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What's the current best all-round XC ish brakeset? Will be replacing a pair of old ish Deores on an On One Scandal 29er. General XC use, occasional trail centres (Cannock, Coed y Brenin etc).
Merlin have a pair of M8000 XT's for £145 which look like a good starting point, but what else is good / better ?
I paid £104 for a set of Deore 4-pots from Germany and another £15 for upgrade to four sets of RaceMatrix pads from Uberbike.
Incredible power and control - and way better dealing with heat than Deore 2-pots...
I was really impressed with my Formula Cura 2 piston brakes that I had, only changed to go to a 4 piston, still Formula though.
They can be picked up pretty pretty cheap really.
Magura MT7 ? my local shop rave about them from £140
trp slate?
Quick shopping around....
SRAM Guide R - £145 a pair (Evans after BC discount and works 8% off voucher scheme)
Formula Cura 2 - £167 a pair (bike-discount.de)
Hope Tech 3 E4 - £256 a pair (Evans after BC discount and works 8% off voucher scheme)
I'm tempted by the Hopes as then they would be a buy-to-keep set*, i.e. move between bikes etc.
Are they betterer - than the Guides or Formulas, or just pricier ?
* - I have three sets of old, knackered cheap brakes in the garage that were more hassle and expense to get running nicely again than replace - I don't want to add to this collection.
Wouldn’t the X2 be a better xc brake?
Wouldn’t the X2 be a better xc brake?
Yes, good point I had not considered that for some reason.
X2 looks to be 60g lighter and £26 cheaper for the pair so not that much in it on either count.
Aside from the weight and money, is there any downside to having "more" brake ?
What can you get the Deore 2-pots for?
They're fine for XC and generally regarded as more reliable than posher Shimano brakes. That's certainly been my experience.
You can get SLX for £110 a set everywhere at the moment.
One pair of SLX ordered - <£100 from Halfords after BC discount etc - thanks !
I see you've bought what I probably would've also bought, although
Aside from the weight and money, is there any downside to having “more” brake ?
No, but if you discount weight on every component choice you end up with a much heavier bike.
Indeed, but some things are ok to compromise, whilst others are not.
'Gosh I've got too much brake power', said no one, ever.
‘Gosh I’ve got too much brake power’, said no one, ever.
Indeed, beaten only by "gosh my brakes are too fade-free and I haven't boiled the fluid enough today".