Mountain Bikes!

Nukeproof/Vitus/CRC/Wiggle are done. Big player in the bike industry.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/nukep...certainty-as-parent-company-restructures.html

 

No difference in calipers? Size of pistons is going to dramatically affect the way they perform. Hydraulic ratio etc are different in all of them. Ties in with the specs on the lever as well. Definitely makes a difference.

 

I have saints with 200mm floating galfer rotors and pads on my Megatower and trek rail ebike has the same except 220mm rotors.

The TRP brakes on my downhill commencal supreme bike are double as powerful. It’s insane and I’ll be using TRP on my next bikes. Saints the plunger gets fucked up in the lever no matter what I do.

 

Yes, it certainly can make a difference. Shimano uses the same lever for both 2 and 4 piston calipers. Two very different ratios. Magura claims the MT7 caliper is different enough and specifically designed to work with the MT7 lever. Yet I have mixed and matched 5 and 7 and don't see any difference between calipers.
The ratio on both Shimano and Magura 4 piston calipers is very similar.
The lever ratio between them is more different, and Magura levers are designed to work with Magura calipers.

All that said, if people claim they like the feel of one setup over another, then great. They need to be confident in their brakes, so liking that feel is necessary. I stick with all Magura and use the Loic Bruni lever. Feels the best to me, may not work for others.

The better difference to look at is that leaky ceramic piston issue with Shimano. That and Shimano doesn't sell individual small parts.

 

I get what you are saying now. It sounds like you are talking about just feel. I was talking about feel AND power. Which, also affects feel in my mind. IE, if it's got a ton more power, I can use less lever force. Which doesn't fatigue me as much on a long day of DH. To your point, the lever behavior is the same between the XT's with XT calipers and XT's with MT7's. But the power is substantially different. So a smaller amount of lever pull engages a ton more brake. This amplifies the Shimano feel on trail of being just a bit grabby with XT's for most people. To potentially over the top for a larger group of riders.

 

Rode a Revel Rascal the past two days and an Ibis Ripmo AF today. Ripmo pedaled very efficiently. Maybe a touch more efficient than the Rascal. Couldn't hold a candle to the Rascal on the descents, however. I also did not love the Ripmo's handling in general. Seemed a little funky.

 

Picked up a Trek Supercaliber Gen2 recently. Still sorting out a few details, mainly the new shock and this Rockshox Twistloc Ultimate lockout grip. One of the cables is finicky and has been popping out of place on the regular, so far. Preferring it just worked like a motorcycle throttle tube does ..

 

What are the units on this chart, even? Leverage units? What are the colors?

I put TRP DH-R Evos on my new bike, supposedly has great feedback across the board. Excited to try them out.

I just found out that Carbone Lorraine makes pads too, which I'm really happy with their stuff on the R1, so I can't not try...

Versah makes MTB pads too apparently, but I'm only familiar w/ the name and not how they feel.

 

Sick bike. I really want some time on a trailed-out XC rig. I think shorter travel is the way to go for my local trails. Just not Supercaliber short.

 

This new Gen2 has a slacker HT angle and more travel front and rear. It's still an XC rig for sure, but really, really good.

 

I'm with ya on the feeling of the Ripmo. I've been on Pivot for awhile so I'm very familiar with DW Link and thought I would like the Ripmo. Plus they always seem to have great reviews. I rode one about three years ago and just didn't feel it, I tried again a couple of weeks ago in Bentonville where I rented one. It served the purpose, but like you said - a little funky.

 

I linked it before but here you go https://brakes.ddzyne.nl/

Purple - Hydraulic leverage
Green - Mechanical Leverage
Orange - Total leverage
Red - Shimano's oddball servowave leverage being reflected as total peak leverage

 

Huh, interesting. I thought it may just be me but yeah something about the geometry or bar/stem combo was just super weird.

 

i'm interested in this. was the wondering bite point everyone complains about on newer XT shit coming from the caliper? or the master?

i don't wanna deal with any of that at all, but also always looking to try. i also like immediate bite just like i do on motorbikes, so that's appealing to me. i've had Dominion A4s, XTs, Hope Tech3 V4s, and now on MT7s. i was considering trying TRPs, but maybe this is the ticket to try out for the next season? what you think?

 

The wandering bite point is in the Shimano levers. But, the issue itself seems to be more wandering than the bite point. The majority of Shimano users don't complain about it, those that do are very vocal about it. Does it still exist on 8100 levers? I can't really say, I know one local has complained about it to my guys, but that's it.

 

last time i had them was the 2-piston ones... M785 maybe? they never had that problem, but yea i just keep reading about it online. M820 is Saint right? do they also suffer that issue? i feel like its always trail XT brake dudes talking about it and never Saint dudes.

 

I haven't had them apart, so I can't say for certainty. But my understanding is that the current M820 Saint brake levers have more in common with the prior generation M9020 XTR levers. Visually, that seems to be the case, and they definitely use the older mount rather than the newer offset mount. But again, I haven't looked at the exact specs of master piston bore, etc.
I don't know that the M820 brakes have the same issue. They aren't as common, I haven't personally ever heard anyone complain about them.

 

cheap enough that i might just try. thanks

 

Anyone do a lot of fat biking come winter? We just had our first solid snow yesterday and I'm a little jealous of the FB posts I see of local riders out and about in the snow.

 

I've got a Salsa MukLuk (carbon) that I enjoy in the winter. It's an absolute pig, but when the conditions are so bad that you can't ride a trail MTB, it comes in handy. I'd say that if you ride a lot and want to keep riding through the winter it's a good third bike to own. No way I'd give up any of my other bikes for a fattie, but when it's the right bike, it's the only bike for the job.

I'd add that if you're going to go fat, try to get the lightest build you willing to pay for. I started with an older MukLuk alloy, and it's weight was, ahem, "significant." I traded up to a newer MukLuk carbon with a lighter wheelset and it made a huge difference in overall ride and enjoyment.

With the larger tires, you can actually "float" on snow and sand and ride places that even a 2.6 inch tire just won't go. Downside is that you've got all that weight in the wheels and rolling resistance from the tires. I'd guess and say that on level pavement, it's 20 - 25% harder to ride than a trail MTB.

Final thought, if you're riding in snow you'll want a flat pedal. SPD cleats get caked with ice and won't engage. Flats also let you wear an insulated boot for better walking and warmth.