Recommended me a new Hydraulic Brake Caliper and Lever Set

[Tom B]

I think my first post to CC some years ago was to ask for advice and recommendations for buying some new hydraulic brakes for my commuter bike.

The advice was overwhelmingly Shimano M615s that could be had for about £50 at the time.

Fast forward about 5 years and after lots of miserable salty winters and about 25k the rear is giving up.

The caliper has been increasingly reluctant to retract and is now binding. I've tried cleaning and cleaning with brake cleaner tooth bushes etc but nothing gives a lasting satisfactory solution.

It's suddenly got a lot worse after I had to fit new pads for the second time in a month after the friction material came off and was spat out of the caliper at speed mangling the spring. So it's not beyond the realms of possiblity that there is damage from that too.

Anyway I'm looking for recommendation for new brakes. Probably caliper hose and lever set as the lever tank is cracked too. Rear and LH lever.

The bike is a hybrid (not electric) commuter bike not particularly light, I am about 80kg I do sometimes tow a kiddie trailer full of shopping and often have a kiddie seat and increasingly heavy child on board. Including some big stops at the bottom of big hills. With this in mind I found 160mm stock disks were struggling to cope so upgraded to 180mm.

I'm considering Shimano Zee but open to suggestions. Other options include

Shimano MT200, M6000 M7000 and M8000

I'm not a fan of the Avid DB1s on my MTB.

 

[Deleted member 23692]

BL-MT501 and BR-MT520 combo should be all you'll need

https://www.bikemag.com/gear/tested-shimano-bl-mt501-br-mt520-145-per-brake/

Bargain - https://www.tweekscycles.com/shiman...utm_medium=Direct+Linking&utm_campaign=323889

 

[Pale Rider]

Your braking requirement is not onerous in terms of grunt required, so any Shimano hydraulic - running a decent sized rotor on the front - ought to be sufficient.

I have Shimano XT on my heavier ebike and rider set up, and I can tell I have very little braking power in reserve, which shows most of us are closer to the brake's design limit than we realise.

You will need to decide if you want two or three finger levers - both types are on your shortlist.

I'm not certain of the advantages or disadvantages, but the shorter, two finger levers are often described as MTB levers, so maybe they are aimed at that type of bike and riding.

A twist gear changer may make the choice for you because a two finger lever is too short to reach over the changer assembly.

I'm not convinced there's much of a performance difference between the various Shimano flat bar hydraulics - they all do a good job.

Seems to me there's little point in spending more than the price of the MT200, assuming three finger is OK.

The swish Zee shows what a two finger looks like.

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/shimano-br-mt200-disc-brake-set-721603

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-zee-m640-disc-brake/rp-prod82434

 

[Crankarm]

Your braking requirement is not onerous in terms of grunt required, so any Shimano hydraulic - running a decent sized rotor on the front - ought to be sufficient.

I have Shimano XT on my heavier ebike and rider set up, and I can tell I have very little braking power in reserve, which shows most of us are closer to the brake's design limit than we realise.

You will need to decide if you want two or three finger levers - both types are on your shortlist.

I'm not certain of the advantages or disadvantages, but the shorter, two finger levers are often described as MTB levers, so maybe they are aimed at that type of bike and riding.

A twist gear changer may make the choice for you because a two finger lever is too short to reach over the changer assembly.

I'm not convinced there's much of a performance difference between the various Shimano flat bar hydraulics - they all do a good job.

Seems to me there's little point in spending more than the price of the MT200, assuming three finger is OK.

The swish Zee shows what a two finger looks like.

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/shimano-br-mt200-disc-brake-set-721603

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-zee-m640-disc-brake/rp-prod82434

If you are using single pot Shimano XT M8000 on a chEat electric bike they were not designed for this use.

I have a bike with Shimano MT200 disc brakes on it. It came with these brakes. They are very basic disc brakes. I don't like them.They don't feel that powerful or that that they would pull me and my bike up fully loaded going down a steep mountain col unlike SLX or XT disc brakes. I have XT disc brakes to swap for the MT200 brakes.

I also have other bikes which I have built up with Shimano SLX and XT disc brakes. The latter SLX and XT brakes are far far far better than the MT200 disc brakes. MT200 are entry level brakes which can be bought for about £30-35 for a full set front and rear! I also have a bikes with Hope 4 pot disc brakes which are simply amazing. It's like comparing MT200 as entry level car Bendix disc brakes with top spec Brembo disc brakes which are Hope or Shimano XT or XTR disc brakes.

Btw Shimano are now offering SLX and XT disc brakes with 4 piston callipers - SLX M7120 and XT M8120 to basically pander to the chEat electric bike market which is actually good as it means even more powerful brakes, better modulation as well.

https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-slx-m7120-front-and-rear-disc-brake-set-179616.html

https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-xt-m8120-front-and-rear-disc-brake-set-179622.html

These are far far superior to Shimano MT200 disc brakes. Really they are.

I would go for the SLX M7120 4 pot disc brakes at £199. The Zee 4 pot versions £175.00 are out of stock at the moment with Merlin.

HTH the OP.

 

[si_c]

I don't think you need to go overboard for a commuter - you don't need a huge amount of power as you would with an MTB or eMTB. I've found M315s (MT200) with 160mm rotors to be more than sufficient for most purposes.

 

[Tom B]

Thanks for the replies so far.

My bike is not an E bike. Though it does get loaded up and used on some big hills with the lad on the back. So a 160mm does struggle and get cooked.

I think the SLX7140 will be a bit ott for me as I was hoping to come in around the 60-80 quid mark.

The 501/520 look interesting.

All the caliper issues I've ever had with hydraulics have been piston related... Does 4 pot vice 2pot mean double the trouble?

 

[Crankarm]

Thanks for the replies so far.

My bike is not an E bike. Though it does get loaded up and used on some big hills with the lad on the back. So a 160mm does struggle and get cooked.

I think the SLX7140 will be a bit ott for me as I was hoping to come in around the 60-80 quid mark.

The 501/520 look interesting.

All the caliper issues I've ever had with hydraulics have been piston related... Does 4 pot vice 2pot mean double the trouble?

Not necessarily. If a bike and it's brakes are poorly maintained then you'll have trouble whether you have 2 or 4 pot disc brakes. You just need to keep the callipers and pistons clean if you ride in all weathers as neglect can be fatal. The pistons are plastic/ceramic unlike most car/motorcycle disc brake pistons which are either mild steel or stainless steel as forces and temperatures are so much higher.

It's a pity Merlin are out of stock of the Deore BR-M6000 disc brakes £84.95 as these are good basic brakes. If you do carry a significant amount of weight and do ride down a few steep hills where you need to use your brakes then go for as powerful brakes as possible. Definitely get at least a 180mm disc rotor on the front wheel or even a 203mm. Most bikes can only take up to a 160mm rotor on the rear wheel. I have a 180mm front and 160mm rear set up on my Troll with Shimano SLX 2 piston brakes and the brakes are good. I know it's over £100 more than you wanted to spend but I think the Shimano SLX M7120 4 pot disc brakes from Merlin are a good buy. They seem to be out of stock of others at the moment. Must be the CV factor, everyone at home and cyclists thinking what new components can I buy for my bike(s)?

HTH.

 

[Pale Rider]

I don't think you need to go overboard for a commuter - you don't need a huge amount of power as you would with an MTB or eMTB. I've found M315s (MT200) with 160mm rotors to be more than sufficient for most purposes.

And the OP has already made the sensible upgrade to a 180mm rotor on the front.

He has MT 200 at the moment.

There's no suggestion he's unhappy with the braking performance.

Quite reasonably, he's not even unhappy with the reliability, given they've done 25,000 commuting miles, including five winters.

Upgrading is always fun, but the common sense decision here is there's no need to spend more than the price of another pair of MT 200s.

 

[Globalti]

One misapprehension that needs to be put right: hydraulic brake piston do not slide through the seals as the seals are much too tight and there's no spring strong enough to push them back as you'll know if you've ever tried to remove a piston or push it back with a screwdriver blade. The pistons move by the seals deforming into a parallelogram shape then springing back when you remove hydraulic pressure. They do creep slowly through the seals as the pads wear and sometimes on worn pads you can grab a handful of brake and cause a big piston movement locking the brake on, which is irritating.

Over time the seals harden and performance begins to suffer then leaks happen.

 

[Tom B]

Over time the seals harden and performance begins to suffer then leaks happen.

Which seems what has happened, performance has deteriorated over winter and gone really poo recently.

It has been improved recently by thorough cleaning but it's not back to what it should be. Replacement has perhaps been delayed.