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Stroker Ace for the price point friendly DH brake?

BmxConvert

Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
715
0
Longview, Washington
My Shimano XT M765 brakes with dual 8" floating Hope rotors have finally died. They've been a good and faithful brake but I'm in need some something stronger. Unfortunately... I'm not made of money and I've got some heavy investing to do this coming year so I have to watch the funds hard.

A few things I've found...

-I've run the Elixir CR Mag/Code hybrid that came on the 2010 Demo 8 II's and those were excellent but hold a tall price tag.

-My old Hope 6 Pot Ti's seemed to last forever but never gave a ton of bite power. I can't see myself running them again.

-The Saint 810's on friends bike seemed legit and plenty strong. The new Saint 820's should be dandy too. Both, even at cost are pricey.

-I have the Shimano XT Ice M785's on my trail bike and they are bitchin with tons of power on 6" rotors. The price is much better than Saint and even Zee.

-Zee... well I'm not really sure. It's at least an extra $100 over the Stroker Ace brakes so I'm curious how better they would be.

The Stroker Ace brakes looked to have the same lever blade as the Stroker Trails which felt good in hand. They also are available for $115 a wheel which has my attention.
Power and modulation wise, how do they compare to the other 4 piston brakes out there now? Are they worth it? Would it be a noticeable increase in power over my current clapped out, 4 season old, xc brakes on a dh bike?
 

shredden.

Chimp
Jun 11, 2012
25
0
Get the 2012 XTs mate, if you hunt around you will get a pair brand new for 240...

So sick, and plenty of power.
 

mtg

Green with Envy
Sep 21, 2009
1,862
1,604
Denver, CO
Also look into the Haye Prime. Running those on my dh bike and they are great. Excellent power, modulation and cheap.
Both my teammate and I started off the season with the Primes, and we both spent a bunch of cash to replace them with Shimano SLX's.

According to Hayes, the Prime's require 60 sprints to hard stops to bed in the pads, and if you don't do that, they never really develop the correct power. We didn't know about the bed-in procedure until after inquiring why they had really low power & grab. I ditched mine because I didn't want to do 60 sprints every time I changed pads. My teammate bought new pads and actually did 60 sprints to hard stops, and then they actually started to work well....until Snowmass. He only weighs 145 lbs, and not exactly known for riding his brakes, but on a brake-intensive track like that one, his brakes overheated, and suddenly lost most of their power as he was dropping into Hell's Kitchen. After a big OTB, the Prime's were replaced immediately.
This part is a bit observation, and a bit speculation: it seems that the brake pad compound on the Prime's only works well in a narrow temperature band. Too cold, and they don't grab, too hot, and they fail. I think if they come out with a better pad compound, those brakes could be good, but in their current state, I think they are dangerous to use on a DH bike.

The Stroker Ace's should be fine for DH, though. I know a few people (including my wife) that have run them for a few years without issues. Personally, I'd rather run the new SLX w/ Ice Tech rotors, though. I'm 175 lbs, they have enough power for me, and I just got back from Whistler, where I purposefully dragged them a little coming down some of the upper Garbanzo descents (like Una Moss) to try to get them to fade. They never did.
 
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blackohio

Generous jaywalker
Mar 12, 2009
2,773
122
Hellafornia. Formerly stumptown.
I've run the primes now for about a year (maybe a little less) no bed in procedures, no loss of power, no issues. Been through several pad sets, steep, fast long trails and honestly havent had a single issue. I think experiences will certainly vary as there will always be good units and bad units. Remember all the saint loss of power issues a few years back?


Im not small or easy on brakes. Been through an Oregon winter, spring and summer and a whistler summer.

I will say though prices on the SLX stuff are sure looking nice.
 
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sbabuser

Turbo Monkey
Dec 22, 2004
1,114
55
Golden, CO
I've ridden a newer Devinci Wilson with Ace's, and they worked well. Unless weight's a concern, if you can get them for a deal, I'd say go for it.
 

mtg

Green with Envy
Sep 21, 2009
1,862
1,604
Denver, CO
I've run the primes now for about a year (maybe a little less) no bed in procedures, no loss of power, no issues. Been through several pad sets, steep, fast long trails and honestly havent had a single issue. I think experiences will certainly vary as there will always be good units and bad units. Remember all the saint loss of power issues a few years back?


Im not small or easy on brakes. Been through an Oregon winter, spring and summer and a whistler summer.

I will say though prices on the SLX stuff are sure looking nice.
What brake pad compound have you used on the Primes?

"not small or easy on brakes".....that could actually help to a certain extent, as long as you don't put enough heat into them to cause fade. When I had my Primes, the best they ever performed was after I let two novices ride my bike that did a lot of brake dragging.
 

blackohio

Generous jaywalker
Mar 12, 2009
2,773
122
Hellafornia. Formerly stumptown.
Im not 100% what pads i've been running but I think they are just the sintered metallic cheap-o pads. I tend to be an on/off braker. So maybe i've just been lucky heat cycling them.

The only real issue i've had was an otb in a rock garden that resulted in a broken level, master cylinder plunger and I cracked on of the triangular support braces.
 
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Sonic Reducer

Monkey
Mar 19, 2006
500
0
seattle worshington
Both my teammate and I started off the season with the Primes, and we both spent a bunch of cash to replace them with Shimano SLX's.
Whats your opinion of the SLX's for full DH? I need to replace some 08 codes that are stuck down. sick of bleeding those things. I like the look of the XT's and saints but slx sure look like a good buy if the performance is there. I have tried the deores on a trail bike and they were pretty good, dunno about for a DH bike though.
 

dfinn

Turbo Monkey
Jul 24, 2003
2,129
0
SL, UT
I have a set of the latest XTs and I think they might be more powerful than the 810 saints on my dh bike.
 

mtg

Green with Envy
Sep 21, 2009
1,862
1,604
Denver, CO
Whats your opinion of the SLX's for full DH? I need to replace some 08 codes that are stuck down. sick of bleeding those things. I like the look of the XT's and saints but slx sure look like a good buy if the performance is there. I have tried the deores on a trail bike and they were pretty good, dunno about for a DH bike though.
I like them a lot, they are the best brakes I've used on a DH bike, imo. I've owned the same Codes you have (worked great when they worked...), Elixir CR, Hayes Prime, and SLX. I've also ridden Hayes Stroker Ace and Saint M810. I'm using the current version of SLX with 8" front, 7" rear Ice Tech rotors (RT86). I chose SLX over XT because the Shimano rep told me they were functionally the same thing, other than the XTs features free stroke adjustment.

The consistency is better than anything I've used from Avid or Hayes, and the power is good for me. For heat capacity, we were lapping Garbanzo down and did a full Top of the World to base run at Whistler on the SLX's and didn't have an issue. Everybody I know that has had Shimano brakes for extended periods of time has had good things to say about their longevity. That's the only part I haven't personally tested yet, as I've only had my SLX brakes for a few months.
If you're hard on brakes and/or over 200 lbs, you may want to go with Zee/Saint, for the extra power and heat capacity.
 
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Zark

Hey little girl, do you want some candy?
Oct 18, 2001
6,254
7
Reno 911
I have a set of the latest XTs and I think they might be more powerful than the 810 saints on my dh bike.
I just installed xt brakes on my enduro and they feel better than the code r brakes on my M9.
 

Mr Horse

Chimp
Sep 9, 2012
5
0
After much pondering, I pulled the trigger and am now using Stroker Aces w. sintered pads and have no complaints.

If anything, they may have too much stopping power for a fly weight. I'm #275 with a Shrek-ish physique and they can stop me pronto on even the steepest slope.....
 

BmxConvert

Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
715
0
Longview, Washington
I like them a lot, they are the best brakes I've used on a DH bike, imo. I've owned the same Codes you have (worked great when they worked...), Elixir CR, Hayes Prime, and SLX. I've also ridden Hayes Stroker Ace and Saint M810. I'm using the current version of SLX with 8" front, 7" rear Ice Tech rotors (RT86). I chose SLX over XT because the Shimano rep told me they were functionally the same thing, other than the XTs features free stroke adjustment.

The consistency is better than anything I've used from Avid or Hayes, and the power is good for me. For heat capacity, we were lapping Garbanzo down and did a full Top of the World to base run at Whistler on the SLX's and didn't have an issue. Everybody I know that has had Shimano brakes for extended periods of time has had good things to say about their longevity. That's the only part I haven't personally tested yet, as I've only had my SLX brakes for a few months.
If you're hard on brakes and/or over 200 lbs, you may want to go with Zee/Saint, for the extra power and heat capacity.
I just installed xt brakes on my enduro and they feel better than the code r brakes on my M9.
Alright. So this info is really helpful especially since I've run the Codes and currently have the Newest Model XT's on my trail bike. However... I'm a brake dragger.

Full runs from top to bottom at Whistler after 5 days of riding had rendered my M765 XT's as useful as poop.
Joyride and Detroit Rock City are some of my favorite trails and it gets frustrating with no brakes.
On my local trails my XT's aren't an issue, but I want a bike that's useful everywhere.

So SLX's are high on the list right now.
 

BmxConvert

Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
715
0
Longview, Washington
They've been through a ton of tumbles so they have a ton of gouging all over. Performance wise I bled the brakes with new fluid twice while on my trip. They'd make it through 1 day and mid way through the next day the levers were super soft again as if the mineral oil was "compressing"(no it wasn't a bad bleed). I'm pretty sure the fluid was actually leaking out from behind the pistons like some of the old saints used to do.
 

hitar_potar

Monkey
Sep 23, 2011
173
6
Ruse, Bulgaria
I've been using Aces for a little more than 18 months and have nothing bad to say about them. The first 3 months of riding them they weren't as grabby as i wanted them to be although they stopped pretty well. Gotta say though, that the first 3 months i didn't do any serious riding on them. The first time i went on a serious DH course, they've just surprised me with how much more power they had up in their sleeves. :O
Tremendous brakes with perfect stopping power, excellent modulation, and good lever feel. Original V8 rotors with Hayes sintered pads were just fine, but switching to Shimano XT floating rotors and Superstar kevlar pads totally transformed them in real stopping beasts!!! I'm heavy and brake-dragger and i just can't seem to make them fade - they just keep on stopping and stopping... :O One of my best buys for sure! :)
 

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,928
24
Over your shoulder whispering
I've got Stroker Ace on my DH bike and Stroker's Trails on my trail bike. The Trails were on my DH bike and they worked plenty good. The Ace has a little different feel, but I can say that when I need brakes to do what they do, both haven't let me down.

I'd love to try every brake on the market if I could to pick the perfect one, but that ain't happening. And I don't believe a darn thing any guys on Ridemonkey ever say.

Just take one ride on a monkey's bike and try to make any sense of how they can even get down a mountain. Believe in yourself and take care of whatever brand you are riding is the best advise.
 

Ithnu

Monkey
Jul 16, 2007
961
0
Denver
I run Aces, I'm 220 lbs, and they have never faded. Never in 3 years of DH racing. I was considering Primes, even talked to mtg who posted previously about them. After this experience I'm glad I stuck with the Aces. Far better brake than the Prime.

I was at the same Snowmass race, I know mtg's friend and I am not as fast as him. Which means I was on the brakes more, plus the above mentioned 220 lbs, with no problems.

*Aces don't even weigh much more than regular Strokers, I'm getting a set of Aces for the trail bike. They really are Haye's best brake.
 
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