wheres the middle finger emoji?
Frankenbrakes and brake improvement discussion
- Thread starter Udi
- Start date
wheres the middle finger emoji?
Are you using ice tech rotors?
It's a known issue as they wear. You can try fresh rotors or a different brand.
Yes it should work fine, you can use the servo wave levers. I would buy the cheapest SW levers (eg. Deore with SW) so it's not a big investment if you don't like it for some reason. SLX and Zee should work fine too.
The number of pistons don't matter at all, only the total slave area, and from memory the MT 2-pot series are the same or very close to the Shimano 2-pot calipers anyway. The data should be in my spreadsheet in post #1 of this thread.
4 pot XTs are back... https://m.pinkbike.com/news/shimano-announces-4-piston-xt-brake-caliper.html
I had a pair of 755s that I used forever, then sold to a friend who still uses them on her Glory. Easily 15 years of regular use.
Shimano is going to sell a million of these.
Yeah I'm just being a prick. Had heaps of mates have problems with leaking newer-model XTs. I reckon if they sort that issue, these things will be awesome. I miss the days of Shimano brakes being the most reliable option around.
Every single current shimano caliper leaks. Don't care what worked in 1963. There's no reason to believe anything new will be any different.
At this point I've owned them all but xtr. But friends with them have the same issues. Just a matter of time.
On a productive note my cura calipers are still working great.
On a productive note my cura calipers are still working great.
My Saintgura frankenbrakes are great performers, too. I even scored a spare pair of MTS for $25 shipped, including a few sets of new pads.
The curas work fine stock. Yes I just wanted that ball kick shimano engagement. Plus I like the ergonomics of the shimano levers better. They do work better with the formula metal pads over the roadie shimano finned things. They seem to seat more solidly.
I had planned to mate MT5 calipers to my Zee/Deore levers over the next weeks, but now there is this:
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/shimano-announces-4-piston-xt-brake-caliper.html
Still, the full set of MT5s with levers is only a bit more expensive than one XT caliper, so i might stil go through with it.
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/shimano-announces-4-piston-xt-brake-caliper.html
Still, the full set of MT5s with levers is only a bit more expensive than one XT caliper, so i might stil go through with it.
Where do people buy separate calipers for their brakes? I'm looking at the old or new Code calipers.
Thanks mate!
Just deleted my post, they mis-labeled the caliper and it was a 2001 instead of 2011. Sorry.
jack_Nicholson_nodding.gif
What's the difference between zees and xt 4 pots? seems to me that nobody complains about shimano power, just reliability.
There's an interview with an EWS mechanic over on NSMB where he talks about re-bleeding his riders Shimano brakes in the morning because air leaks in overnight. Quality.
Linky?
https://nsmb.com/articles/wrenching-out-win/
"Overnight he finds that a tiny volume of air creeps into the Shimano brakes so he tops them up."
"Overnight he finds that a tiny volume of air creeps into the Shimano brakes so he tops them up."
You get to say:
"my xt 4 pots leak"
vs.
"my zee 4 pots leak"
This is america, we're all about choice here.
Probably the just the logo, same as Zee and Saint that also only have different levers from what i understand. I haven't had too many problems with my Shimano brakes, but my childlike forearms and womanly hands wouldn't mind more power. The Magura piston has a 10% larger surface area than the Saint/Zee one and 19% larger than (old) XT/SLX/XTR.
FTFY
All the XT line would need is an 83 spindle crank and a short cage der, and it could maybe replace SLX/Zee??
They might use a slightly lighter casting on the xt stuff.
But yeah......not sure the point other than just saying you have the same logo as your drivetrain or something for a build kit.
But yeah......not sure the point other than just saying you have the same logo as your drivetrain or something for a build kit.
My chinese non ceramic pistons were waiting for me when I got home. I ordered 4 'units' and got 4 pistons.......so one pair of brakes. Just fyi in case anyone else wants to maybe try and salvage some shimano brakes.
Unfortunately I screwed up my back pretty badly saturday so won't be able ride them for a while. Might install them anyway just to see if they leak sitting there.
Unfortunately I screwed up my back pretty badly saturday so won't be able ride them for a while. Might install them anyway just to see if they leak sitting there.
Yeah I've been wishing this for a decade now.
It would be awesome if they gave them the steel pedal inserts too, they did it on the Hone "double" years ago and it only added ~15g or something. Mine are still going strong. Dreaming though, Shimano don't do anything good anymore apart from respraying old junk different colors.
I've wondered if the boost version could be made to work on an 83mm frame, they don't come in 165 yet (the normal ones do, not sure why that PB article made it out to be a new thing) but maybe soon.
See above RE: respraying old junk.
There is a solution for running XT cranks on a 83 mm BB: http://forums.mtbr.com/downhill-freeride/83-mm-bottom-bracket-xt-cranks-sort-440229.html (CAUTION: Emptybeer link!)
Then you could use these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001PTCKJO?tag=MBTRForums-VigLink-Convert-20
Voila, you did what Shimano couldn't.
Guess weight weenies these days just run SixC cranks instead.
yo
you can replace just the pistons? Can you link to said item? I slightly damaged one of my pistons trying to push it back in with a screw driver (rookie sleep-deprived dad mistake...). It's on the edge that pushes the pad, so I don't think it will have immediate impacts, but it might score the bore-hole (is that even a word)...
Yeah, was aware of that (although not that they came in 165mm, wonder how common that is in that big-gear version..) - but it looks like a huge fiasco I cbf with.
The Gravity Light 7050 hollow forged cranks (which come 165/83 natively) are 90g heavier than XT and 70g lighter than Saint, so probably a good "easy" intermediate option (+ have chromo pedal inserts). I ran them years ago and had no problems - same twin-pinchbolt interface as Shimano (big fan). Might run again.
You must have missed the release of e-bike specific cranks in the same press release. E-bikes, goddamn dentists on e-bikes are going too fast and weight too much so regular XT brakes can't slow them down.
So have we root caused that the ceramic pistons are the problem with Shimano brakes? I'd be interested if anyone has a surface profilometer and could quantify the rms or microinch surface texture of the ceramic. Seems to me just looking at them that they are far rougher than a metal piston....
Over a month on these current rev XTs. No leaks, no air, no problems. Braking is solid, no complaints.
Might be seals or just the way they interact with the ceramic.
It's the only thing unique about the shimanos so I've just assumed that was the reason since I really don't know of any other brakes with this issue.
@atrokz: a month ain't gonna do it. They all work great at first. If you notice when you leave your bike unridden for a few days that your pads seem a little squeaky and you need to burn them in for them to grab again.......that's when you'll know it's starting.
Has Shimano come out and said what if anything is different between XT 4 piston and Zee calipers? I'm betting just color.
Since I made a post anyway I might as well come out and say I don't understand what you guys are getting on about. All my 2 piston Shimano brakes (SLX 7000, XT 8000, XTR Trail 988, and XTR Race 9000) works flawlessly and have plenty of power. 4 piston brakes always seem like more hassle cuz it's twice the number of pistons to get moving and retracting the same distance. And it's not just me, at our shop we see a lot of brakes and all the mechanics love Shimano and bitch about Guides. For what it's worth my Formula The Ones and R1s also work perfectly but the pads sit so close to the rotors that they often get a little rub.
The only thing I can think seperating my experience from the rest of you is that I have so many bikes that the use gets spread out, but some of my bikes are 4+ years old so you'd think problems would have shown up by now.
Since I made a post anyway I might as well come out and say I don't understand what you guys are getting on about. All my 2 piston Shimano brakes (SLX 7000, XT 8000, XTR Trail 988, and XTR Race 9000) works flawlessly and have plenty of power. 4 piston brakes always seem like more hassle cuz it's twice the number of pistons to get moving and retracting the same distance. And it's not just me, at our shop we see a lot of brakes and all the mechanics love Shimano and bitch about Guides. For what it's worth my Formula The Ones and R1s also work perfectly but the pads sit so close to the rotors that they often get a little rub.
The only thing I can think seperating my experience from the rest of you is that I have so many bikes that the use gets spread out, but some of my bikes are 4+ years old so you'd think problems would have shown up by now.
I've owned multiple iterations of every 'era' of shimano brakes since 2003. Ever since the ceramic pistons came out, every single pair of them has done what's been described ad nauseum here. My buddy's bike shop has a box in the back specifically for placing their warranty shimano brakes to go back for the week/month. Shimano is well aware of the problem which makes it even worse because they don't fix it. They just take the shitty trek frame approach and replace them.
But even my trusty old 810 calipers finally started doing it, although it took about 4-5 years.
I think you're right about usage (cuz duh) accelerating the process. I typically have two bikes I descend on (IE not a hardtail) and am usually riding 4-6 days a week. I've pretty much settled into getting about a season's worth out of a pair of newer ones before they get wonky.
The reason I and udi make such a big deal about it is because it's fucking dangerous. Burning off the oil from your pads is no big deal because it's typically not much, but if you let it go long enough, you will eventually get a dead pull on your brakes, hopefully not somewhere serious. I almost went off a cliff from that shit a few years ago and you don't forget that kind of stuff. Other brakes don't do this. And every single pair of shimanos I've had the last 6-8 years eventually exhibits this problem.
But even my trusty old 810 calipers finally started doing it, although it took about 4-5 years.
I think you're right about usage (cuz duh) accelerating the process. I typically have two bikes I descend on (IE not a hardtail) and am usually riding 4-6 days a week. I've pretty much settled into getting about a season's worth out of a pair of newer ones before they get wonky.
The reason I and udi make such a big deal about it is because it's fucking dangerous. Burning off the oil from your pads is no big deal because it's typically not much, but if you let it go long enough, you will eventually get a dead pull on your brakes, hopefully not somewhere serious. I almost went off a cliff from that shit a few years ago and you don't forget that kind of stuff. Other brakes don't do this. And every single pair of shimanos I've had the last 6-8 years eventually exhibits this problem.