4-piston brake recommendation for Rocky Mountain Element (2023)

Totoro28 · Oct 2, 2023

calgarydave said:
Here's another vote for ~200mm rotors. I have the same bike and swapped the front to a bigger rotor from day 1. The brakes are 2-piston XT with the rear rotor as original at 180mm.
BCXC riding for me, the bike stops when needed.

Thanks calgarydave! Looks like a very common upgrade for the Element from what I gather. The mechanic at my shop admitted that the Element's brakes are underpowered for what the bike can do.

Totoro28 · Oct 2, 2023

Dougal said:
Nah, the best option is always to do both!

I vote for Hayes Dominion.

Agreed! I'm leaning towards just doing the full upgrade in one shot (rotors + new calipers etc.).

Totoro28 · Oct 2, 2023

FrankS29 said:
I personally can't recommend a Shimano brake at this point. 3 XT 8120's sent out for warranty this summer.

1- lever puking oil
2- caliper with pistons destroyed/shattered from the back
3- wandering bite point and a caliper that is leaking/misting fluid

Since Shimano offers essentially zero parts for their brakes, they are destined for the trash bin if they are out of warranty.

My buddy has been really happy with his Dominion A4's, I'll be making that same move to A4's.

Thanks FrankS29. That's really valuable insight. The Dominion looks like a really nice brakeset. Thanks for the recommendation.

cmonkEP · Oct 2, 2023

Totoro28 said:
Thanks for the amazing feedback here so far everyone. Really appreciate your time and answers.

Can anyone recommend a brand/model of shimano rotors I should get? What's the difference between 6-bolt vs center lock, and which is best?

6 bolt vs Center lock will depend on your wheelset. Take a look at your wheels, and if there are six bolts that appear to screw through your rotor into the hub, you need a 6 bolt rotor.

The RT66 already referenced is an excellent choice.

FrankS29 · Oct 2, 2023

I've been really happy with Magura Storm HC rotors.

247764 · Oct 2, 2023

I run XT brakes with 4p front/2p rear, 180 ice tech rotors and ice tech pads. No need for bigger discs as a 210 lb aggressive rider. Bigger rotors can help, but they are prone to bending and being noisy versus 180s. Cost of new rotors and post mounts is probably the save as the 4p caliper and pads. Different solutions to the same problem.

bmwpowere36m3 · Oct 3, 2023

Between 3 bikes, all have 4 pot XT brakes... only issues I've had is one master cylinder is slightly weeping out the plunger (piston seal I suspect) on the oldest bike (3 seasons). In addition occasionally the pistons don't extend/retract equally (overtime) so the lever pull gets longer to make up for the added distance. I'll need to re-center the pistons, clean/lube and hold down the brake lever overnight with a band to get things re-centered.

I wouldn't mind trying something else, but they just work. Big bike has ice-tech 203 F/R, mid bike has 203/180 and the shorty has 180/180 XT F and SLX R.

4-piston brake recommendation for Rocky Mountain Element (2023)

Totoro28

Totoro28

Totoro28

cmonkEP

FrankS29

247764

bmwpowere36m3

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