Shimano XTR BR-M975P Hydraulic Disc Front Brake Set &Shimano XTR BR-M975 Hydraulic Disc Rear Brake Set Super lightweight, single forged, mono-block caliper with an opposedTwin piston design maximizes weight savings, stiffness and rigidity - everything you need for powerful braking New brake pad uses aTitanium back plateTo improve rigidity and reduce weight Updated rotor design increases rigidityTo extend pad life (rotor not included)
Submitted by
magixuser
a Cross Country Rider
from Singapore
Date Reviewed: October 18, 2011
Strengths: Mineral oil, easy to bleed, light, stopping power when you need it.
Weaknesses: Spongy feel on the levers, Difficult to center the caliper and disk due to shim method, Expensive, no rebuild kit.
Bottom Line:
Bought my xtr gruppo last 2007, several change of frames later still using the XTR gruppo and part of the gruppo is the shimano 975 DCL brakes/shifter combo. 4 years later the gruppo is still working strong, reason for the longetivity of my parts are due to constant cleaning and maintenance. I clean my bike after every ride so that every mud and dirt that are accumulated on those nooks and crannies are cleaned off. I have not once experienced any problem with my brakes caliper being stuck. I bleed my brakes every 6 months and during the bleeding , I make sure I lubricate the caliper pistons. I put a 180mm up front and 160 rear rotors and the brakes gives lots of stopping power. Initial setup is a bit Difficult due to the shim alignment but once the calipers are aligned then it's trouble free all the way.
Similar Products Used: Shimano Xt, Formula oro K24, Formula oro Bianco, xtr 965 dcl
Bike Setup: El guapo 2009, Full xtr, crank brothers iodine wheelset, fox float f36, thomson seatpost/stem
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Submitted by
egebhardt
a Weekend Warrior
from San Mateo, CA 94403
Date Reviewed: June 28, 2011
Strengths: Look Cool. Feel Cool.
Weaknesses: The master cylinders weep Mineral oil.
The pistons do not center well.
Bottom Line:
I bot a set of XTR 975s I got cheep on CL. Turns out I know why they were cheap. They weep oil out the lever plunger. Then the pistons don't center. So 1 pad always rubs. I sent them in to Shimano in Irvine, CA. They sent me another new set because they can't be rebuilt or serviced. Re-Bleeding these brakes doesn't help.
Weaknesses: Required alot of maintenance, cost a fair amout of $$ to maintain every year there was some sort of brake related expense. The biggest weakness is that the seal broke last summer and there is no rebuild kit!! And apparently from reading other reviews this is fairly common and is really frustrating that Shimano is aware that there is a global issue with one of their (high end) products and does not offer a rebuild kit. Not sure if I will ever buy Shimano again because of this reason and my current bike is completely set up with XTR down to the wheelset. Lost a very loyal customer over a stupid rebuild kit.
Bottom Line:
Brake worked well when working, a little spendy to maintain and required more maintenance by far than any other brakes I have owned, last straw was the seal busting and no rebuild kit so what should be a $40 fix will now cost me a whole new caliper or brake set. Why would I want to spend $150 on a new caliper for a system that could brake again and then cost another $150 to replace when I could just replace the whole system and if there is an issue get a rebuild kit?? Silly question eh? How's that working out for you Shimano?
Bike Setup: Ibis Mojo SL, full shimano XTR build, Fox Talas front fork
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Submitted by
Bruce M
a Cross Country Rider
from Palm Bay, Fl, USA
Date Reviewed: April 2, 2011
Strengths: Great modulation, Incredible stopping power, NO noise, 30 second pad replacement
Weaknesses: None so far
Bottom Line:
The M975 XTR Disk Brakes work great in central florida. Maybe I got lucky, and have not had any of the problems seen by other reviewers... I hose my bikes down after any muddy rides, but I am by no means 'picky' or 'anal' about maintaining my bikes.. The XTR Brakes work perfect and I have had absolutely zero problems with them. One note.. They work so well I hardly use my front brake anymore.. I always used XTR rim brakes and had to white knuckle both brakes on enry to hard corners.. now I use the front brake maybe one or two times in a 30 minute time trial.
Bike Setup: 2009 Trek Top Fuel SSL and Old School Caad4
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Submitted by
jrahm
a Cross Country Rider
from Sisters OR
Date Reviewed: June 19, 2010
Strengths: Look good, work well if they are working.
Weaknesses: Unreliable, expensive both to purchase and maintain, PITA.
Bottom Line:
XTR's cost me $350 in repairs over 4 years, lots of down time, tweaking, and maintenance, and the seemingly ever-present scream of leak saturated pads. Have the BB7s on a Redline Mono9, never ANY problems, stop like crazy, easy to adjust. BB7's are going on the Titus tomorrow, I could not be happier. I am a big fan of simple and reliable. BTW, weights are nearly identical. I will never own another set of hydraulic brakes, period.
Bike Setup: Titus ti 29er Racer-x, full XTR until yesterday, Reba, Stan's Flow on DT Swiss
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Submitted by
ep-gnar
a Cross Country Rider
from Missoula, MT, USA
Date Reviewed: May 19, 2010
Strengths: look nice
good feel
lightweight
decent performance
Weaknesses: disposable since no parts are available
Bottom Line:
bought these from some mtbr a-hole that must have noticed a small leak in the front master cylinder. they leaked slowly at first but got worse. no big deal right? just get a rebuild kit, right? sorry, shimano doesn't sell rebuild kits for these. called their warranty people and they said to try returning them through my lbs (and bring a dated proof of purchase), so hopefully that will work out and not cost me too much. I will never buy shimano brakes again because they are unserviceable.
Submitted by
donoman
a Cross Country Rider
from San Francisco, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: November 26, 2009
Strengths: Good modulation, levers feel good.
Weaknesses: Constant squeaking, pads do not return fully, need constant cleaning to maintain smoothness
Bottom Line:
These brakes suck, man! They feel great when you are on the brakes... UNTIL they overheat and start whining. The worst part is that the pads do not return symmetrically and do not open wide enough, even with proper centering. As such, these brakes consistently rub and cause a lot of audio grief! Tried to modify the return springs for more pad spreading, doesn't seem to work too well. My prognosis: Caliper pistons get mucked up too easily, causing return failure. I know these are dual-sided piston calipers but looking at them from the top I can tell I'm usually just pushing from one side. So then need to clean these suckers out. Quite a shame because the modulation on them is awesome. Will be trying XT-level brakes next. I can't stand the constant maintenance on these f'ing things.
Bike Setup: 2009 Stumpjumper Hardtail, XTR everything
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Submitted by
dru
a Cross Country Rider
from Waterloo, Canada
Date Reviewed: June 14, 2009
Strengths: It's XTR. Has a very cool small rear rotor. Very light weight. Awesome looking rotors. Front calipers can be used with the 140mm rear rotor. Power and modulation are quite good. Does not use brake fluid.
Weaknesses: A real pain to bleed. Also takes a lot of fussing to get the calipers properly centered on the discs. It uses shims to do this. Took a week of riding to get right. Read up on lubing the pistons, they are too dry from the factory.
Bottom Line:
A good high end brake. The caliper bolts are drilled for safety wire just like my old race bike (motorcycle)which is cool, although a bit of overkill. Shimano even supplies a bit of wire for the job. Pads are very easy to change but are noisy when used. I suspect that many of the problems people are having are from dry pistons and bad initial set up with the shims. I've had no problems with dragging once I got the calipers properly centered. The brakes are way over priced at retail. I used the net and saved around 300 dollars.
Bike Setup: Salsa El Mariachi. Alfine drive train. The bike is dope!
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Submitted by
alanchan
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto
Date Reviewed: May 20, 2009
Strengths: Ok braking power, soft feel for riders who don't like hard levers.
Weaknesses: Lever shape is weird, too small for my hand at least, some people like the feel of this thing but I prefer my Hopes. MSRP is a bit overpriced.
Bottom Line:
These brakes are way overpriced at MSRP. I have not encounter piston issues as I only test ride these in the dry. The lever is the most annoying thing for me. This old XTR (not dual control) was better. Also, OEM pads are expensive as they have titanium back plate. Who needs that?
Submitted by
moots2
a Cross Country Rider
from Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Date Reviewed: May 5, 2009
Strengths: Work moderately well.
Weaknesses: Pads are nearly impossible to center. Shims do not allow centering, may try a 0.3 mm shim. Pistons stick. Pads rub and squeak almost all the time due to these two problems. Bleeding is difficult.
Bottom Line:
VERY disappointed in this product. Not consistent with general quality of Shimano. Pads do not center with shims, and pistons stick, which leads to constant rotor rubbing. I have had the IS mounts faced and pads "centered" by LBS, but still rub thereafter. Also, the ti/metallic pads had to be replaced after a couple rides due to very loud screaching. Bleeding is a difficult. Supposed to be Shimano's "flagship" XTR, but very poor product. Not fun to ride a bike that constantly squeaks. DO NOT waste your money on these. Hopefully, Shimano reps. read these reviews.
Awesome brakes, great feel and lots of power. Was initially concerned about "spacer only" adjustment but I have only had to remove one spacer from front brake since I installed them.
I have had none of the piston problems other have had.
Weaknesses: the feel on this brakes is way to soft even after bleeding
very expensive for what you get, my right brake is leaking oil, loose pressure after 30 minutes
Bottom Line:
this brakes are not durable you have to replace them after 1 year of use, hard to get a perfect bleed so you will never get 100% from this brakes
Weaknesses: The pistons do not return and do not stay centered causing rubbing. These are XTR, supposed to be the best, designed for cross country racing, rubbing discs are not conducive to speed. These brakes are so frustrating, I have to adjust them after every ride. The shop adjusts them also, but ten minutes into every ride the rubbing begins.
Bottom Line:
see weaknesses. When a product costs this much and is supposed to be the top of the line, it should be perfect, but it is not.
Bike Setup: scalpel with full xtr, everything else works great!
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Submitted by
Runlong1
a Cross Country Rider
from Roseville, California
Date Reviewed: November 14, 2008
Strengths: Good stopping power, much better than caliper brakes, look good, light weight.
Weaknesses: Pistons needed to be cleaned, sticking. Brake squeal on both sets after about 300 miles - Shimano brake pads had small "divots" in them. Would like to find a Kool Stop replacement, since these pads are very expensive!
Bottom Line:
Nice brakes, but disappointed that I had to change the pads to stop the squealing. Also, pistons sticking after running in only dry conditions, not wet. Took a 5 day trip to the Maah Daah Hey Trail in North Dakota, and pistons clogged a bit with the dry, dusty dirt. Brakes work very, very well when all is good. This is my first experience with disc brakes. I will need to see how they work in the mud when winter sets in!
Similar Products Used: XTR caliper brakes with Mavic Ceramic rims.
Bike Setup: Trek Top Fuel Carbon, Full XTR, Mavic Crossmax SLR wheels
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Submitted by
Datalogger
a Cross Country Rider
from Chambersburg, PA, USA
Date Reviewed: October 7, 2008
Strengths: Typical XTR Quality. Nice clean look w/o alot of flash. Awesome power, 1 finger stoppies! No noticeable rub or "migration". M07 Resin pads seem to last forever.
Weaknesses: Noisy when wet, not a fan of the brake lever adjustment. Shimano should really have a better way to adjust this that doesn't move the brake lever further away from the handlebar. Not a big deal, probably just a pet peeve of mine. Resin pads will glaze, a light sanding brings them back to life. I imagine they are glazing due to overheating them. A larger rotor would most likely fix this.
Bottom Line:
Seem to be adequate for my 250lb frame for XC riding. I may need to upgrade the rear to a 7" rotor as my brake did become spongy during a long descent. Afterwards, the rear pads were only slightly glazed, I'm pretty sure I boiled the fluid. Personally, I feel I'm asking alot of any 6" rotor with my size. Increasing the rotor size along w/ a swap to more aggressive pads should take care of everything. The M07 Resin pads have over 500 tough condition miles on them with barely any signs of wear.
Bike Setup: Maverick Durance Ano w/ the best of everything; DUC32, CK Hubs/Mavic 817 rims/Maxxis Larsen TT 2.35's, Full XTR w/ Dual Action shifter/brakes, 203mm front/160mm rear rotor both w/ M07 Resin pads, Speedball, Easton MonkeyLite SL Carbon Handlebar, XTR clipless. Around 28.5 lbs.
