Red Panda Release the Lobster Upgrade Kit That's Claimed to Improve the Reliability of Shimano Brakes
Shimano brakes have been a big talking point this week on Pinkbike following some criticism they received in our Value Bike Field Trip about, among other things, their wandering bite point.
A component brand out of Russia, called Red Panda, has developed a new product that they believe solves that problem by adding some extra protection to the master piston. They believe that a lack of protection around the cylinder in a Shimano system allows dust, dirt and water to enter, which scuffs the walls of the cylinder and damages the lever axle. This allows oil to escape and play to develop in the lever.
Their solution is a polyurethane cover called the Lobster. It's basically a fork sleeve for your brake's master cylinder and prevents that damaging ingress of grime. Along with the cover are 2 o-ring seals, a set of bushing and grub screws to hold it in place. We can't guarantee that it delivers on its claims or that Red Panda has diagnosed the issue with Shimano brakes correctly but they're certainly confident in it and say the Lobster "significantly extends the life of the brake and the stability of its performance during operation."
The kit can be installed without any specialist tools and without bleeding the system. It is also removable if you need to send back the brakes for a warranty or service. A video showing the installation in full can be found, here.
The Lobster can be installed on Shimano Non-series BL-MT501 / Deore BL-M6000 / SLX BL-M7000 / XT BL-M8000 / SLX BL-M7100 / XT BL-M8100 / Saint BL-M820 with XTR versions coming soon. The product is manufactured in Russia and weighs 3.5 grams if you fancy giving it a go, it can be ordered direct from redpandacomponents.com and costs around €60.00 for a kit that works on both levers (left and right kits are also available separately).
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This bootie is a nice idea to protect the brakes, but it’s not going to solve that issue, in my humble opinion.
P.S. Guides do not suffer from the wandering bite point!
With the Saints, there is more power but the bite point is all over the place even a few turns into bike park laps. I now use the 223mm Galfer front rotor with the saints and the power is absolutely enough front and back but the bite point issue remains.
Guides are a trail bike brake, Codes would be a better companion to the Saints.
Thus, guides are known for fading earlier in steep downhill use which is not surprising.
But normal undulating trail riding, they're perfectly fine.
That and the difference between R/RS/RSC is all at the lever, adjustability and materials. But all the guts of the brakes are the same.
Shimano never fixed the problem.
It's still there. Even the new brakes have it.
Try different oil.
A lot of riders use thiner fork oil instead of Shimano's mineral oil and claim it fixed the wandering bite point.
I just installed a pair of Saint's on my bike yesterday and didn't even bother to bleed them with mineral oil and used Putoline instead.
Check the comments on this here
www.amazon.de/Putoline-HPX-2-5-Gabel%C3%B6l-Liter/dp/B00D0A06W4
Did I mentioned that I mounted the system on the broken levers ?
Magura Royal blood is less viscous than Shimano mineral oil.
The wandering bite point probably results from an oil return port that is too small for the viscosity of the regular Shimano fluid.
I’ll wait to see if someone posts (again) a different fluid to try. I’ve seen it posted before, but I don’t remember where. Edit- some just did- Putoline!
Took me a long time to learn it properly, but it I use the Marshy bleed technnique.
You need to get ALL the air out of the calipers and bubbles out of the lines.
My Zee's have worked faultlessly for years like this.
People trying to tell me that Greg Minaar earned the title of GOAT with wandering brakes?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=piWBVDh1pTE
www.amazon.ca/-/fr/Spectro-L-SFUL-Liquide-ultra-paquet/dp/B077GVWQTN/ref=sr_1_27?dchild=1&keywords=rc+shock+oil&qid=1620996917&sr=8-27
Not something I've tried, but it's the same weight (2.5) as the Putoline up above........
Previously, I thought it might be related to servo-wave, but maybe not.
Guide R's are the worst brakes I've ever tried since cantilevers.
I will note the magura calipers are a pain to bleed (mostly just messy) but the shimano lever makes top bleeds really easy. I also felt like I needed to do lever bleeds to top up the fluid around every 10 rides; I think part of this is the magura pads wear pretty quickly (this is likely where most of the extra power is coming from).
I’ve used nearly a litre of Shimano Brake fluid over a year just bleeding my wife’s brakes and my brakes using the gravity method and the syringe methods and probably bled them 40 times (?) over the year. On our six bikes, we had brand new levers, old levers, XT’s SLX’s, Deore’s. Same variation in the calipers. I even did two brake bleeds over the course of DAYS to try and get a proper bleed. I still prefer the light instant feel of Shimano brakes over Sram brakes but as someone who manuals every chance he gets (I know that’s arrogant), I need to know when the brake is going to grab or it’s no bueno.
The best Shimano Bleed method was to bleed some money out of my wallet for Guides or Codes.
When the fix the problem, I’ll go back.
I do have to say my long travel bike has code rsc’s and they make it hard to get used to the less powerful guide rsc’s on my shorter travel bike.
Lobster is made to protect your main cylinder's piston to go bad and leak oil because dirt and grime can enter the lever body freely since it's not sealed out from the environment.
Get some magura’s With 2 finger levers. consistent and Powerful, problem solved
bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/acera-m3000/BL-MT400.html
Yup count me in.
Had my first Trail ride on the Saint's today.
No matter how much and fast I pull the lever in a row, the bite point stays the same.
The Guide RSC are actually dang good.
On of the best brakes I have ever used.
Good modulation and the bite point is always the same and very aggressive.
My Codes on the other gand are just plainly aggressive. They feel more digital on/off than my Shimano brakes.
Have you tried Ebay?
www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=Putoline+fork+oil&_trksid=p2334524.m4084.l1313&_odkw=Putoline
I think anyone with Code issues should bleed their brakes and try again.
1. There are no standards for 'mineral oil' and a lot of different fluids with varying properties can be labeled Mineral Oil. Shimano says you must use their own version.
2. DOT X.X will be the same stuff more of less across all manufacturers and it is by design, Brake Fluid.
Yes; Putoline for the win! We use it in our.shop, with good result.
Thanx for the linky.
I will try removing the nipple like that.
I’ve been contemplating the step up in rotor size so this is a great advert for me.
I personally have a set of Sram on the demo and some shimano on the Stumpjumper Evo so a very loose comparative test can be had between the two. I personally have no issues with the bite point on the shimano’s but I see this as something that people are going to turn to if their brakes are feeling that wonder. Not because it’s the answer to the problem but the fact that with limited stock of parts, getting one of these kits will elongate the gear they’ve got to just keep on riding.
Nothing worse than not being able to ride when you’re hamstrung waiting for a single part to come in the mail.
You can avoid the bubble from bleed nipple by first compressing the lever once after you've opened the bleed nipple, if there would be air, you would see that on the syringe tube. If there is bubble(s) coming from the bleed nipple, press couple of times more to get the bubbles in the syringe, then push fluid up the line.
the "gravity bleed" might still be better option, as it won't push the dirty fluid up to the hose and eventually to master cylinder, where it tends to clog up to the seal and potentially to the reservoir ports too...
Personaly never had any issue with bleeding any brake. You are chasing ghosts
This would happen immediately even with freshly bled brakes.
Your hydraulic circuit now contains a mixture of mineral oil and a minuscule amount of water. When the brake fluid is cold, this water is liquid and is not compressible. As the brake fluid becomes hot, the water turns to vapor which is compressible. So your bite point will wander as the brake fluid temperature varies.
Just my 0.02 € of course
If the buoyancy of an air bubble is not adequately defeated via fluid velocity the bubble will basically stay put.
Personally I use a 200cc syringe first doing a full flush then doing a "typical bleed" like any car or motorcycle where you close the bleeder squeeze the lever, and then open the bleeder.
I use redline like water a I have no issues with wandering bite point.
Also. When I do a motorcycle to be thorough sometimes I'll elevate the caliper above the master cylinder to allow normal direction (master to caliper) bleeding but In an uphill fashion.
I assure you that I do know what I'm talking about.
That would be a good PB test. Braking power of different brakes, rotors, and pads. Just like a lot of youtube car channels test different car stopping power. They could have a specific hill they roll down to a parking lot and have a line and measure the distances. All done with same person and bike so the speed would be pretty constant.
Interesting. I will keep that in mind.
Thanks
I'll give this a go! Thanks for the tip bro
Sometimes it can take a couple of bleeds to get the bubbles out completely, but once this happens, then the Marshy bleed eliminates the possibility of introducing air back into the system.
Make sure to bleed the brakes with the santa cruz pit method (take out the bleed nipple entirely). See youtube for this.
a quality MTB hydraulic brake works on such an insane mechanical advantage, that the effort it takes to bend the rotor 1-2mm is absolutely nothing and you wouldn't feel it in the lever at all. This has to be the most insane take ever....
And yeah loosen the two bolts and that spongy feeling will go. It’s usually the back that needs the most attention because that’s what flexes the most and knocks the calliper out of alignment. That spongy feeling is feeling the rotor flex. Someone needs to bring back floating callipers or at least a better mounting system so the brake isn’t so easy to knock out of alignment.
The bubble could split to two or more smaller bubbles, but surface tension doesn't like to do this.
The bubble will get smaller when you increase the pressure, hence the rubberband-on-the-brakelever-overnight -trick works, it keeps the fluid pressure high and bubbles small, so they can more easily move yup on the brake line. But again, the air bubbles left after bleeding likely isn't trapped in the hose, but behind some kink in the caliper and it might be difficult to get moving somewhere it could escape out, unless if the caliper happens to be in correct alignment...
Misaligned caliper could cause some spongy feel too, likely not if it is just not in the middle in sideways direction(as @conoat descibed), but if it causes twisting motion of the disc it might indeed cause some spongy feel, at least until the pads wear to match this "new direction"...
Yea, I know, but it was merely a comment against that bubbles would somehow automatically migrate from the caliper/hose up to the lever, which is higher...
@thenotoriousmic if you look really closely, I think you'll find that you have actually been watching UP instead of doing a brake bleed.
it's a balance...
bmxadian@gmail.com for details.
www.redlineoil.com/likewater-suspension-fluid. This fixed the wandering bite point in my XT brakes.
www.backyard-racing.ch/putoline-hpx-r2.5-gabeloel,-1liter/p-33162.html
Also is there an equivalent 2.5W oil from another brand I could try? Such as Maxima, Torco, something more common?
Not sure if Red Line is "common" elsewhere in EU, but at least one of our biggest "automotive warehouses" in Finland, Motonet(.fi) does sell some Red Line products, and I think I've seen those elsewhere too. Unfortunately Motonet doesn't seem to deliver outside of Finland, so not much of a help I guess.
In UK there used to be quite good selection of these, but not sure how it is now post-Brexit and how easy it is to get anything from there.
@briain
You can use LHM+ fluids for Shimano, good, cheap and easy to find option, but it does not really help with the bitepoint issue, as it is actually "stiffer" than the Shimano oil. Shimano viscosity at 40C is about 8.5cSt while LHM+ is around 18cSt. The mentioned Putoline is around 6.5cSt and Like water would be 4cSt.
Probably, people with new brakes rode in cool weather
Tested 1000 of times by the mtb-news.de users
Not defending Shimano, as I wish they would just use a lighter oil and call it done. But I think there’s a lot of hate and misunderstanding for what’s actually happening. It’s not all that bad, or mysterious, or unavoidable once you understand it. Like maybe try clean brake pulls with more feathering rather than multiple rapid pulls.
"... They believe that a lack of protection around..."
Ah... beliefs.... beliefs.................. hum.
The last (three?) generations of brakes have much less oil volume and smaller diameters for oil flow. The original oil is not “thin” enough for this design. It creates an imbalance in the re-flow to the reservoir. Thus it feels like you‘ re pumping the liquid and shifting the bite point closer each time.
The problem is:
The mineral oil is unchanged for decades. There are millions of old type of brakes in the field, that need the old oil. So they can not exchange it. It would be a logistical and marketing nightmare to introduce two different types of oil.
On the other hand, they can not improve the performance of the brakes without the design changes that lead to the reduced diameters. It’s going to be very hard for Shimano to find a way out of this…
Disclaimer:
I can not back this hypothesis up with any insider information, nor do I have statistical data to prove it. But I switched the oil in all of my Shimano brakes and never had the problem again.
fastpic.co/images/20210401_211547.jpg
fastpic.co/images/20210401_211612.jpg
This is a half season use.
Levers have been fine BTW. (But I would surely welcome anodized bores)
Thank you for your feedback, it's very important for us.
Need to say about our product and problems it actually solves. In short, the Lobster seals out dirt, dust and water (IP65). Every time you push the lever, the piston takes along some contaminations. Dirt particles settle between the piston cuffs and the cylinder walls and scratch them over time, which is the common cause of oil leaks. Leaking levers => degrading braking power, inconsistent brake feel et cetera. The Lobster drastically expands the lifespan of the lever hydraulic, saving your time&money, and contrary to what was said on PB, it is definitely NOT a magic pill for the bite point.
In article there is link to video in Russian, so here is in English language: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjZtdG9yvbM
And soon (today i think) we weill publish some history and explanation article about us and our products at our site.
Thank you guys
Very nice and refined looking product!
I'm guessing you have investigated and found that adding the silicone dust cap only is not enough, hence the plastic "guide" part is required too to make it work..?
Regarding the plastic guide part, have you studied if the original "servo wave" guide is the same shape on all of the brake models or are there some more or less subtle differences between models?
And have you thought if it would be possible to create some different kind of guide shape to change the linkage leverage?
The Lobster is maybe a bit pricey for what it is now, but maybe it could be possible to make a version 2.0 with slightly altered servo wave guide. So, just throwing ideas in the air...
BR
-S
Several Alps seasons on Zees and now XTRs. I just maintain the bleed regularly.
The Guide RS I had were terrible and had too much modulation and no power. Had Hope for a year but they weren't much better.
I like a powerful on/off brake as I can modulate with my fingers.
So if you use your brakes so on repeated braking actions so that you release your lever all the way out before next braking, the piston seals can't push pistons all the way in, due to which the master cylinder sucks a little extra fluid from the reservoir and when you next time push the lever, there is ever so slightly more fluid in the hose, causing bitepoint to wander outwards. If you do not release brake lever all the way out between braking actions, the master cylinder stays engaged and it can't suck more oil from reservoir to the hose, hence bitepoint doesn't change.
If, and I presume when, this is the case, then lower viscosity fluid(like the putoline mentioned) would help with the problem, and the problem would be worse in cold conditions. Another thing that can make this worse, is if the brake line has sharp bends/turns or if it might have some dents, further restricting the fluid flow...
Bad bleed won't cause the problem, but certainly doesn't improve the situation...
None of which any of the "bite point sufferers" will ever admit or even consider.
Cognitive dissonance yo.
Maybe.
But, I can use your very own comment against your bashing of Sram brakes.
"it's down to poor setup; lack of maintenance, and poor technique."
Personally, my Sram brakes have been much more reliable than my Shimano brakes.
youtu.be/39kX85XEXIA
It's a design flaw that Shimano refuses to address. JFC, don't shoot the messenger. If your brakes don't do it, I understand not caring, I have a set of SLXs that don't. But carrying water for them online won't make corporate daddy love you back. Spending money on XTs and getting hot, wandering trash is not okay. Shimano needs to find a fix, warranty some brakes, and take care of their customers.
@TheRamma You start your argument with an insult. Poor start.
Shimano do warranty brakes, we've had plenty of calipers and masters replaced because of poor seals. And several refused because the customer has used an aftermarket mineral oil which. Even some factory bikes have come with non-standard mineral oil which has caused issues to.
All I know is that every one of my customers that has had previous issues has been solved with a bit of maintenance and a proper bleed. That's not fanboi, it's just personal experience and opinion.
Sorry if that hurts your mantra that it's not your fault but always someone else's.
@Vertti83 I'm keen to try that setup. Love a powerful brake and can't afford trickstuff
Unfortunately, there are countless factors that can effect the life of your brake (and other bike components too). Not just how you use the bike, but how you store it, clean and maintain it. The temperature for example has a massive effect on the life and performance of seals (not just when you ride it). And that's all before you add in the human factor. Just look at the difference in the performance of F1 teams. Each of them has 2 cars that are exactly the same but massive differences in driver perfomance/results for ALL teams on the grid
Yes, the vacuum does pull the pistons back. But it pulls the pistons plus the flexed seals.
check this out: www.freeasestudyguides.com/brake-piston-seal.html
If you have problem on wandering bitepoint so that lever moves closer to bar, then it is indeed something different than the logic I described in my previous post.
If lever tends to migrate closer to the bar, then it could be a) if the disc is slightly warped or caliper misaligned, causing the disc to push back on the pads so that they retract a bit too much, so that slightly longer lever pull is needed to get pads in contact with disc on next braking. Another option could be if there system can't get more oil from the reservoir, it could be that there is not enough oil(due to poor bleed) or there is dirt in the reservoir blocking the ports.
@RottenFR
"There's nothing to understand, the problem is just there."
That is a bit crappy attitude, IMHO. There is always some reason behind why something works or doesn't work, trying to understand these reasons might help you to solve the problem or maybe figure out that it isn't the fault of the product, but an user error...
@edfw:
The main force comes from the caliper piston seals, the return spring on the lever contributes a bit, but it isn't the main force that retracts the pistons. Good informative video on this topic from Parktool: youtu.be/vQXFFgRButo?t=46
If you have ever dismantled a shimano brake lever, you can find the return spring for the master piston and it isn't very strong...
Another indication that would point towards the caliper being the problem is that those who have went with "Shiguras", so shimano lever + Magura calipers, do not seem to suffer this wandering bite point problem, at least not to same extent as with shimano calipers...
Anyway, regardless if the main force comes from caliper seals or return spring, the main reason would still be that something restricts the flow of the fluid too much. It could be interesting to test if brake hose with bigger inner diameter(Hope?) could help, or if it is maybe the banjo bolt or something else along the line, or is it indeed just the caliper seals...
Also if you put a lower viscosity oil in the brake, the lever will feel lighter and will return faster. And that‘s not down to the piston seals pushing the oil but the master cylinder pulling
I run saints on my trail bike for the extra power, my rear brake doesn't have the bite point issue but the front does, I have bled it a couple of times but it still has a different bite point at the start of every ride, a quick adjustment at the start and its good though
To your other points, Shimano is inconsistent about warrantying brakes with wandering bite point. And warranty is not an adequate solution for brakes like SLX/XT/XTR. Offering a technical bulletin with a solution is. Just one failure could be catastrophic. Much like SRAM's stuck piston. One failure can put you in the hospital in the wrong situation. SRAM actually nutted up and fixed the issue. That's the difference.
You're trying to use your personal experience on the internet to refute a widely reported phenomenon. We can all pretend we have "customers" and have worked on tons on brakes. Not a compelling way to disprove a professional review site and their mechanics saying this is an issue. BTW, every good bike mechanic I actually know, IRL, recognizes the wandering bite point issue. Not to hurt your totally believable expert mantra.
Like I said, corporate daddy will never validate you. No idea why you're covering for him. Weird to make this about me, I'm fine with holding any company responsible for shitty practices. You want a pass for Shimano. Weird.
I even pretend to ride bikes
But why Shimano had this problem when other brads not?That is the real question,it is a poor design or implementation?I bet the lever body material is key,cheaper ones (Deore&SLX)are more durable than expensive ones,less prone to fast wear.
One could intuitively think that the syringe comparison is legit and that is also the case with the the vacuum from main piston return spring would be enough to pull the pistons back. But when you work out the piston surface areas and resistance from the thin brake hose and all bends & twists in it, it is not quite so. Also, the caliper piston seals might seem very weak, but the distance those have to travel is also very short, maybe 1mm at most, while the surface area is very big compared to the main piston, so there is actually enough force on the caliper piston seals to pull the pistons back.
It is fairly easy to test and prove this when you are bleeding your brakes:
- Add piece of tube or open syringe in the caliper bleed port(when it is closed)
- Push on the lever firmly and keep the pressure
- Release the pressure from caliper by opening the bleed port
- The fluid pressure releases to the tube/syringe and system becomes "open"
+ Now if the pads retract normally and pads aren't rubbing against disc, the calipers seals have obviously retracted the pads without help from the master piston return spring and any "vacuum" from that.
* If the pads won't return properly and stay rubbing against the disc, I was all wrong and I lose
Lower viscosity fluid will have no significant effect on the lever feel, but the return speed should be faster, that is kind of the whole point of the "exercise" with different thinner fluid. The force you can create with your finger via the lever combined with the "linkage" is far greater than what the caliper seals (or return spring) can generate, so the effect on return speed is much more significant.
@homerjm
Shimano brakes, as well as virtually all other hydraulic bicycle brakes (except for Brake force one maybe) work with very much the same basic principle as automotive brakes. Caliper pistons might work a bit differently, but the outwards migrating caliper pistons require more fluid to be taken from the reservoir on the lever. On lever there is a rubber bladder that compensates for the fluid volume that has been added to the system, while preventing air entering the system(=closed system)...
You are correct that worn pads exposes more of the caliper pistons to the elements of outside world, as well as the alignment might be less optimal and cause some added drag. But as pads wear the caliper pistons will at some point slip a bit, so effectively the piston always moves the same amount when you pull on the lever.
Same way the main piston movement always stays about the same. Otherwise you would have increased pad clearance and wildly changing lever throw while pads wear out, or you would need to be constantly bleeding or/and adding fluid, which isn't the case in real life. If you properly bleed your brakes with bleed block, it should work just fine even when pads wear...
See the Park tool video on this topic: youtu.be/vQXFFgRButo?t=46
Brakes on mountainbikes are „open“. The seal around the master cylinder is able to let fluid from the back, slip past to accomodate for pad wear.
I'd still argue it is the other way around, the caliper piston seals accounts for most of the force returning the pistons.
For example the scenario you described, when doing fast repetitive lever pulls, the bite point migrates out. This happens because return spring pushes the main piston back and that creates a vacuum to the hydraulic circuit, which sucks replacement fluid from the reservoir past the seal. If you think your logic further, it would be the same vacuum that should pull the caliper pistons back in. So my point being, any significant vacuum created by the master piston would more likely to just pull more fluid past the seal, rather than pull caliper pistons back. So yeah, the vacuum on master cylinder helps also the caliper pistons to return, but it isn't the main force...
Regarding the question of bicycle brakes being open or closed system, it is a bit sematics and depends how you define the system. If you think of the brake system as a whole, it is a closed system: Air can't get in and fluid can't get out, even if you flip the bike upside down.
If you only think part of the system, the amount of the fluid in the "braking circuit" can vary depending on pad wear, so yeah, technically that would be open system, but it isn't the whole system...
Thanks for the discussion, still don‘t completely agree but that‘s okay
In the meantime i run Magura-(MT5)Brakes with aluminium-brakelevers on all my bikes and they work excellent so far.
Good call. I bought a set of Japan Industrial Standard screwdrivers for working on small screws on things like engine sensors on my 4Runner after stripping a few with Philips drivers. The screw heads look virtually identical but they are not.
www.putoline.com/en/catalogue/product/371/hpx-r-25w/1735
I have deores i got second hand.. put proper brake fluid in them and they have been seriously so good.
I still have 2 bikes that came with slx and i hate them so much but im unable to get anymore codes where i live.. maybe beacause i bought them all lol.
Recently picked up a remedy with code r's and back to back with my slx brakes (different bikes yes) i stopped much quicker and less skidding with the code r.
Mentally I compare it too switching from a front derailleur setup (2 or 3 ring) to a 1x setup. You no longer have to think about proper shifting on a 1x.
Braking should be as intuitive as possible and not a mental strain. Brakes that wander severely limit your mind / body and riding experience.....how many bikes do I want with a 2x front derailleur? Zero. How many shimano brakes am I using in the future? Zero. It is a complete game changer and one I wish I knew years ago.....the speed you will gain is quiet possibly the best bang for the buck out there.
Anyway, wandering bite point, as it seems does not exists for a brand new set of Shimano hydro brakes until:
1) they are bleed (and done improperly or not perfectly) with air trapped in the master cylinder or at the caliper ends.
2) it is more prominent if you have the free stroke adjustment (apparently it does not exist with SLX or the race versions of the XTR master cylinders - no free stroke screw).
3) master cylinder seals are leaking (too old, gunked up with dirt or other contaminants)
Long story short, if you want free stroke adjustment - don't get this kit. If you don't need/care/have free stroke adjustment, I think this kit would work. But I still think you still need to do some cleaning of the master cylinder/piston every year to clean out the fine grit that may still get in from the bottom as this kit does not completely seal the underside closest to the master cylinder area. Also water can still get in.
No thanks Comrade.
MAGURA
Hope
Tech ,3
OK maybe two ,and a number,who needs brakes anyway
I have tested with "non servo wave" shimano levers on a set of XTR 9020 brakes, bleeding was ok, rock hard lever and very nice linear feel but the wandering bite would always be repeatable when braking e the bike received harsh impacts.
Moved to MT7/SLX M7100 levers (with servo wave) shigura setup and no problems whatsoever.
Best shigura setup I have tested and still use so far is with old shimano XT765 levers paired to mt5/7 calipers. Very linear actuation with not too strong beginning bite and very strong end.
the Magura calipers (and shigura setups) aren't perfect though; pads (2x or 4x) tend to wear in a wedge fashion so from the middle of the pad life forward the brakes get just a bit spongier (if you don't rotate pads from time to time).
I miss those giant Magura Gustav M calipers and pads...
Have you been drinking your dot fluid?
We Sell little attachments for the top of the shimano levers to act like bleeding edge... we can pressurize the brake system and drastically increase feel. but it still uses plain mineral oil. There are other blends that last much longer and cope with heat better.
XT Arnold eddition
It will be like watching a re-run of their latest shifting release, and also 15 years too late.
m.pinkbike.com/news/shimano-introduces-new-high-durability-drivetrain.html