4-piston Shimano have a really soft bite. They’ve got about 20% less bite (by piston area) than the 2pot. Unless you’re doing sustained braking, the 2-pot Shimano might feel like a better brake.
Your SRAM shouldn’t need bleeding that often. Unless a hose is leaking, a piston seal is bad, or the bleed screw is bad, it’s your bleed procedure. SRAMs brakes seem to come from the factory with lots of tiny bubbles that you can’t get out. Rather than trying to chase down a problem, if the price is right, it might make sense to replace though. The Shimano mineral oil seems to not hold air bubbles as well as DOT fluid does.
I just want to make sure that if all things are proper such as no leaks or bladder issues etc that you are not bleeding the brakes when you actually need to be replacing the pads more often?
That being said, I am not a fan of SRAM brakes - I am a huge fan of Shimano 2-pot brakes for XC riding/racing. I run metallic pads and bleed my brakes once every other season and that is just to make sure the fluid is not dirty etc.
I replace the pads every season or a twice a season but I don’t see very long mountainous downhills.
SRAM brakes to me are soft, but very modular. I like a brake that isn’t as modular with a very noticeable on/off position (Shimano).
I’ve had levels, guides, and codes at various points for the last year. The levels and guides were the “R” version, and they terrible. Hard to get a good bleed with consistent feel, and it didn’t last long. On my enduro I have the code RSC, and they’re excellent; easy to bleed, consistent feel, and not too fussy. My buddy has guide rsc and is very happy with them, so I think the trim makes a big difference.
I switched to XTR two pistons on my xc bike from the guides, and they are very impressive. The braking power, despite only two pistons vs 4 piston guides, is much better and more consistent.
I have a prior gen pike select on my XC hardtail, and have been considering upgrading the damper to the charger 2.1 RCT3 (not 2). Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I’d like it to ride a bit higher in its travel, and the rct3, seems like it would be best for an XC bike.
Theres no way to hack a remote lockout onto this right? I know the charger 2 you could get a remote, I’m wondering if theres any way the top cap could be modified to fit or something.
I went from the BikeYoke Divine SL at 125mm to a PNW Rainier Gen 3 (170mm). I’m sure the Rainier is heavier - I don’t know by how much. But I’m a lot faster with the 170mm drop. Mine is nearly slammed, too.
The Oneup v3 180mm seems like the best choice. So many drop options, good weight, and great price.
I think you’ve mentioned you’re a taller rider, so probably want more than 125mm. I’m 6”1 and I think 125mm is insufficient, even the current 150mm I have on my xc bike feels a bit too small. So for that reason I’d avoid the divine. The Lev Ci carbon 150 is more expensive, and heavier than the Oneup 180.
I personally wouldn’t consider the transfer SL, lots of reliability issues, higher cost, and the weight is actually not much better than the alternatives.
My bias is that I’ve had 5 Oneup dropper posts and they’ve all worked flawlessly. I’ve had some minor issues (slow rebound, sticky, etc) but they were all really easy to resolve with home maintenance. I’m even considering upgrading my 150mm v2 to the 180mm v3 on my xc bike.
To keep it alive I requested this title to be changed to “2025 XC Bike & Equipment Thread”
I wanted to pop in here and let any of those who were thinking about a set of Nextie Supreme wheelset but was worried about the carbon spokes, they have released their own version of the Bard spokes called Polymer Fiber Ti-Fi.
This opens up the doors for both road and mtb from there offering and is extremely light still (2.2g per spoke). Just figured I would drop it in here and kick the year off since everyone loves talking wheels.
I’ve heard that there was another player in the poly spoke market and have been Berd curious for about a year. Maybe a little competition will help spice things up?
It will be interesting to see how the market goes, here is a spy shot of the hubs.
They (Nextie) are going to a 20/20 spoke combo for the road wheels. That just shows how strong they are and its really going to reduce wheelset weight as the spokes are 2.2g each (so only 88g for road wheelsets).
Using imperial, I’m 6’0 and have a 32” inseam. It fits pretty similar to my last bike which was a size L Oiz so I didn’t question the size much.
I know some pros do smaller size and longer stem for various reasons, but I’ve never gone that rabbit hole and prefer to just ride the appropriate frame size with a reasonable stem length.
@tgarson thanks - i’m 178cm (5 10+) and 31” inseam - think M or L? for Leadville training…need strong climbing and confident descending - not overly winding, large rock technical type performance.
I came from a steeper bike, so I specifically wanted something slacker and was OK with it having a longer wheelbase to be more stable in fast but relatively straight descents versus sizing down with a long stem so that it would be more agile through tight turns and switchbacks. That’s more consistent to Leadville course demands as well.
Based on the sizing charts, M wasn’t really a debate for me, you’re more on the very top end of what they recommend for medium but more into the L section of the graph.
You could do either. I think the L is generally the safer bet and that at Leadville you aren’t going to miss the agility of riding the M through tight turns, but fwiw the M would be a hair lighter.
@tgarson thanks - the L is actually on the smaller side of most L’s - shorter reach but still a higher stack…the large is only 7mm longer than Oiz Medium, 12mm longer than new Yeti ASR medium…zfs5 medium overall you’re a fan? weight, performance, long day comfort, etc. appreciate all the info
