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Shimano XT V Brake

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# of Reviews 410
Average Rating 3.53/5
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Description: Shimano XT V-Brakes


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Jenson USA


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    Submitted by Lonnie Russell a Weekend Warrior from Charlotte NC
    Date Reviewed: July 14, 2007
    Favorite Trail:lots of them
    Duration Product Used:2 Years
    Price Paid: $30.00
    Purchased At:lbs and e-bay
    Strengths:using them on rigid specalized bike that sees mild off road and commuting duties, brakes stop well,
    Weaknesses:SCREAMING - HOWLING noise from both sets of brakes, like stated before, would almost impact tree/car rather than use these screming demons. also stock pads are lke grinding stones on my rims, kool-stops work better,still can not adjust the noise out of these junk brakes. ready to trash can these and chalk up my loss.
    Similar Products Used:Have some of the straight arm [not paraell push} LX brakes on another bike, they work great - stop as well and best of all NO screaming banshees. btw. I am using them on a Trek tamdem.
    Bike Setup:old Specalized Rock Combo. with mix of LX and XT drivetrain, Mavic rims and combo tires.
    Bottom Line:Cannot recommend these brakes - unless you really want to annoy all the other people on the trails and wake EVERYONE up on morning commutes [I leave for work at 05:30 in the morning]. LX brakes work better, stop as well and no noise.If I could understand German I would try the fix listed further down or on another thread. but instead I'll probally just toss these pos brakes in the trash. Giving them the lowest ratings because even thought they stop well I just can't stand to use them. my .02
    Value Rating:1Overall Rating:1

    Submitted by Scott a Cross Country Rider from Los Alamos, NM
    Date Reviewed: June 9, 2007
    Favorite Trail:Reverse Traverse
    Duration Product Used:Less than 1 month
    Price Paid: $40.00
    Strengths:Parallelogram linkage is great idea in theory and easy to adjust, no lack of stopping power
    Weaknesses:As seems to be common, the front squealed like crazy, they're not the lightest out there
    Similar Products Used:Using Tektros now, which are lighter and don't squeal
    Bottom Line:The front squealed like crazy. It was loud enough that the noise actually hurt. I tried toe in, toe out, new pads, every adjustment I could. Rubbing a bit of WD-40 on the rim make the squeal go away and didn't sacrifice brake power, but only worked for about half an hour. I tried to switch the mounting plates like this website (http://www.nobrakes.de/technik/vbrakesilentsystem.htm) said, but could not get the pin out.

    After a week I was fed up and just put some mid-range Tektros on. The squeal immediately disappeared and they stop just as well, plus they're significantly lighter.

    The new '08 XT v-brakes do NOT have the parallelogram linkage. I wonder if Shimano listened to our complaints?

    2 chilis because they do stop the bike, but at a really high cost.
    Value Rating:1Overall Rating:2

    Submitted by Brian a Cross Country Rider from Denver CO USA
    Date Reviewed: June 6, 2007
    Favorite Trail:Cap'n Jacks
    Duration Product Used:More than 3 years
    Price Paid: $1.00
    Purchased At:I forgot
    Strengths:They work
    Weaknesses:None
    Similar Products Used:Yes
    Bike Setup:Cannondale XS 800 with aluminum fork and Headshok. Mavic Speed City rim. Shimano pads.
    Bottom Line:I can guarantee that my XT v-brakes are louder than anyones on here! Something about the slop in the cantis coupled with the aluminum fork creates a blood curdling shriek every time the front brake is applied. I've gotta be hitting close to 140 decibles with that bad boy! Oddly, the rear brake is dead silent.
    Value Rating:5Overall Rating:5

    Submitted by Tim a Racer from Sydney NSW Australia
    Date Reviewed: December 5, 2006
    Duration Product Used:2 Years
    Price Paid: $100.00
    Purchased At:LBS
    Strengths:Good stopping power with 2 fingers
    Weaknesses:Awful sounding. They squeak like mad. I changed pads, adjusted toe-in, nothing could stop the awful sound these brakes made.
    Similar Products Used:Avid Single Digit 7
    Bike Setup:Norco Torrent 1998 XC, Kinesis Maxlight rigid fork, XT/LX drivetrain, 12-27 Ultegra cassette, easton carbon seatpost
    Bottom Line:These brakes truly suck! I tolerated them too long, the best move I did was get them off my bike and replace with Avids. They were expensive and made so much noise on the front brake. They did have good power though
    Value Rating:3Overall Rating:2

    Submitted by George a Racer from Switzerland
    Date Reviewed: November 7, 2006
    Favorite Trail:city racing
    Duration Product Used:1 Year
    Price Paid: $60.00
    Purchased At:online
    Strengths:great breaking power
    Weaknesses:none
    Similar Products Used:shimano lx
    Bike Setup:marzocchi mx comp, mavic xc 717, all xt
    Bottom Line:the xt breakes have great stopping power with only 2 fingers. i also had the problem with the squeaking. i can tell you all if they squeak they will always do that no matter what you do to them. the only way to shut them up is to switch the paralellogram. for instructions see:http://www.nobrakes.de/technik/vbrakesilentsystem.htm. after i could not stand the noise anymore it did it. i can assure you it works. even when it rains. no sound at all. if you miss it hold the break and push the bike backwards (i sometimes do just to hear it again) BE AWARE THAT YOUR WARRANTY VOIDS AND THAT YOU DO IT ON YOUR OWN RISK! now that did this i am very pleased with my xt's.
    Value Rating:5Overall Rating:5

    Submitted by BLOPA a Weekend Warrior from BUENOS AIRES
    Date Reviewed: August 16, 2006
    Duration Product Used:Less than 1 month
    Purchased At:local store
    Strengths:very very power stop!!!!!!
    Weaknesses:none
    Similar Products Used:tektro
    Bottom Line:this is a brake very powerful, much more better than the original bike`s tektro. who needs disc? really.
    its a very good option. no surprises.
    Value Rating:5Overall Rating:5

    Submitted by matt a Weekend Warrior from mississauga
    Date Reviewed: May 16, 2006
    Duration Product Used:3 months
    Price Paid: $20.00
    Purchased At:online
    Strengths:Great stopping power
    Weaknesses:perhaps in the wet
    Similar Products Used:Avid V brakes
    Bike Setup:all XT parts
    Bottom Line:Light, cheaper now that disks are standard, a good buy and under rated nowadays XT vbrakes stop hard, better then my avid brakes that i had for quite some time.
    Value Rating:5Overall Rating:4

    Submitted by Chris a Cross Country Rider from Connecticut
    Date Reviewed: November 26, 2005
    Duration Product Used:2 Years
    Price Paid: $60.00
    Purchased At:Nashbar
    Strengths:Very durable and look good. Good braking power
    Weaknesses:Squeak!! Somtimes prefer to go into the tree than listen to them squeak to stop. Tried the pad angle adjustment, sanding the pads, cleaning the rims, nothing works. Finally decided to buy new pads and seems to be much better. Did i mention they squeak.
    Similar Products Used:Cheap stock brakes (didn't squeak and stopped the bike)
    Bike Setup:XT, LX, Manitou Black Comp Fork
    Bottom Line:The brakes are good if you can deal with high pitched squeaking everytime you wish to slow down. It lets everyone know where you are...
    Value Rating:3Overall Rating:3

    Submitted by JAKE a Downhiller from VEGAS
    Date Reviewed: November 25, 2005
    Duration Product Used:3 months
    Price Paid: $60.00
    Purchased At:LBS
    Strengths:THEY WILL STOP YOU!
    Weaknesses:PADS SUCK! TRIED NEW PADS! CALUPERS SUCK TOO!
    Similar Products Used:NOTHINGS SIMILAR!
    Bike Setup:ITs NOT THE ISSUE! MAYBE PROMAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Bottom Line:IN LINE...TOE IN...TOE OUT...$20 FOR KOOL STOPs...3mos OF
    FORKING AROUND WITH THIS POS THAT SOUNDED LIKE MY EX-WIFE
    WAS WAY BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY! .......CALLED PRICE POINT
    AND ORDERED A SET OF AVID SD-7s...$89 FOR BRAKES AND LEVERS.

    PUT THE KOOL STOPs ON THE SD-7s...PUT THEM ON THE BIKE...
    ADUSTED...TEST RIDE...XTs IN THE TRASH!!! NO MORE MEMORYs
    OF MY EX-WIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





    Value Rating:1Overall Rating:1

    Submitted by Bill a Weekend Warrior from Tokyo, Japan
    Date Reviewed: October 19, 2005
    Favorite Trail:Tamagawa river
    Duration Product Used:6 months
    Price Paid: $40.00
    Purchased At:lbs
    Strengths:Very strong
    Weaknesses:Squeal with stock pads
    Bike Setup:Rigid KHS Montana Crest upgraded to 27-speed with LX and XT components
    Bottom Line:I am a bit of a clydesdale at 215 lbs (weight lifter) and tend to break a lot of parts. I upgraded hoping to find something that could stop me reliably from high speeds and hold well on steep downhills.

    These brakes are very powerful as expected and have great feel. However, with the stock pads and no booster, they squealed like banshees.

    I adjusted them as suggested below with limited results. I also tried Koolstop pads and added a Tioga brake booster to the front with some reduction in noise. They still woke the dead on long steep downhills.

    Maybe I had more problems due to fork and frame flex. I can see the frame and forks bow (even with brake booster up front) when I squeaze the levers too hard. Yes, I am using V-brake levers.

    Recently I upgraded to BBB triple compound veestop pads from Y's Cycle in Tokyo for 525 yen (about $5 and much cheaper than Koolstops) for a complete set (front and rear). Problem solved! The feel is great too.

    I recommend these brakes for anyone who needs more power than traditional V-brakes, but does not want to upgrade to discs (my frame does not have bosses). I suggest replacing the pads with BBB's to eliminate the squeal.

    I give them 4 flaming chilis for value since I had to buy two sets of pads and a brake booster before the squeal when away. For performance they get 5 big flaming chilis.
    Value Rating:4Overall Rating:5

    Submitted by Ned a Cross Country Rider from Cumberland Plateau, TN,USA
    Date Reviewed: June 13, 2005
    Duration Product Used:More than 3 years
    Strengths:Powerful stops, right now.
    Weaknesses:I've had none.
    Similar Products Used:none
    Bike Setup:Klein Pulse hardtail, Manitou SX, USE post, Raceface cranks, XT/Mustang wheelset, SRAM drivetrain, Controltech stem/barends, Richie Racelite bar, Smoke tires- 21 lbs.
    Bottom Line:No squeal, ever. I've used these brakes for seven years. I have the Shimano carbon brake arch boosters front and rear. Maybe the reason people have the squeal problem is that their brakes are more powerful than their fork is stiff...
    Value Rating:5Overall Rating:5

    Submitted by Chris Pollett a Racer from London, ON, Canada
    Date Reviewed: June 4, 2005
    Favorite Trail:fanshawe lake
    Duration Product Used:More than 3 years
    Price Paid: $150.00
    Purchased At:Cyclepath
    Strengths:Great all around brakes. Easy pad replacement and adjustment
    Weaknesses:The press fit parts tend to loosen or develop play but its not too bad.
    Similar Products Used:XTR Canties, Magura Hydrolics
    Bike Setup:Nuke Proof Frame Full XT, XTR Rear, V brakes and Spin Wheels
    Bottom Line:Great for the money and as for the squeel, learn to adjust them and set them right and they are never noisy except in wet conditions.
    Value Rating:5Overall Rating:5

    Submitted by david a Cross Country Rider from Manchester UK
    Date Reviewed: May 27, 2005
    Duration Product Used:1 Year
    Purchased At:Chain Reaction Cycles
    Strengths:Stopping power is very good.
    I like the tension adjustment system with the allen key fitting not the screwdriver fitting.
    Weaknesses:They HOWL on the front. The rear is fine.
    Similar Products Used:XTR, Avids, + lots of others
    Bike Setup:Mish mash of mostly lx and XT
    Bottom Line:For the price this is a reasonable piece of kit. If you are after Vees that will stop the bike they will do this and then some provided you use clean cables every so often and replace the outers to keep the whole lot running nice and smooth.

    Be warned unless you are one of gods children the front will make enough noise to wake the dead at a pitch that will make them want to kill you. This happens in all conditions, wet, muddy. Tried everything to make the noise go away from cleaning the rims with nail varnish remover to toeing. Nothing works. The noise vanished when I upgraded to XTR.

    If it wasn't for the noise these would get 4 chillis. They are not quite as good as the XTR's but are nonetheless a good piece of gear. Due to the noise I give them a 3. 4 for value because they were so cheap.
    Value Rating:4Overall Rating:3

    Submitted by kevin a Cross Country Rider from slo ca usa
    Date Reviewed: March 5, 2005
    Duration Product Used:3 months
    Price Paid: $25.00
    Strengths:stopping power, adjustability
    Weaknesses:fing squeal, this bugs the hell out of me especially because i commute, and am always using "light" braking
    Similar Products Used:generic brand v's, way better
    Bike Setup:all xt plus some truvativ
    Bottom Line:look like it is 50/50 on squeel issue, i have tried these w/ old rims, old forks, new forks, new rims, and soon probably some cheep pads, toes out/in and flat, who knows,dont do it!!
    Value Rating:1Overall Rating:1

    Submitted by Jim Short a Weekend Warrior from Whitby, Ontario, Canada
    Date Reviewed: February 11, 2005
    Favorite Trail:Local Highschool
    Duration Product Used:3 months
    Price Paid: $36.00
    Purchased At:JensonUSA.com
    Strengths:They have great power and modulation, way better than any other v's ive tried. They were easy to install. Look good. Power holds up pretty well in wet. Do not need frequent adjustment.
    Weaknesses:The squeak is terrible, the back is fine, but the front is a huge pain. I had some luck with koolstops brake pads until i got something on the rim. So when i switched them onto my new bike i used the stock pads, and had them toed in by the shop. They were nearly perfectly quite at first but it soon faded. Now they are terribly loud.
    Similar Products Used:Deore, tektro, and no name OE
    Bike Setup:02 Kona stuff, pslyo xc at 3" of travel, answer protaper bars avid speed dial 7 levers xt v's
    Bottom Line:I got very frustrated with them. After spending hours sanding rims and pads, cleaning with rubbing alcohol, and even having the adjustment at the shop fade back to squeaking, i gave up on them and have bought Avid's mechanical discs to replace them. The back gives me no problems, but the front was too much of a hassel. A great preforming brake with a terrible sound. I use them for street, they have great modulation for nose manuals (if u can stand the sound) and lots of power for rear wheel moves without slipping. They'd be great for anything if you could get them quiet, light enough and powerful just painfully loud!
    Value Rating:4Overall Rating:3

    Submitted by J1Soul a Weekend Warrior from New York, NY
    Date Reviewed: January 11, 2005
    Favorite Trail:Forest Park
    Duration Product Used:3 months
    Price Paid: $50.00
    Purchased At:ebay
    Strengths:Responsive and strong stopping power
    Weaknesses:Took some time to get them adjusted
    Similar Products Used:Tektro
    Bike Setup:Raliegh M60, LX's, Judy XC
    Bottom Line:These brakes have not given me any problems yet. They have very strong stopping power. People have emphasized that they squeek but I haven't had that problem. In wet conditions the front squeek just a little, but nothing like what others have described. The pads have L and R indicators. I switched them on the front brakes so maybe thats why they don't squeek. It took a while for me to adjust the spaceers and get the angle so they make good contact with the rim. Overall they perform great, I like them a lot
    Value Rating:4Overall Rating:5

    Submitted by John a Weekend Warrior from La Habra,CA,US
    Date Reviewed: October 8, 2004
    Duration Product Used:1 Year
    Price Paid: $60.00
    Strengths:stopping power is great.
    Weaknesses:Squeals loudly
    Similar Products Used:Shimano LX
    Bike Setup:KHS tandem Alite
    Bottom Line:Crashed and broke the LX front brake, then replaced it with this "upgraded" Shimano brake. With Kool Stop pads, you can adjust out the squeal for a while with toe-in. The problem really is loose tolerances in the brake parts, plus loose fit over the brake bosses. I am going back to Shimano LX, which has bushings to pivot on rather than relying on the fork maker to make brake bosses to exactly match Shimano's pivot hole. Don't buy this product unless you can check for excessive free play; return it to the dealer if required.
    Value Rating:1Overall Rating:1

    Submitted by Peter Thuener a Cross Country Rider from Saratoga, CA USA
    Date Reviewed: September 10, 2004
    Duration Product Used:2 Years
    Price Paid: $7000.00
    Purchased At:pacific bicycle
    Strengths:superior stopping power, nice silver finish, very straightforward setup. I'm unaware of the squeekiness that seems to be associated with it.
    Weaknesses:none thus far, and i've owned them for two years.
    Similar Products Used:Deore
    Bike Setup:XT V-brakes with Avid levers.
    Bottom Line:like a very reliable BMW, quick, responsive, and pretty.
    Value Rating:4Overall Rating:4

    Submitted by Michiel Boelens a Cross Country Rider from Anloo, The Netherlands
    Date Reviewed: August 3, 2004
    Duration Product Used:3 months
    Price Paid: $50.00
    Purchased At:ebay
    Strengths:Once you pull your brake lever your bike WILL stop.
    Weaknesses:As said many times before.. it SQUELLS!!!!! It's so bad you don't wan't to use your front brake anymore!!
    Similar Products Used:Shimano deore v-brakes, Magura HS33
    Bike Setup:Cube Acid, LX/XT setup
    Bottom Line:The brakes work really good but the squelling on the front brake ins't normal. I tried every possible setup but nothing helps.. even tried them with KOOLSTOPS but it just doens't help. I would go for the Magura's (HS33). Much better controle and they brake even better!!
    Value Rating:2Overall Rating:3

    Submitted by Tony a Weekend Warrior from Earth
    Date Reviewed: July 11, 2004
    Duration Product Used:1 Year
    Strengths:Simple setup
    Weaknesses:Squeals!!!
    Similar Products Used:Avid
    Bike Setup:Yeti ARC, the best hardtail ever made!
    Bottom Line:Just like everybody here, the front brake squeals like a pig. Nothing helps. It's so loud that I'm actually embarrassed to use the front brake for fear of waking up the neighbors - two states over. And yes I've properly toe'd in the front. Give me the Avids any day!
    Value Rating:3Overall Rating:1

    Submitted by Nairn Watt a Cross Country Rider from Aberdeen, Scotland
    Date Reviewed: June 15, 2004
    Duration Product Used:Less than 1 month
    Price Paid: $80.00
    Purchased At:Alpine Bikes
    Strengths:Stopping power and ease of setup.
    Weaknesses:None so far.
    Similar Products Used:Standard fit Promax.
    Bike Setup:Standard Gary Fisher Tass.
    Bottom Line:I highly recommend these brakes as an upgrade to any standard fit V-brakes. Ignore all the reviews abput squeal.The new M7650 brakes that I have have no problems.
    Value Rating:4Overall Rating:5

    Submitted by Mike a Cross Country Rider from Catonsville, MD
    Date Reviewed: June 13, 2004
    Duration Product Used:1 Year
    Price Paid: $100.00
    Purchased At:Local bike shop
    Strengths:Strong, easy to adjust.
    Weaknesses:Squeal - The squeal from the front brake rattles my teeth. I've woren down my rears because I'm too embassared to ride the front too hard. I have tried every which way of adjusting the pads, but the squeal comes back.
    Similar Products Used:XT Cantilevers worked great.
    Bike Setup:Klien Pulse hard tail with full XT. New Mavic rims
    Bottom Line:I am very disappointed with this situation and will be switching out the fronts. I wish I had known about this problem prior to putting them on.
    Value Rating:2Overall Rating:2

    Submitted by Chris a Cross Country Rider from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
    Date Reviewed: June 2, 2004
    Favorite Trail:Gatineaus
    Duration Product Used:More than 3 years
    Price Paid: $100.00
    Purchased At:LBS
    Strengths:The brakes are better than the stock brakes that came with the bike and the pads last a decent amount of time.
    Weaknesses:Squeel! Constant need to toe in the pads to avoid squeel. You may think the squeel problem goes away after a toe in, but as soon as there is any moisture, the squeel is back!
    Similar Products Used:Avid 1.0
    Bike Setup:1999 Klein Attitude Race
    Bottom Line:I blew the money on these brakes because they were on sale and I thought they would be better than the stock brakes. They are better, performance wise, but the squeel is very frustrating. I am going to replace them with discs.
    Value Rating:2Overall Rating:2

    Submitted by Erik a Cross Country Rider from Seattle, WA
    Date Reviewed: March 16, 2004
    Favorite Trail:Capitol State Forest
    Duration Product Used:1 Year
    Price Paid: $38.00
    Purchased At:JensonUSA
    Strengths:Excellent stopping power, fine tuning, reliability.
    Weaknesses:Front brake. S-U-C-K-S
    Similar Products Used:Avid Arch Rival
    Bike Setup:Schwinn hardtail, SID fork, XT drivetrain and rear brake, Avid arch rival front.
    Bottom Line:I would rather not have a front brake than have to use the XT front V. My friend convinced me that they had fixed the squeal but they have not. I finally replaced mine with an Avid arch rival, which is so much nicer, I wish I would've bought two of those first. They are even easier to set up and keep tuned. Now whenever I ride with my friend it feels like the horrendous squeal is chasing me. Do not buy this product for your front wheel, I don't care what anyone says about toe-in, toe-out, new pads, brake boosters, blah blah, read the reviews about one out of six people (maybe) are happy with them. Save yourself the trouble
    Value Rating:1Overall Rating:1

    Submitted by Jeremy Arnold a Cross Country Rider from Asheville,NC
    Date Reviewed: March 11, 2004