 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Im thinking of replacing my old hayes elcamino brakes and I like the look of Shimano's offerings, specifically slx, what i was wondering is if there was a great deal of difference between the m665 and the m666 in terms of power and fade etc or should i just save the money and get some Deores?
You're comparing old and new versions of SLX.
I have equivalent old and new XTs (M775 & M785). The differences between SLX and XT within each year are minimal, so this is a pretty good equivalent for comparison.
The new style Shimanos are much more powerful and their stubby lever feels better for single finger braking.
I had a small niggle initially with positioning the new Shimanos levers on the bars because the clamp sits right where I like my shifter to be. You can address this by reversing (swapping L&R) the adjustable mounting clamp on the shifter if you have SLX or higher shifters.
Bottom line: I will be changing my other bike over from old to new XT soon.
Set of M775XTs will be up for sale.