors we using? Want a 200ish up front but have a 180 sram centerline for the rear already.

Brilliant brakes especially at that price. Agree on the resin pads, my original ones lasted ages!

The stock resin pads are great plenty of bite from cold silent and no complaints.the reviews online maybe we're running the D01s .
Previous fan of race matrix but not anymore something changed a few years ago and I don't like the feel or squeel they make

I find resin pads ok but they're terrible with the cheap Shimano rotors

I think the ones I had must’ve had the “j kit” fitting. It was dead easy. Will find out when I get home what the new ones have got. Been delivered this morning according to royal mail

Ordered, didn't think the J-kit was worth an extra £40 so went for the CRC deal at £110 for the pair.

The frame is new with some wire running through the top tube to assist fitting the hose, so when I finally have all the parts together for the build let's see how it goes.

They’ve arrived. Retail boxes. Resin pads. Boxes have front left rear right parts but not connected up. So obvs why sold as a pair for uk market. If you want just a front it will have a left hand lever…
Little yellow plug in the lever, hoses filled and sealed. Little bag with olive barb etc. need to remind myself what to do to connect them up now.

Was that from Merlin or CRC?

Got mine from Merlin and they are as @docrobster describes. Very pleased with them.

Now...does anyone know if I can fit my ispec 2 shifter to the ispec EV brake levers?

Yes from merlin. Just had a proper look and barb definitely pre installed in hose so if hoses don’t need shortening it is a case of just screw them together and ride.
I read ispec 2 shifters will play with ispec ev brakes after a small mod:

Turns out the new M8120 brake with I-SpecEV plays well with the 2015 M8000 I-Spec II shifter I have here, with a small tweak.

I’m running the XT brake from the 12-speed group with the 11-speed, and to pair them I simply unbolted the lever from the I-Spec II adapter and bolt it directly to the lever. As the bolt is a bit too long, I added two small washers to avoid scoring or damaging the bar.

Source

Edit- I must’ve forgotten tapping the new barb in when I shortened the hose on my slx last year. It’s a bit hazy. The brakes have been fine for 12 months so I seem to have done it right. If we forget about not installing the rubber boot…🙈

Great, cheers!

Half my CRC order was cancelled this morning, looks like I'm still getting the right hand rear so at least I won't need to send it back but still a pain I only have half a brake set

Not looking good for me then, I ordered from CRC on the 11th, still down as processing. Got to say that it's bad form, if they are sending me just the rear it's going back.

I ordered on the 10th, it wasn't dispatched until 3 days later. It said something about having multiple warehouses so multiple items can be sent in separate packages.

It's just frustrating if you want a pair of brakes and you only get one and have to go through the hassle of sending it back. I thought modern stock control systems should be good enough to avoid these situations

Just had an email at 1752 to that effect, rear has been dispatched, front coming from a different warehouse but not cancelled yet. I'm guessing you got another email saying it wasn't in stock shortly afterwards? Auto stock control not good enough to detect out of stock items but too automated to email the buyer asking if you still want the rear brake without the front.

Dispatch email was yesterday, refund was today

Got my 4pot SLX for £160 and they look great.

Very disappointed that they didn’t come with instructions on the QR code with how to fit, just daft instructions to avoid wheel skidding and health and safety rubbish.

I am quite an amateur mechanic and never even stripped a brake before or put one together.

Will watch a video on GMBN and see if I can figure it out from the parts that have been sent, thanks to the posts here hopefully that’ll help too!

I also have a RH rear coming and no mention of a front yet.. but no cancellation email either.

Half my CRC order was cancelled this morning, looks like I’m still getting the right hand rear so at least I won’t need to send it back but still a pain I only have half a brake set

Same here: rear RH was despatched yesterday, but my front LH has since been cancelled by CRC. It's a pair I need though, bit of a PITA.

I also have a RH rear coming and no mention of a front yet.. but no cancellation email either.

My CRC cancellation e-mail arrived less than an hour ago.

4pot SLX for £160

Crikey, where was that from??

LH front now cancelled! Bum

Probably for the best for me: yesterday I found a F&R set of new/unused SLX 2-pot brakes in the garage that I bought from a previous PSA and forgot I had...

One on the way, one cancelled! Grrrr

Just to confuse things further, my "RH Rear" brake has just arrived, it's a left hand rear. Fully bled and with a mount/bolts included. Idiots.

Same here. Eejits.

Yes mine has arrived today, left hand rear with hose attached, refund takes longer to arrive apparently (3 days).

for anyone who had thier front brake cancelled, they're back in stock! mine just got dispatched..
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-deore-m6120-oe-disc-brake/rp-prod213215

Thanks @5lab. I didn't urgently need these but ordered (again) a front and rear pair as inevitably someone in the family will need them within the year! I've been considering going Shigura but  these will do fine instead.

Also, code CLEAR22 got me a further £10 off baskets over £75, so £89.98 for the pair of brakes (total saving £150 apparently).

hmm tempted, and code is CLEAR2022 🙂

Do we think the short hose £49 ones will fit an XL hardtail?.......

Certainly be tight but maybe possible....

Do we think the short hose £49 ones will fit an XL hardtail?…….

Hope so - unsure which bike I'll use these on, but my 3 MTBs are all XL with wheelbases 1275-1350mm...

I hope so too, ordered!

Think my entire build will be from PSA's on here so thanks all!

RH front turned up yesterday so now got a pair, anyone recommend any cheapish rotors?

My pair arrived as well, complete with adaptors! Thanks OP.

For anyone interested, I tapped a thread into my calipers to accept a threaded pad retaining pin, easy to do and works like an SLX or higher version now. I don't routinely carry pliers on the bike so being able to change pads with an allen key makes my life easier.