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Im in the market for a new set of brakes and calipers and have been doing my homework.
I love the Hope M4 tech evos and their build quality but i also like the new XT single finger M75s with their ice rotors and pads. I also like the formula the ones. I can spend £300 all in for levers and calipers - i have new discs already. any thoughts on the best brakes out there at the mo. what do you think about these three. i currently have avid carbon elixirs but find i cant rely on them - very spongy and a bit hit and miss.

cheers

paul

I have the XT's and they are far and away the best brakes for feel and power i have used.

i have elixirs on my 2nd bike and they are ok at best

my mate has the hope moto on his bike and previously had the m4's and they are ok but i'm not a fan of the lever movement.

i doubt very much if you can buy better brakes for the money than xt's

Ive had Saints and cant really fault them, always worked fine, easy to bleed and given me enough stopping power even in Alps,etc.

I believe the new Saints (and cheaper Zees) are pretty similar to new Xt range, they both include all the extra finned ICE features, no idea if cooling everything down helps stopping power but logic dictates it cant hurt !.. Not so keen on the ICE rotors, at the time I bought mine they only did the splined option so you had to have Saint hubs too, but I believe they make them in the standard bolt on version now.

All the hope stuff looks technically better in my opinion and has greater adjustabilty ?.. The saint had the wierd free stroke adjuster which is well known for not axctually doing anything, although dont think thats on the new Saint/Zee range.

Andy

top advice. thanks

They do cheaper discs than the icetech ones now from shimano for about £35 a disc worth a look

Got a front m4 and back mini for sale if your interested? great brakes and would save you a bit of cash...

I got 6 bolt IceTech rotors with my XT's for about £30 each from bike-discount.de. Can't say I've noticed any difference to normal rotos though!
If you slightly overfill the Shimano brakes (wind out the free stroke before bleeding and refilling the reservoir) that have free stroke adjustment it tends to work and actually do as it's meant to. Out of the box mine did very little.

XT's all day long

I think the icetech rotors are only going to be of any real benefit on long hard braking descents where previous models would suffer from brake fade.

Another shout for the XTs. Got a set a month or so ago for my blender and like said for the price I don't think you can get much better. That said if you can spend the extra I would go for The Formulas.

Well ive just ordered a set of xt silver brakes and calipers with black hoses. the hopes look ace but loads of reviews note trouble ahead for owners. lets hope ive made a good choice. cheers all

Aha..might give that a go.As I understand it, its supposed to adjust the reach but without affecting the bite point of the pads ?

Andy

You might mean the same thing but it changes the distance the pads have to travel before they touch the rotors by about a mm. The reach adjustment knob changes the distance of the lever from the bar without affecting the pads.

I run hope M4 evo's and love them floating rotors 183 up front&160 rear on a hard tail!the stoping force is unreal!,the rotors make a ping noise when they get hot

Yeah..that makes more sense !