SLX brakes for dh/fr

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SLX brakes for dh/fr
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flag Andy09
Posted: Aug 24, 2014 at 20:27 Quote
I am looking to upgrade my brakes but i don't want to break the bank. I've looked at zee's,codes,saints etc but all of those are a little pricey for a 15 year old. Will slx work or should i spend the extra cash?
flag nuttbt
Posted: Aug 24, 2014 at 20:56 Quote
i would definitely go with shimano brakes. I am a mechanic at a shop and I find that shimanos are hands down the most reliable and easiest to work on. Brakes are nothing to skimp on either. I'd go for the zees if you can afford them.
flag Andy09
Posted: Aug 24, 2014 at 21:15 Quote
nuttbt wrote:
i would definitely go with shimano brakes. I am a mechanic at a shop and I find that shimanos are hands down the most reliable and easiest to work on. Brakes are nothing to skimp on either. I'd go for the zees if you can afford them.
How do slx compare to zee
Its $80 for slx per break compared to $135 for zee per break of chain reaction.
Price vs performence... how do the slx perform?
flag nuttbt
Posted: Aug 24, 2014 at 21:54 Quote
i've only worked on slx brakes in the shop, never ridden them. from what I hear though, you want to go zee at the minimum for serious downhill.
flag superfunhappyland
Posted: Aug 24, 2014 at 22:06 Quote
im 210lbs, I ride decently hard / fast. took a chance with SLX since I was feeling too poor for Zee's

I have no complaints, one finger braking at all times, metallic pads make a big difference over the stock resin, tossed them in the front, resins are good enough in the rear. So far so good.
flag mud-in-your-eye
Posted: Aug 25, 2014 at 0:23 Quote
Hi bud ive ran the older SLX breakes for years and that includes a number of holidays to the alps for weeks long DH/FR never had any problems or any need to change them I paired them with the xt ice rotors and will recommend them 100%.
flag Andy09
Posted: Aug 25, 2014 at 7:39 Quote
Sweet ! Thanks for all the input
If anyone else is or has in the past ran slx's on there dh bike I would love to here your experience with them
flag slowandsteady
Posted: Aug 25, 2014 at 8:11 Quote
I have the newer SLX brakes on a Norco Aurum.
It might cross your mind that you could be underbraked (when you see lots of "Saint" and "Code" around), but believe me - you wont be. Plenty of power.
I've used my SLX until the discs (203mm front and back with finned, sintered pads) turned blue they were so hot. I've ridden at plenty of DH tracks - Pila, Italy, Morgin and Verbier, Switzerland, Chatel, France and the brakes had plenty of power left in them. (Pila in Italy is a 2,000 metre drop from top to bottom.)
Even at the end of long runs when i was on the brakes a lot - (either slowing from high speeds into corners, and/or heavy braking through a section of steep) - there's still plenty enough power to comfortably endo.
I chose SLX over Zee as you give up twin piston calipers, but gain reach adjust. I prefer to adjust the reach as the pads wear (or i get tired arms and hands).
I'd recommend them, no question.
flag parkourfan
Posted: Aug 25, 2014 at 8:56 Quote
Zee has tooled reach adjust. Reach adjust does absolutely nothing to the pad spacing, so it simply doesn't adjust for wear. Reach adjust only moves the lever of the brake, nothing else. To adjust pad spacing you need a contact point adjustment, which is something that shimano doesn't exactly do well, free stroke adjustment doesn't do shit. To adjust the pads you need to pull the brakes off, and pull the lever without the rotor in them to space them closer to the rotor.

Benifits of zee are that it's lighter, and has tool free reach adjust, via dial. Lever feel is also firmer than the zee. Benifits of the zee are the outright more power, dimpled lever (actually does help loads in the wet) and mildly better cooling from the larger surface area. Having run SLX, XT, and ZEE brakes back to back in the park, all of them will work fine. ZEE and SLX have the best bang for the buck though. Reach adjust for most people is set it and forget it, as there's no point in adjusting it in more unless you like pulling the lever to the bar.
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