[Closed] What to replace xt brakes with.

The Formula Cura get great reviews and are what I’d like to buy.

Saint

Everyone will have their view.

For me I like my Guides, but crave getting some Codes, which I totally don’t need. Dot fluid though.

Im also liking the looks of Magura MT5 / MT7, but would want the upgraded shorter levers. I think royal blood is a mineral oil.

If you want to stick with Shimano and hope for the best on the bite point then the new Deore level non series 4 pot brake is getting quite a lot of love at the moment.

Hope are another good alternative - some E4’s perhaps.

Hope E4 or V4

Like you i had XT's (also had Zee's, Guide R, RS, Code R)

Never liked the XT's on off feel and they seemed to not do anything when adjusted

All the Guides and Codes had a great feel but again seemed to lack adjustment

Now run Hopes on two bikes, you get the feel of Guides, the Power of Zee's and the adjusters actually do something

Easy to bleed, simply keep topping the reservoir up whilst pumping the lever and opening and closing the bleed nipple on the caliper, exactly like bleeding a car's brakes

I know you said you like mineral oil but Ive never understood why people seem so afraid of dot 4 or dot 5.1 fluid, its cheap and easy to get hold of from any motor factors or Halfords

I know some people are afraid of damaging paint work if they spill it but in the 20+ years Ive been using it on cars and bikes Ive never managed to damage any paint when spilling, just wash down the area with some soapy spray water and wipe clean and the paint is fine

I've got mt7s great but there's a knack to bleeding them.

I just bought another set of 2011 Formula The Ones for £40, I've not found anything better yet

I've bought 3 pairs of xt brakes in the last year and they've all been fantastic.

Maybe the new ones are sorted.

I was going to open a similar thread: bought a set 2 of XT's months ago and variable bite point is still there, I was thinking on Deore 4 pot, but haven't read any real world experiences.

Reason for not really wanting DOT fluid is the fact that it absorbs water and is generally more of a pain than oil.

I have used sram guides and found I prefer the feel of them compared to Shimano. The biggest pain is getting my Ispec ii shifter to attach to a sram brake lever. Is there a decent way of getting them to play nicely. A set of guide ultimates are on the list.

Hope are an option. I had a pair of hope minis on a bike in 2005. Haven't used a set since then so don't know what the feel like and what the lever is like. Plus would match my hubs and bar.

Maguras and the formulas look good but again I don't know if I will like them. Its a chunk of cash to spend on something I might not like.

Hays Dominion A4 ar also on the radar.

XT brakes

Another vote for Hope. Had to warranty 2 sets of XT brakes. Both of them died and had variable bite point issues - put me right off Shimano brakes.

+1 for Hope, got e4's with 203 f and 180 r floating rotors myself and no complaints, I'd go for v4's if you're over 11 stone or you ride a lot of dh tho

The variable bite point issue is down to a poor bleed. For the cost of a bleed kit and the few minutes it takes to do it I'd go down that route first.

Don’t think there’s any brakes that are perfect at the minute, all seem to have some issues! Old XT M785’s were he dogs but are like hens teeth new now 🙁

I liked the Guides that came with my T130 but while they had tonnes of modulation and reasonable power I’ve seen way too many sets with sticky pistons or levers, mine included, so never fit and forget.

Wouldnt bother with anything Shimano above Deore level these days, though no experience of the new XTRs yet. 4-pot Deores seem to be getting a lot of love.

I swapped my Guides for Hope Race E4s and have little to complain about so far, reliability has been faultless and while they can squeal a bit and with 180mm rotors they’re not the most powerful, but overall I’d struggle to pick any real faults. They look great, have legendary reliability and will just keep on performing for years to come. They’re expensive but worth it in my opinion.

My hope e4s replaced my xts. Feel different but I wouldn't say better particularly.

The variable bite point issue is down to a poor bleed.

Emphatically, it isn't.  It is down to slow and excessive piston retraction because of two speculative causes...

1. brake dust build up on the ceramic pistons that then gets pushed back past the seals if you do a pad replacement without cleaning the pistons before pushing them back

2. the swarf that Shimano couldn't be arsed to remove after machining my calipers that then impacted in the pistons and snagged the seals

SLX with kevlar pads? They're less grabby than sintered, the bite point has supposedly been fixed* and they're mineral oil.

*the bite point issue isn't down to the bleed. I sent a set of XTs back under warranty and they came back with new levers. Not perfect but a bit better but replaced with Zees.

The variable bite point issue is down to a poor bleed.

Emphatically, it isn’t.

It can be, but isn't always IME.

FWIW my Zee was getting quite bad last week, but a bottom-up bleed and new set of pads and it's now working better than when new.

If I were buying now I'd probably get the 4-pot Deores from Rose for about £115 delivered. The 2-pot Deores are the only modern Shimano brakes I've had that don't do the bite point thing.

After running slx m675 and Xt m8000 on two bikes and sram guide s on another , all warranty replaced,

I went to Hope e4s can’t see me going back anytime soon.

the power of Xt and the guides was great,  it shimano just went dead and sram had the usual sticky lever issues, avoid any brakes by sram and shimano in 2016/early 2017 and you should be ok

Saints

If you like the feel of guides, then V4s are similar, just a bit more in every area. More power, more modulation, more feel, more adjustments, more, err, easier to bleed, and more better.

More XT's