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I've got some of the bottom end Shimano brakes on my winter hardtail - MT200s. They're not quite powerful enough for my taste.
I have some Deore levers knocking about. Will swapping to these increase the power of the system in a worthwhile way, or am I best off just upgrading the brakes?
Larger rotors will make a huge difference. So will changing brake pad compound. After that, 4-pot calipers will help. Higher end levers with Servo-Wave will give more adjustment and power (because of increased mechanical leverage), but they need to be bleed very carefully or you will get wandering bite point problems. Upgrade the rotors and pads first.
Edit. Just re-read the OP's post. Deore levers will be nicer than the low-end levers. I'd swap them and put a 200 mm rotor up front, plus try changing pad compounds. That will make a huge difference.
Deore levers will change the feel of the brake, you're changing from a normal setup to a wooden* feeling servo-wave lever. If you like the modulation you have at the moment this might not be the one for you.
Assuming you're not already using big rotors, I'd go down that route instead
*in my opinion
I'm with mashr on this one. Not a fan of servowave levers at all. You get all the power at once so they're terrible on slippery surfaces. They also suffer with wandering bite point.
I'd go bigger rotors, better pads, 4 pot calipers.
Hmm, not wanting to derail the thread, but is it correct to attribute the Shimano Wandering Bite Point "feature" to their servo wave levers?
(Only asking as I have some Shigura/Magmano brakes based on a franken-bike* combination of Magura MT8 levers and Zee 4 pot calipers, and I suffer from what seems to be a wandering bite point...)
*After a catastrophic caliper seal failure, it's all I could cobble together on a post-COVID road trip, what with all the supply chain issues at the time. And I've been too cheap to replace everything since...
is it correct to attribute the Shimano Wandering Bite Point “feature” to their servo wave levers?
The wandering bite point is due to air in the master cylinder (i.e. not properly bled). However, ServoWave levers are more susceptible to this than normal ones and they can be bastards to get properly bled.
TRP Slates are still dirt cheap at Merlin. The Evo's have gone up a tenner, but really happy with the ones I've bought
Bottom end Shimano will likely have the crappy rotors and organic pads. Good quality bigger rotors and sintered pads would make some difference. You’ll also need adaptors as well though. Add all that up and you’re not too far away from a complete set of better brakes at the moment. Usually loads of nearly new Code R on eBay as loads of people don’t like them and remove them straight away. I love them though.