Shimano Deore XT M8000 2-piston Disc Brakes (discontinued)

These are the standard, no matter what company you prefer, they will always need to compete with Shimano for power andreliability.  There is nothing more consistent than the Shimano XT and the price point is good enough to cover most if not all aspects of Mountain Biking.  With the introduction of the Shimano XT 8020, these can cover the enduro/DH riding style.  There is not much trigger feel as the brakes bite with 80-100 power within the first few cm's of pulling the lever.  Something I've gotten accustomed to and require in my riding style.  However, there is a downside to these brakes is that there always seems to be an air bubble in the line or caliper which causes you to pump the brake levers a couple to a few times before getting full  power at the desired brake lever pull.  Other than that, these are the ones.

I use these brakes in my Yeti Sb5.5 for all mountain / enduro type of rides. They are pretty well tested in some very gnarly conditions, from fast trails, to technical to long descents in Costa Rica where conditions are tropical.

They have proven to be easy to maintain, easy to get spare parts, not expensive and the lever shape and feeling is spot on for my taste. 

The only drawbacks has been in long technical descents where they get hot, hence the lever feeling gets on the stiffer side, and I wouldn't mind a bit more power. I know the Shimano Saints would address this, but with the cost of added weight.

It's impossible to review these brakes without first mentioning that they're heavily discounted all over the internet, so the "real" price is closer to £100/pair (not including rotors). That makes them by far the best value performance brake available, from any brand before you even mention that they actually work pretty well too.
They're light weight and pretty powerful, especially with a big ol' rotor.

In theory mineral oil has a lower boiling temperature than DOT fluid, but I've never experienced an overheating problem that was due to the fluid, only the pads start to struggle if you drag and drag them down Alpine hills.

Pads are worth mentioning separately.  Some of the super cheap OEM XT brakes come with really basic pads (not the proper after market pads) that are complete junk and manage to offer little bite and wear out extremely quickly so that's worth bearing in mind before you click "order" from a random German website.  That said, while the proper XT pads are decent, they're not better than your average aftermarket equivelant.  The finned pads offer no ugrade that I've ever noticed either, they just look a bit fancy if you're into that kind of thing. 

Similarly, the aluminium sandwiched disc rotors (Ice Tech) aren't anything other than gimick as far as I'm concerned and that goes for the finned (Freezer Tech) rotors too, although they do look kind cool (only available as Center-lock, which is balls).

I think we should all accept that brakes have a finite lifetime.  None of them last forever before the master cylinders go to random bite points, so 12 months is the most you should expect from these XT's before they'll require what I call "eBay servicing", ie sell on eBay and buy some new ones.  Anyone who buys 2nd hand brakes on eBay deserves what they get.

So they're you go - not outstanding performance, but thoroughly "note bad" and they're so cheap online that I don't see how you could consider other brakes that cost 2 or 3 times as much that are unlikely to be better or last longer.  SImples

These have been my go to brakes for years. I am a big fan of the way they grab. I couldn't care less about modulation, when I pull my levers I want the brakes to grab. I have used these brakes for everything from a 6 hour endurance event to trail riding to enduro racing and have no complaints. I had a couple issues with them, like the leaking caliper, but the new caliper is working perfectly with no issues. I would recommend these to just about anybody. They look great and can be found for a pretty decent price. The SLX brake is also great if you want to save a couple more bucks and works just as well. I am a big guy at 6'7" and 250 + pounds and love these brakes and have no issues slowing down or stopping, so it always baffles me why lighter guys think they need huge 4 piston stoppers for trail riding. no in saying that, I would love to try the new 4 piston XT brakes. As a reliable everyday do everything brake you can't go wrong with the Shimano XT's or even the SLX's.