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Is there much power difference? I’ve got a set of DH-Rs and trying to decide between either Oak or Freedom levers, or just getting a pair of Pro MCs..
they didn’t, your government is collecting the tariffs, NOT lordgun. are you mentally challenged? MAGA? both?
Good thing vital has a block user functionality... 🙄
I quite enjoy the Oak lever. the stiffer lever feeling helps a bit (IMO) and almost feels like there is more power with less force while pulling hard on the brakes. in Canada Pro MCs are quite expensive with tariff and everything so made more sense for me going with Oak. Having less free stroke would be a nice upgrade tho.
I have a set of DHR evo's with 203 rotors, shimano metallic pads and freedom coast levers. The freedom coast levers are for sure an upgrade over the standard levers and the ergonomics and power. That being said, these brakes have way too much free stroke and it leads to more finger/hand fatigue for me then the maven bronze and maven ultimate's I have on others bikes. For that reason, I would suggest passing on the aftermarket levers and going straight to the pro mc's.
In general, I would give the oak levers a nod over the freedom coast levers. I have freedom coast levers on a set of maven bronze and oak levers on my maven experts. I do prefer the oak levers in terms of ergonomics and feel over the freedom coast levers. I can't comment on the oak levers on the dhr's however, as I haven't tried those, but the freedom coast levers do sorta create some minor hotspots on the edges and finger hook that the oak levers do not (at least on the maven designs).
With many of the GR4 color options on backorder for 4+ weeks (confirmed with a retailer yesterday), I am thinking about trying something different - has anyone tried to use a larger cam roller in the T3 or T4 levers? I've read that swapping the roller with a 8/9mm bearing reduces the dead stroke quite a bit.
Not really, marginal at best. Adjustability is the big change, being able to bring the lever closer or change bite point feel. They also firmed up the brake hose, which apparently makes the lever have a sharper feel. They made a running change to Evos, so if your main issue is lever position, I have been told TRP will send you an update kit for that. My newer set of the Evos can get the lever much closer to the bar.
I’ve got two questions for all you Shimano XT users:
- What persistent issues have you experienced in the past?
- What aspects of the brakes have you enjoyed?
I’ve been comparing the new XT 4-piston brakes (M8200) against the previous XT 4-piston brakes (M8100). There is a lot of similarities between the two, which begs the question, “should you buy the new brakes if you're happily riding the previous gen?” That’s what I’m hoping to figure out as part of this review. I'm open to any suggestions or things people want answered!
Only issues with Old XT is the leaking or cracking of pistons. Some people complain about the rattling noise, but I didn't find it too bad.
What I like is they are not fussy brakes, they are a work horse for the most part. I personally like the on/off feel
I haven't ridden the new XT's, but have ridden the XTRs and found them to be a step up- but it's just an R and a lot of money.
- issues: wandering bite point
enjoyed: easy bleed procedure (though they didn't necessarily resolve the wandering bite point issue). decently strong bite and consistency.
I've sinced moved onto Hayes brakes which have been a step in nearly every way.
My main complaint with XT 8120 brakes is that the pistons self destructed, cracked after about 6 months.
They also lose power if you run the levers close to the bar.
The bite point adjustment was useless, which limited how close you could run the levers to the bars.
Power was ok but not great.
I've been much happier on all issues since switching to code rsc.
I’ve got a 8120 set on my dh bike with 220 2.0 rotors front and rear. No wandering, but the power I was hoping for just isn’t there, especially compared to Dominion A4’s. Any chance to try different pads to see if any make a noticeable difference? I’d rather throw money at pads than give up on these brakes.
Yes—better than gr4 with 10mm bearing
Sadly
Issues: Brake lever blades snap to easily, occasionally had problems with wandering bite point (but always fixed by doing a full bleed or switching to putoline oil).
Enjoyed: Super easy to work with and bleed, consistent, good power and lovely lever feel.
Recently I got the Dominion A4s on a new bike. Ran them for 2 months but the overall noise that they had was just too annoying for me. But for modulation they're certainly better. All out power I'm not sure, but that depends on where I ride and live I guess.
I have MT520 on my older bike and M8120 on the newer one. The latter got the wandering bite point eventually, but only after I replaced both levers because I damaged them in a crash. I think I got on top of it with a half-arsed gravity bleed, still using the OEM mineral oil, but if not I'll do a more thorough one. Having said that, "wandering" made it sound (to me at least) like you don't know what you're going to get with each lever pull, but the behaviour seems to be very predictable.
The same crash resulted in an upgrade to some aftermarket ~2 mm rotors and now they're incredibly snappy, which I like a lot. On OEM metallic pads they do fade a little (i.e. I need to pull increasingly harder – they continue to provide enough power) towards the end of a run at Thredbo, but I use the brakes way too much because mountain biking is scary. I haven't tried any of the good aftermarket pads yet, primarily because they're very expensive here for what would just be an experiment initially.
The M8200 levers look fugly as.
Edit to add after reading mannebask's response: I've bent XT lever blades and they are at least inexpensive and simple to replace. Whenever I look at Trickstuff or Hope brakes with lust in my heart I remember that I'd probably bankrupt myself replacing blades.
After the nuclear winter there will be a cockroach riding a bike with 8120 brakes on it. They are perhaps characterised by the fact that they’re not outstanding anywhere, but they’re good enough almost everywhere and will stay that way after the fluid has turned to tooth paste.
There are plenty of better stock brakes, but few as robust. Sure there have been occasional runs with bad pistons but the reason people remember that is it’s been so rare an exception to the reliability.
Yeah it's easy and not expensive for sure. Just annoying that they're a bit fragile. I rammed one lever of the Dominions straight into a tree first run in high speed, not even a scratch hehe. But a valid point for sure, I tend to keep a stock of old blades from buying broken levers and old take offs.
Issues: leaky pistons
Enjoyed: with 220 rotors and mtx gold pads, I thought they were a great brake for an enduro bike. Also enjoy the shimano brake feel.
I wouldn't buy another shimano brake without trying out some of the other brakes on the market first. Whether right or wrong, shimano brakes have become synonymous with "leaky pistons" in my mind, and I would need to shake that thought before buying another set or caliper. I like the levers tho, so probably back to a shigura setup before trying a set of evo pros.
In my mind shimano brakes are synonymous with “brakes that might suddenly decide to bite 5-10mm closer to the handlebar”
I have 8120’s on my Sentinel and they’re being replaced with GR4’s once I pick them up from the LBS tonight.
Issues: self adjusting bite point (eventually lead me to buying different brakes), pad rattles, easy to crack pistons
Likes: easy bleed, lever feel, every shop has parts
Shimano brakes have been bombproof for me. So easy to bleed and can even get them feeling fresh with a lever bleed. Also a big fan of the on/off feel while running Koolstop sintered pads and 203 Icetechs. In 6 years of running SLX brakes (which do about 150-200 rides a year), I've broken one lever and encountered a leaky calliper that needed replacing once. My ownership and riding experience have only been positive.
I've tried and liked RSCs, but I run Shimano drivetrains and like the integration without having to buy matchmakers. Put SLX/XT/RSCs on my bike and I'm happy.
What was the part number for the new brake pads that were compatible with the old 4-piston XTs? supposed to not rattle as much or something? Can't find a definitive answer
How did you make that work? All I am getting is too little lever and piston movement -> poor seal rollback -> locked wheels.
Work great here?
That being the case - does that mean the EVO blades would fit a Tech 4 lever? I want a more hooked blade.
No, evo blade on tech 4 doesn’t
Tech 4 blade on evo master yes
Main downside is the self-contaminating calipers. Spoke with Shimano and they had 'never heard of the issue,' which made me laugh out loud. I think all Shimano's ceramic piston brakes are prone to leaking. In the shop, I see their road calipers contaminate pads at 10x the rate of any other reputable brake manufacturer (sorry Promax, you don't make the cut). They don't leak during a pressure test, but leak during storage. If your current XT brakes aren't leaking, I don't see any reason to try the new ones, unless the new lever ergonomics are really much better.
Lever ergonomics is ok for 81xx series. I'm currently using them with Sram Motive brakes.
Fresh 612s in the works
Tried lots of Shimano brakes, all the same issues.
The wandering bite point is the biggest one for me. When temps drop below freezing, if you pull the lever twice in quick succession, it'll grab at a different point. My experience is every set of Shimano brakes I've ever gotten on does this, but the people who don't experience it use a different braking technique than those that do. If you are on/off quickly a lot, then you'll notice it, if you tend to make longer single pull drags or have longer gaps between braking, you won't notice it.
I've had some that leaked around the pistons. I never had cracked pistons but know folks who have.
The fluid turns black very quickly. According to the rep at Shimano I spoke with, this isn't normal, but I've again yet to bleed a set that this hadn't happened to. Whether this means degraded performance, I have no idea.
Shimano customer support is nonexistent. Their lack of available seal kits means you dispose of them instead of rebuilding them if there is a problem, which is wasteful.
Power is very mid compared to other, more modern options (Hope, Intend, Radic, Maven). There is worse, but there is a lot better also.
I've had sets where the brake lever began to flop up and down, there would be a noticeable vertical play in the lever to the point it was bouncing around under your finger while you were riding. I gather the bushing supporting the lever blades wears out and it develops this flop, but admittedly I've only had this issue on prior gen M8020 levers. You have to run them a while for this to develop and it seems inconsistent, some do it, some don't, but still it's annoying to have suspended brake levers and feels cheap.
The wandering bite point has always been resolved by using another mineral oil (like Putoline) in my case !
Post a reply to: Nerding out on Brakes shall we? Not another tech deraliment