[norbar]

My formulas gave up on my old as hell trailbike. Since it's not primary or even secondary bike I don't want to spend a lot of cash on it so I'm thinking of going as cheap as possible. Are SLX brakes a big upgrade over Deore (the older models, not the 4 pot newer ones).

Also any other cheap alternatives for a trashy trailbike? Magura I know is trash and no one wants to service formulas.

 

[Sandro]

I don't think there's any difference besides finish and the lack of a tool free lever adjustment, which isn't of much use to begin with. Ran a Deore on the rear of my trail bike for four years without any issues and have none of those popular Shimano horror stories to share.

 

[slimshady]

re SLX brakes a big upgrade over Deore (the older models, not the 4 pot newer ones).

The SLX gains the dreaded ceramic-crackpots and if memory serves me as it should, a metallic MC piston. All the things you don't want in a Shimano brake for their failure rate.

If you want cheap, powerful and reliable (although a little too much lever throw):

Shimano BL-MT501/BR-MT520, Deore levers with 4-pot calipers. 55 quid per end. Edit: 65 GBP per end


/thread.

 

[norbar]

The SLX gains the dreaded ceramic-crackpots and if memory serves me as it should, a metallic MC piston. All the things you don't want in a Shimano brake for their failure rate.

If you want cheap, powerful and reliable (although a little too much lever throw):

Shimano BL-MT501/BR-MT520, Deore levers with 4-pot calipers. 55 quid per end. Edit: 65 GBP per end


/thread.

The bike doesn't warrant a 65gbp brake. If I find nothing else I will go for them but I'm still super poor and the bike is worth like 500 GBP.

 

[norbar]

I don't think there's any difference besides finish and the lack of a tool free lever adjustment, which isn't of much use to begin with. Ran a Deore on the rear of my trail bike for four years without any issues and have none of those popular Shimano horror stories to share.

I've never heard any horror stories about shimano. Avid, Formula, Magura yes but not shimano.

 

[slimshady]

The bike doesn't warrant a 65gbp brake. If I find nothing else I will go for them but I'm still super poor and the bike is worth like 500 GBP.

You could probably find them cheaper online. I just posted the first reference price I found.

On the Shimano horror stories department, I'd say 7 out of 10 calipers with ceramic pistons I've seen became leaky sooner or later. And maybe 3 out of 10 levers got the Variable Bite Point™ feature.

 

[Gary]

Got Deore on 2 bikes. A short travel full sus and a do everything DJ hardtail.
The set on the HT has done over 3000miles of shitty conditions Scottish mtb
Other set has only done 500miles or so but I suppose this shows they're surviving the dreaded "being left alone" leak that seem to plague Shimano SLX and above brakes.
Both sets have been great TBH.
Being Shimano they come with a 2yr warranty and if a seal goes you'll just be sent a whole new caliper or lever.

 

[norbar]

You could probably find them cheaper online. I just posted the first reference price I found.

On the Shimano horror stories department, I'd say 7 out of 10 calipers with ceramic pistons I've seen became leaky sooner or later. And maybe 3 out of 10 levers got the Variable Bite Point™ feature.

Variable bite point seems to be a feature of all brakes that are not old 2003 magura gustavs or newer hope models

 

[norbar]

Got Deore on 2 bikes. A short travel full sus and a do everything DJ hardtail.
The set on the HT has done over 3000miles of shitty conditions Scottish mtb
Other set has only done 500miles or so but I suppose this shows they're surviving the dreaded "being left alone" leak that seem to plague Shimano SLX and above brakes.
Both sets have been great TBH.
Being Shimano they come with a 2yr warranty and if a seal goes you'll just be sent a whole new caliper or lever.

Thanks. I will go with them. The ceramic piston seems like a meh idea and I liked the Deores I've tried on rentals in Bali and if they could survive the shitty conditions those bikes were in (like a dropper stuck in the up position) then I have some faith in them.

 

[canadmos]

Variable bite point seems to be a feature of all brakes that are not old 2003 magura gustavs or newer hope models

Ummmm, variable as in pull to the fuckin' bar when you need the brakes the most. YMMV though.






But when it happens, better hope you took a pre-ride poop.

 

[norbar]

Ummmm, variable as in pull to the fuckin' bar when you need the brakes the most. YMMV though.






But when it happens, better hope you took a pre-ride poop.

Had to jump over the bars one time because my formulas stopped working. Fun when going full blast on a dh bike and what happens after a corner is steep.

 

[kidwoo]

I've never heard any horror stories about shimano.

Lots of info here: www.ridemonkey.com

 

[Gary]

Ummmm, variable as in pull to the fuckin' bar when you need the brakes the most.

FWIW All my friends with XT, XTR and SLX of the same era have had that or the nothing then pump the lever twice to activeate the brake feature while those 3000mile old Deores of mine ignorantly and blissfully just did their thing without any of that happening.
I did break a piston plunger on one lever (my fault) and replaced that lever (at maybe 1000miles in)

 

[KenW449]

My bike has Shimano M365. Can be had for under $50. I have used them for 2 years now, from XC trails to double black trails on Mt. Lemmon. No issues with them. I have had to burb the air out twice in that time, and have not done a bleed. They still feel solid.

 

[slimshady]

FWIW All my friends with XT, XTR and SLX of the same era have had that or the nothing then pump the lever twice to activeate the brake feature while those 3000mile old Deores of mine ignorantly and blissfully just did their thing without any of that happening.
I did break a piston plunger on one lever (my fault) and replaced that lever (at maybe 1000miles in)

That's because the MC piston/plunger in the Deores is plastic, while on the higher models it's metal. Since Shimano didn't anodize the lever body after machining the MC bore, the softer aluminium gets deformed. With the plastic plunger you get a bit more room until the bore finally gets ovalized.

 

[Gary]

That's because the MC piston/plunger in the Deores is plastic, while on the higher models it's metal. Since Shimano didn't anodize the lever body after machining the MC bore, the softer aluminium gets deformed. With the plastic plunger you get a bit more room until the bore finally gets ovalized.

Ah... Ok. Thanks man. Makes 'some' sense
Even though I disassembled that lever piston/plunger I couldn't have told you what any of the internals were made from let alone the finish.

 

[StiHacka]

FWIW All my friends with XT, XTR and SLX of the same era have had that or the nothing then pump the lever twice to activeate the brake feature while those 3000mile old Deores of mine ignorantly and blissfully just did their thing without any of that happening.

That was happening on my Zee/Saint brakes until I replaced the calipers with throw-away Magura Pinkbike specials. I've done thousands of miles on the Saintguras and the levers are still going strong.

 

[gratefulbiker]

I've had the M6000s on the trailbike most of the season and they've been totally solid. No discernible difference in performance or feel compared to the SLXs on friends' bikes.

 

[HardtailHack]

My formulas gave up on my old as hell trailbike. Since it's not primary or even secondary bike I don't want to spend a lot of cash on it so I'm thinking of going as cheap as possible. Are SLX brakes a big upgrade over Deore (the older models, not the 4 pot newer ones).

Also any other cheap alternatives for a trashy trailbike? Magura I know is trash and no one wants to service formulas.

I had Deores, they felt like all the other Shimano brakes I had tried, sold 'em for $20 then bought Magura MT5s and couldn't be happier.

 

[Olly]

I’ve had much better luck with the current Deore M6000 levers than the last two generations of XTs.

 

[Inclag]

The Deore's that came on my Mega 290 have been very respectable and consistent. They did require a bleed right off the bat, but aside from that they just do their job.

First set of brakes that I've had in a long time that go about their business without any fuss. They do lack the outright power and bite some of the top tier things offer, but I'd imagine that you could make some reasonable gains with aftermarket pads and 203mm rotors.

 

[troy]

Deore had (not sure if still has) metal master cylinder piston, slx and above was plastic - so deore all the way. If You can stretch the budget a bit, then:

https://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;product=271042;menu=1000,2,15,117;mid[931]=1;pgc[15600]=15603;page=2;orderby=2

 

[Happymtb.fr]

Deore had (not sure if still has) metal master cylinder piston, slx and above was plastic - so deore all the way. If You can stretch the budget a bit, then:

https://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;product=271042;menu=1000,2,15,117;mid[931]=1;pgc[15600]=15603;page=2;orderby=2

By any chance, do you know the difference between the mt500 and mt501 levers?

 

[norbar]

Lots of info here: www.ridemonkey.com

Like anyone reads that. It's full of armchair engineers and haters.

 

[gratefulbiker]

By any chance, do you know the difference between the mt500 and mt501 levers?

Only thing I could find was via Shimano's website. Recommended caliper for the MT500 lever is the standard dual piston BR MT500, and the MT501 lever pairs up with the same dual piston as well as the new four piston BR MT520.
I vaguely remember reading something about the four piston caliper requiring a different lever to move more fluid, but can't find the specific article.

 

[Happymtb.fr]

Thanks @gratefulbiker !
My guess is that the mt501 has a slightly bigger reservoir than the mt500... MC area is the same across the range from the spreadsheet in the frankenbrake thread.