New brakes for trail hardtail (Cura vs Guide vs Shimano)

[Traveler]

SLX M7000 brakesets on special at easybike and evobike for ZAR2,999.

 

New SLX and XT brakesets are ZAR5,000 at the same places.

 

My favourite Shimano brakes I've had on a bike was the SLX M675. They were awesome. 

 

Replaced them with Formula R1, and that was not the best call. Those Formula's ran way to close to the rotor and were always making a noise after the first couple of meters riding in the dust. They braked really well, but wished that I could back them away from the rotors just a bit more. 

 

I'll swop my M8000's for a set of Cura's in the blink of an eye. 

Edited July 31, 2019 by Traveler

[Dirt Tracker]

Formula Cura's are the way to go.

 

They're the most powerful, excellent modulation, look good and remain relatively light.

 

They're also fully serviceable and rebuildable so will last. 

 

I was just typing a reply saying I got turned onto Curas because all the guys in bike shops who I respected had them on their personal bikes and rode them (Nixon, Marc D and others). I'd never heard of them previously but got a set of the 2 pots cheaply and they were awesome. I've had Guides, Hope, SLX and 2 pot Curas and now on the Cura 4 pot versions and frankly you just don't need that amount of power. The standard curas are way enough and the modulation worked perfectly for me. What I like is they have a great feel & modulation  but if you need to bring on the power then there is a bucket load hiding in there. Personally I find 4's a little too much for most of the riding around here but they would be great in bigger places with longer runs. I also found that the 4 pots come on much stronger on those 'uh-ho, didn't expect that, my brain says grab the lever' moments. Not enough to rudely fire you OTB but 2 pots worked for me perfectly. 

 

Edit: I'd like to try the TRP's but at the moment I can't see myself from changing. 

Edited July 31, 2019 by Dirt Tracker

[EmptyB]

Had Cura on now since January. Couldn't be happier. Best modulation I've ever felt on any brake....

 

They could stop a truck and look good too!

[Grease_Monkey]

Cura all they way! XT M8000 on the one bike, Cura on the other. Cura's are better in every single aspect - more stopping power, better modulation, better lever feel, no brake fade, ALOT less bleeding required, they are consistent, etc etc etc. Best value per Rand brakes you will find.

 

I initially bought the Curas on a whim - I wanted another set of XT M8000's, but Trailtech was out of stock - they suggested I try the Curas - flipen happy they did!

 

I am planning on selling the XT M8000's on my hardtail at some point, moving the Curas over to my hardtail and then buying a set of 4 pot Curas for the Enduro bike (where the 2 pot Curas are at the moment). Not that I need 4 pot, just seems silly not to buy 4 pots when I am buying new brakes anyway...

Edited July 31, 2019 by Grease_Monkey

[EasyBike]

We have the New Shimano M7100, M7120, M8100 Brakes arriving in next week if anyone is looking or interested.

 

Stock is limited at this stage, we have a few orders already with a couple left for Pre-Order.

 

Checkout our website for details and to order or mail us for more info and to order.

 

We also have the M7000, M8000 & M8020 (4 Piston) Brakes available.

 

Email: sales@easybike.co.za

Website: https://www.easybike.co.za/components/disk-brakes/complete-brake-sets.html

 

Regards

EasyBike

 

 

[Dirt Tracker]

Cura all they way! XT M8000 on the one bike, Cura on the other. Cura's are better in every single aspect - more stopping power, better modulation, better lever feel, no brake fade, ALOT less bleeding required, they are consistent, etc etc etc. Best value per Rand brakes you will find.

 

Never bled mine in the 18 months I had the 2 pots and not touched the 4 pots for admin at all. Forgot, one of the best things about them is the quick release system which means you can unclip the hoses from the calipers without losing fluid or letting air in. great when taking bikes apart for builds, internal routing or traveling etc. 

 

Edited July 31, 2019 by Dirt Tracker

[Grease_Monkey]

Never bled mine in the 18 months I had the 2 pots and not touched the 4 pots for admin at all. Forgot, one of the best things about them is the quick release system which means you can unclip the hoses from the calipers without losing fluid or letting air in. great when taking bikes apart for builds, internal routing or traveling etc. 

 

 

 

I have only ever bled my Curas when I have rebuilt my bike - they have been on 3 frames since 2016 when I got them. Really a minimum maintenance brake-set! I also store my bike against a wall (front wheel up), and no air gets in the system - a completely different story the Shimanos...

 

For interest sake - how do the 4 pot version compare with the 2 pot version?

Edited July 31, 2019 by Grease_Monkey

[Super Sywurm]

I also had the Tektro's on my Stumpy, they were the first things to be replaced.

 

Had a set of Cura's in mind, but the sale fell through, replaced them with a set of SLX's eventually and couldn't be happier. They stop. That's all I need. They don't have much modulation, but I like the on/off feeling from them.

 

Rode a Levo with Guide's on a demo day, they also felt a bit squishy for me to be honest.

I removed the Tektro brakes from my new bike last night and replaced them with my old and trustworthy Shimano brakes.

[Duane_Bosch]

 

Edit: I'd like to try the TRP's but at the moment I can't see myself from changing. 

Don't.

 

Had Slates on my Reign and they sucked. The power brought back memories of my first car. I should have gone with Cura's but stupid me bought Slates.

[Mr. G]

This wandering brake point thing is bull**** that reviewers think is an issue. All brakes change when they heat up during descents. In my experience a Shimano Ice-Tech system's feel also changes but on a very long descent but this has never been an issue as there is always spare power available. Other brakes such as my current SRAM Guide Setup just lose power and cause arm-pump, the bite point also changes as you have to squeeze harder!

 

I don't replace brakes often and expect them to last a long time with minimal maintenance and high abuse. NONE of my previous SRAM brakes have been able to do this. ALL of my Shimano systems have. So I am happy to have a wandering bite point.

 

+1

[hannock]

Xt you never go wrong but one secret if they bleeded them wrong they wont last the brake lever be aware of that

[Thermophage]

Don't.

 

Had Slates on my Reign and they sucked. The power brought back memories of my first car. I should have gone with Cura's but stupid me bought Slates.

Yeah the Slates are apparently terrible. I recently replaced my Zee's with a set of TRP Quadiems and no chance I'd ever go back to Shimano. Once bedded in the power is comparable, but the control is far superior. And they are cheap! R3600 with a 180 and 160 rotor.

[captain morgan]

I've got R1 on 2 bikes , cura s on another .... love the predictable power and modulation....

Formula gets my vote

[dasilvarsa]

Shimano

[Knersboy]

So I had a set of Formula C1 brakes, entry level formula brakes but they worked really well. The issue I had was brake pad life. I only got about 1500km out of the rear brake pads, and they were the metal ones.

 

With my XT brakes I recently changed rear brake pads and they had 4000km on.

 

Seriously intrigued by the Cura’s, but the pad life scares me. Anyone else had this issue with Formula brakes?

[Pieter1]

I had Curas. Not sure if just mine but they were poef. I’d go with slx if I were you. I’m digging my xt brakes.