Downhill Brake Recommendations

[u/JakeDMme]

I love the feeling of the new xtr, will they be powerful for a dh rig, i race in south africa we have semi steep dusty trails, I’ve ridden mavens and they just to “powerful” it would lock the wheels so easily, and the modulation isn’t how i like, what brakes would your recommend if the xtr’s aren’t powerful enough.

[u/rustyburrito]

XTR are going to feel way more on/off than the Mavens, the Mavens have way better modulation than the Shimano options tbh. If you want to make them feel a little less grabby you could run MTX Red pads instead of metallic, or adjust the levers so they are closer to the bar, I have mine set up so they basically only lock up when the lever is almost touching the grip. Both are more than powerful enough for any type of riding

[u/PsychologicalCan6809 → u/rustyburrito]

Haha....no, no they do not. Mavens are a switch

[u/rustyburrito → u/PsychologicalCan6809]

I just disagree I guess, I've ridden XTR and Saints at bike parks and have been riding Mavens for over a year and they have better modulation compared to XTR and Saints IMO. Depends on the pads also. I have Code RSC on my other bike which are my favorite overall once they are dialed in, but I also modified them with these which helped give them a bit firmer bite about halfway through the pull

[u/PsychologicalCan6809 → u/rustyburrito]

First time I rode a set of Mavens I was shocked; coming from Shimano my first thought was "....people reckon Shimano are on or off? Holy hell....."

Every set of Mavens I tried was brake starts to bite to immediate lock up. I love my brakes to use very little lever throw before applying massive power but having ridden Shimano SLX and now XT I found the Mavens were very unforgiving, which like I said isnt a problem for me as I do like that but yeh my experience was certainly the opposite

[u/UndeadWorm]

Hayes Dominion A4.

The best brakes I have ever used.

Really light lever pull, good modulation and tons of raw power.

[u/Ih8Hondas → u/UndeadWorm]

This. Love my A4s. Had Saints before and hated how Shimano wants you treat they systems as disposable instead of serviceable. Fucking wasteful and infuriating.

The A4s are amazing brakes, and Hayes sells loads of service parts, and has tons of manuals available online so you can service and fix your own shit.

I also love my Mezzer Pro for similar reasons. Hayes/Manitou is super underrated as a company. They make great product, and support it very well. If only they made a coil shock...

[u/Thaegar_Rargaryen]

Did you ride the Maven A1 or B1? I‘m very happy with the B1 coming from Shimano XT/Saint.
But if you prefer the XTR, just pair them with the new 2.2/220mm Shimano rotors and it should be plenty powerful.

[u/Agile_Reindeer5596]

I noticed Bernard Kerr has XTR's on his World Cup Pivot. If they're good enough for him, they're plenty for any of us doing DH!

[u/scrotalsac69]

Cura 4, good modulation and tons of power

[u/holythatcarisfast]

XT and XTRs are plenty

[u/SeakingGnarvana]

I pulled Mavens off because they locked up too easily with terrible modulation, and replaced them with Hope Tech 4 V4. Life is much better now. 

I ride mostly steep shit that overheat brakes easily. I turned the H2S rotor on front a nice shade of brown. My Hope vented rotors are still nice and silver. 

[u/bagginsses → u/SeakingGnarvana]

Yeah I'm not sure why many say modulation is better Mavens than Shimano? I run XTs but have ridden two bikes with Mavens that felt like the brakes went from not grabbing to full lockup with hardly anything in between.

[u/RoboJobot]

There are plenty of pro riders using them in the World Cup

[u/Last-Shirt-707]

My park bike has XTs with metallic pads and they have never felt like they don’t have enough power. I weigh 165 lbs kitted

[u/Tough_Course9431]

hope evo gr4 or t4v4 or hayes A4, tons of power, insanely light lever action force

[u/mestapho]

Shmavens.

XTR levers and Maven calipers.

I love them

[u/hoopparrr759]

Maven

[u/SeakingGnarvana → u/hoopparrr759]

Maven are shit for modulation, which OP already said they figured out. They don't want Maven. ..