In mountain biking, brakes are there to help you get down the trail safely and can even help you do it faster! Choosing the right brakes for the job could be the difference between nailing a turn or nailing a tree. Anna Cipullo shares all her knowledge on how to eek the most power out of your brakes. From regularly bleeding your brakes to stopping fade by upgrading the cooling, this video has everything you need to have your MTB stopping on a dime.
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⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️
00:00 - Intro
01:12 - Step 1: Check & Service Your Existing Brakes
05:56 - Step 2: Diagnose The Problem
07:43 - Step 3: Improve Bite & Modulation
09:17 - Step 4: Stop Brake Fade
12:05 - Step 5: Increase Braking Power
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What brakes are you using at the moment? Let us know in the comments! 👇
I am using Magura 203mm fromt & rear on a MT 5 Calliper Set.
Lewis LH4, Codes RSC, SRAM DB8 on my bikes, wife and kid have magura mt5's and iiipro e4.. (hope clones)
@@fredzimmer2771are you using different brand levers?
4 pot xt. My DH bike has SRAM code R and I sort of hate the feel of SRAM brakes but I dont feel like paying for saints right now.
Deore XT M8100 180mm Front 160mm Rear
I'm honestly really all about the bike brake info and tutorial, but at some point I realized why it was so easy to watch and listen to your delivery. Whether it's somehow "simply" a British thing or whether you're related to David Attenborough, that's the vibe coming through.
hahaha thanks!
My regular ride has many long, steep descents on 2-way trails that are used by walkers along with their little kids and unleashed dogs. I have to do way more, and way harder braking than if the trail was downhill only and mtb only. The OEM SRAM Codes on my Levo could not cope, so I replaced them with Magura MT7s and 220mm MDR-Ps front and year. This setup gives me 100% confidence and can cope with the heat. Twice per year I push each piston out as far as I dare and clean them per Henry Quinney's GMBN video. I've only had to bleed them twice, once when installing them about 4 years ago, and the second time when I had to replace the rear hose after a conflict with a stick in the spoke. Awesome brakes! Firm levers, excellent power and modulation.
When checking pad measurement. Use the opposite end of the calliper. It has a bar that comes out.
Some will slide past and measure the opposite edge too. Either way, there will be some inconsistencies with that approach. Better to measure the whole, measure the backing plate and subtract.
@@KindredBrujah It hasn't failed me in the 20+ years of being a mechanic. 🤷♂️
@@shayno7284 I may have misunderstood which part you were describing, in that case. I'm quite sure you know what you're about.
yes she missed the opportunity to teach how to use the calipers properly, in case she knew how to do it.haha.
For me, cleaning and lubricating caliper pistons make the biggest difference every time. Many times it also resolves the spongy lever feeling, so you can save yourself the trouble getting through unnecessary brake bleed.
lubricate with oil or dot5?
@@jpsionMatch the fluid your model of brake uses.
On modern SRAM brakes if you still get that spongy feel after cleaning and bleeding just redo a lever bleed & pressurisation with the rest of the system closed, works 99% of the time and even most shops skip this part...
Oil attracts dirt. You're contaminating the inside of your caliper and wear out the brake seals prematurely. You should always keep those dry and dirt free.
Trying to figure out how dirty pistons make your brakes spongey🤔
Doing a full rebuild of the bike now. I like this video! Reminds me a bit of those choose your own adventure books I read growing up 🤣 but it’s all concise and very informative. Will be going through all the steps as my brakes have been acting up and at this point I’m unsure of where the problem lies.
Hahaha that's a great analogy. It's kind of the vibe i was going for too! 😁
Perfect timing on this video. I have a set of Magura five on my e bike & they need some help. I'm taking it to the bike shop soon.
Hopefully this helps!
IMO having the right lever blade reach its the best way to increase braking power. I found out after a video on aaron gwin's video, the closer you can make the full engagement to your knuckle or to the bar the easier and more powerful feel you can get. Also getting thicker rotors makes it even better.
I use my standard factory Tektro Draco with a steel pads and run A Hope saw 203mm front and 183mm rear and shimano caliper adapter and been sound for me look for new 203 hope saw front rotor as worn but still good after 11 years and some off road tyre medium sticky kevlar and works awesome 👌 on my XC Downhill hybrid
Enduro/Freeride: Code R, 203/203mm stainless, EBC Red DH pads. Budget trail: Tektro Orion 4P, 203/180mm floating rotor, EBC gold sintered. I'd recommend the latter to anyone looking for the most bang for your bucks ✌🏽
Good video run saints great brakes easy bleed with mineral oil which is not caustic so better to work with. My new bike has code r/s don’t have as positive feel and harder to lock up wheel advantage is don’t have to feather brake lever as much . Personally I prefer the more positive feel of shimano
Got a sweet deal on a set of Magura MT5’s, very much looking forward to bolting them on and feeling the difference, sticking with 180mm for now, but i may go to 200mm in the future. Thanks for the sweet video, only tuned in for a few weeks now, i like how to “dumb down” your explanations for a newbie like me.
Mt5's are ok, i tried them but they are really annoying to align perfectly each time you service them, bleeding is easy though. I personally think many people have overhyped the mt5's, my old m675 2 pistons were as powerful, for m7120 vs mt5's and price wise very little difference, m7120 beat them hands down. I hope your set helps you better than mine.
A couple of tips, buy the non connected pads, the ones that use a pin, not the hooked pads. Hooked ones you can't slot from the top and have less pad thickness. When you bleed from caliper, it will be messy but hold at just below lever level and lower as you close bleed screw, tap the hose and caliper as you do a few lever pumps, this will give you a super solid lever pull.
Also, you will need magura post mount adapters, Shimano ones will work but only with washers.
Glad you Revisited this topic Anna and I'm glad you took my advice and comments about rotors basically being heat sinks. You don't gain more braking power from bigger rotors what you gain is more efficiency. More efficient heat absorption / dissipation. 👍 Friction and mechanical physics at work! Power comes from size of the master cylinder, ratio of the lever and caliper piston size not rotors. 👍
Leverage ratio increases with larger rotors.
Great explanation Anna thanks ...took my laufey on a 44 km epic yesterday across the cork/kerry mountains and my deore 6100's did not like the long down hill runs ....So in my tiny mind i need to upgrade my whole braking system and as were talking brakes and therefore safety, I do believe that not spending the money on the SLX 7120's would be irresponsible of me.😉 God i love mountain biking
May your modulation be smooth and you calipers clean on your journey through the Kingdom of Kerry
Good tip on the DIY piston lube block
Cheers! It's a good little hack
Hayes Dominion A4. It's what came on my bike and they are great. Need to upgrade the rear rotor to 203 though.
Nice! Hayes are making big steps into OEM for sure, getting their brakes specced onto more bikes as stock
10:11 - Looks like the Shimano's B05S Resin Pads I recently swapped for 3rd party Sintered Pads since Shimano apparently doesn't offer Sintered Pads for their entry level brakes!
truckerco pads for me
Nice explainer video thanks!. Other brakes exist besides Shimano, some even better than Shimano Saint/ICE ;)
4 pot Shimanos on all 3 of my bikes - Saints on Trail Ebike, Zees on Enduro and Deore on my HT. In all honesty I couldn’t tell you the difference. Loads of power with all of them. The Ebike came with Deores and I swapped them with the Saints. Didn’t think the Deore were underpowered in the few rides I did with them. I Like my brakes like a switch - on or off. I’m a bigger rider so the extra weight gives the me modulation so I just want all out bite from them.
I think you're right. Also the 2 pot brakes with sintered pads have always given me more than enough power.
Hopetech4 V4. Super light lever monster power
Brand new brakes a new bike and they are a bit crap. Already slightly discoulered after riding 1000m downhill, they were smoking too, so I had to keep riding to cool them in the wind. And yes, I did bed in my brakes by braking hard a few times to a stop. But I think the brakes just can't keep cool. Trashing the sram DB8 once worn through and getting some Shimano Saints.
That podium gold fork! I want one so bad! My Magura mt7 have been installed on 2 different bikes, originally my downhill bike but never got used due to a leak, fixed leak, put on my enduro, squishy…… no matter how many times I bleed it, I can’t get contact.
Cool aren't they! The gold is growing on us really quickly. Sorry to hear about your Mt7's sounds like potentially some seals may be compromised somewhere
@@gmbntech yes! I keep seeing them on KZhead videos, specifically fort William World Cup bikes, and some that got it early. Is anyone going to be able to get them that aren’t KZheadrs and sponsored pros? lol And have they been released?
Or use the depth gage on the back of the calipers for pad wear
The only issue I get is brake power affected after long storage without riding. Something in my storage situation slightly contaminates the system. I typically solve this with a crème brûlée type blowtorch on pads and disk. I just don’t have long and steep downhills to suffer fade. A 160 rear rotor works fine. But I have noticed more oomph from the 4pot Deore than the previous gen 2pit SLX
Why don't you measure the brake pad thickness using the other side of the calliper which is made to measure depths. You can put it on top of the pad and measure against the metal.
Cooling fins
10:10 is this just an example or did you mix up the Resin Pads for the sintered ones? Because those shown, are Resin Pads. Plus Shimano does not offer B05S sintered Pads. Great Video though :-)
Wow. My rim brakes have none of that problem😉
No. You have a very different set of problems. 😅
BH90 hydraulic hose.
On my bike I've BR-M6100 with Sm-rt76 disc and j05a pads like they're in the video. I'm not hard core rider. 😁 I'm enjoying trails with rocks, roots and smaller jumps rather drops. For my needs this combination is quite sufficient for now. 🫡🇨🇿
Shimano has good brakes but there are other brands that I would choose.
M8100 and saint has the same piston size, why ppl said saint has more power than xt? I don't have saint, I just curious and consider to change if necessary.
My biggest issue with Shimano brakes: They always have a brake power modulation within one revolution of the wheel (ca. 10 peaks/lows). Can you or the sponsor comment on how to solve that? I tried several combinations of pads and rotors already. Also two forks (Lyrik and 38)
My bike came with 4-piston slx breaks, very nice, but I need more power and more modulation. Already on resin pads, 203mm discs, breaks in perfect order, serviced regularly and always properly bedded in.. any ideas? I especially lack power in front break, I mean I can stop when needed, but often enough I have a bunch of grip left and not much left in the break itself to slow/stop faster. When it comes to modulation then basically nothing happens for 2/3 of the level stroke, then I must be satisfied with modulation in latter 1/3..
switch to metal pads. you won't get a huge power upgrade moving to another brake if you're already doing 4-pot slx.
It could be a number of things; you might prefer a 220mm rotor up front, or you might prefer sintered pads (which are often described as having more bite), but if you're skidding, you may need more grip on your front tyre. Stopping power comes from lots of things. Watch the "power" section of the video, or watch the whole thing for a good understanding of how all these things work together. If you're still not sure, you might have to experiment.
Hi, what model is this brake disc ? Shimano 220mm center lock I can´t find it
It will probably be 203mm ice rotor
Can anyone explain this to me? All of my bikes since I was a kid had locking breaks even the cheap ones without disks. Why would anyone invest or mess with their breaks if the front can lock up?
I want my brakes (2 weeks old including rotor and pads and oil) to stop squaking at really slow speeds and not on high speeds
You forgot to mention that lubricating your brake discs will always make you go faster.
What to do with a new weak Code RSC? Asking for a friend.
It it is really weak such that it is not enough for your friend's riding style or trail, sell them (maybe at reasonably lower than the original price) and get either Deore or SLX 4 -piston (or even the MT500) brakes. That the latter are much cheaper than Code RSC while being more powerful making selling the Code either a profit or at minimal loss. But if these Shimano brakes are not even enough, then gotta spend more money on getting more powerful brakes by brands like Hope, Hayes, etc.
@sampah89 I've got the Code RSCs on my bike and they are great. They're comfortably stopping about 105kg of bike and rider and I'm fairly aggressive.
Get better pads and bed them properly.
Sell them and get 4 pot shimanos.
Never noticed any flex in any hoses ever.
Agreed. But braided hoses look cool 😉
Scintered pads all the way,1st thing I change when getting new brakes.....HA!
Try ceramics if you think sintered are the end all. It's not even close ...
I am more curious about finding brakes that don't squeel without weekly service. 😒
Those Fox 36’s tho 🤤
Thanks for the Shitmano marketing strategy!
Buy a Hope set.
Shimano XTR 😍 💦 🔝 perfection, I use them on my XC front, both brakes and discs, (2 piston model)
I can't seem to go more than a few weeks without my pads getting contaminated so I'd probably get better braking out of some old rim brakes 😂
what brakes are they?
Lol
I don't want to make you go on a wrong path but I'd start by inspecting around the pistons, maybe they lose just a bit too much of fluid, I had a saint cracked piston, wasn't visible without removing the piston but that fker was leaking very slightly, just enough to screw up one pad. 😂
Had some 2 pot shimano that would leak out of the seal seal when pressed although couldn’t see it happening
@@ravennexusmh Shimano mt200. Just what came as standard on my Trek
Almost all modern hydraulics can lock a 29 wheel, so more power won't help you if you experience poor braking, if your system is not poorly maintained and still not enough "power" consider improving your braking control or getting more traction; better tires... I used to race dh awhile ago, more than 14 yrs and even back then brake fade was extreme scenario, most people who think experience fade (real fade, fluid fail...) are either victims of poorly bled brakes or glazed pads... You have to push a fkin ton to get fade in modern mtb brakes 😂😅
screw good tires, I just want to skid around the place like a joyrider in someone elses car!
What happened to Doddy?!
Bro he has left GMBN long time ago, now becoming an ambassador to Mondraker.
@@sampah89 Whaaat, really???Shit bro that sucks
2:54 China...
Anna, it sounds to me like you’re talking to an Olympic athlete, not the average joe Regardless, you look awesome! If I was riding down the trail and saw you, I’d definetely stop for sure!
Bro.... This was broken down into its simplest terms.... If you can grasp this, you're gonna struggle
Just an advert for Shimano?
no, I want less braking power
Oh FFS just zero the calipers on the base plate then measure the whole thickness. We have this technology, use it! This isn't rocket science.
I like your videos, but this is the biggest marketing BS I have seen from you guys. Just say that Shimano has paid you to do an ad for their 11 year old brakes smh... Saints are great but cmon
Best solution to squishy brakes is to upgrade from sram
Brits don't understand brakes XD
Step one. Don’t use shitmano unless your buying a fishing reel.
Anna’s hot! Are we doing dinner at Sea Otter 🦦 next year?