Without starting this thread sounding like an offshore oil rig worker trying to sell his cousin's bike, I'll get right to the point: I need to decide what set of brakes to get for my MTB next. Background: I am built for going more downhill than up - around 100kg. My bike is a 150mm/130mm travel black mongrel weighing more than 14kg. I like the more technical stuff and not averse to my bike's tyres leaving contact with Mother Earth on occasion. I currently run Shimano XT M8000's on a 203mm front and 180mm rear rotor which give me reasonable stopping power but lacks modulation and brute force when it is really needed, and I feel holding me back a little in terms of confidence to push the boundaries a bit more. The shortlist at the moment contains: TRP Quadiem's Hope Tech3 E4's Formula Cura's and possibly TRP slate I'm not a big fan of SRAM brakes due to previous bad experiences therefore I won't consider these as an option for now. At the end of the day I'll need to way up performance, reliability, ease of getting spares, backup and repairs but also value for money, as there is a significant difference in price between some of the options on my list. I am not asking any of you to choose for me, but would appreciate if anybody with proper experience with any of the listed brake sets above to impart some of it to educate my eventual leap. Greatly appreciated!
