All

My Santa Cruz Blur was over $5k USA with shimano XTR, granted it was 14 years ago. But they were terrible, inconsistent, would often drag, even rebuilding the cylinders didn't always help. Oh and they made their horrible screech. Rides in moab would mock me as they rode by. Generally I think it's more of a hit or miss on any bike parts that are the lightest. I don't mind a few extra grams here and there, not like I don't have some extra pounds around my middle. Sram has taken some big steps to help with heat, hot brake...

I had a pair of Shimano XTRs that were TERRIBLE. Super noisy, never retracted well, even with the cyclinders rebuilt it was hit or miss. Sure it was 14 years ago or so. But there were articles in dirt rag, mount bike action, and others. People would even heckle me on the trail about it because of the distinctive screech. What's worse is shimano brought out revisions and fixes, but despite spending top $$$ on my bike the dealer I bought it from just shrugged and said "that's normal". I switched to avid and it was quite an upgrade. I...

Problem is small cartridges need insanely high pressures, thus their seals are actually metal not rubber. So you can't feasibly having something small and reusable. You get something the size of a milkit for more normal pressures you can reach with a regular pump and normal plastic+rubber seals.