I want XT's, but with modulation. What are my choices?

Dominions
Or switch your levers out to XTR and get rid of the servo wave.

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I rode Shimano religiously for years. I hate SRAM so just rode Shimano by default. Switched to Magura MT7s earlier this year and couldn’t be happier.

Trp trail or dhr evo fit the bill. I have both, trails bite a little harder at the beginning, dhrs have a lighter lever action. Both use the same caliper.

Dominions are good too, but I really like being able to just put a cup on the lever to do a quick bleed


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Personally I'd stick with the Shimano brakes since you like them. Good modulation is in the hand of the beholder.

Otherwise I like sram codes & g2's. Easy bleeds, good feel and performance imo.

J.B. Weld said:

Personally I'd stick with the Shimano brakes since you like them. Good modulation is in the hand of the beholder.

Otherwise I like sram codes & g2's. Easy bleeds, good feel and performance imo.

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I definitely have no issues with the Shimano's - but I got a little xmas bonus and I like to tinker. Also, my stoppy game is struggling with how hard they bite. On trail I find I can modulate fine, but where I ride it's Shimano or SRAM to test so keen to see what else is out there.

There are two end of the spectrum how people modulate their brake.

1) Those who modulate with the lever position only.
Those will absolutely hate Shimano and like more linear lever stroke brakes.

2) Those who modulate their finger playing with lever force (not lever position) only.
Those actually do better with Shimano style. Lever position doesn't matter, it's how hard they pull and the resistance they feel from the lever that matters.
If the lever resistance force doesn't ramp up enough with more pull, they'll find brake to be mushy.

Most people are in between, using both lever position and resistance felt at the finger to modulate the brake. So either way is fine.
However, the lever position modulation camp is a lot more vocal online. So everyone think Shimano style is not okay.

The ability to clamp down fast and deliver power immediately is a big draw of the shimano brakes IMO. On some terrain, this is very helpful, but it obviously sacrifices some modulation to do so. My primary issue moving away was that I still needed to deliver a lot of power fast. Luckily bigger rotors are a thing now and 220-225 can significantly help.

So you like XT's and want something on the Shimano end of the modulation spectrum. I'd try XT's...

As a Shimano guy, I tried MT7’s, which were awesome when they worked.

The Magura’s were super flakey, especially with changes in elevation. Constantly bleeding them.

Put Shimano levers on the Magura calipers, and now have the best of all worlds. Insane power, great lever feel.

OP what size rotors are you running? You can always down size the rotors so you don't get as much sudden bite and then modulate from there.
I did that on my ebike so the wheels wouldn't lock up so much under panic braking!

I thought 8120's had great modulation coming from 8000's

Yeah. The lever action on the new gen 4 pots is pretty awesome in my opinion.

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I’ve found the 8120’s to have great compromise between modulation and power.

The old 8000’s of old were very on/off. The new ones are great for modulation with tons of power still.

I grew tired of shimano's manual modulation so I switched to magura. For my taste, they have perfect modulation. It's not too broad like Hope, but beginning stroke is soft enough where you'll never scrub too much speed or lock up when you don't want. Mid to end stroke power ramps up quickly too so when you're ready for max power it's there without too much lever travel. Hope has amazing modulation for those that want an ultra wide range of power delivery, its just too broad for my taste. I had to ride the rear so I could do quick stabs for max power. That's too much modulation IMO.

NS-NV said:

As a Shimano guy, I tried MT7’s, which were awesome when they worked.

The Magura’s were super flakey, especially with changes in elevation. Constantly bleeding them.

Put Shimano levers on the Magura calipers, and now have the best of all worlds. Insane power, great lever feel.

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Weird, I’ve got about 3000 miles on some MT7s and haven’t bled them once. They still feel as good as they did on day one. After putting them on two of my bikes, I won’t be going back to Shimano.

blcman said:

OP what size rotors are you running? You can always down size the rotors so you don't get as much sudden bite and then modulate from there.
I did that on my ebike so the wheels wouldn't lock up so much under panic braking!

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Running 203 front / 180 rear. I'm a big guy though, and like to keep them bigger to help dissipate heat. I don't have an issue modulating what I have in normal riding or panic situations, just interested in trying what else is out there.

Magura MT5 or MT7.

benno_r said:

Currently run XT 8120's. and cannot complain how they work. I love the lightswitch actuation and the immense power, but I have been tempted to get on board with this "modulation" people keep talking about.

Rode some codes, they were awful. Just so mushy.

I'd like to add some modulation, but not go all the way to the other end of the spectrum. Been looking at Cura 4s, TRP DH-EVO or Hayes Dominion. Which of these would be closer to the Shimano end of the modulation spectrum, and can run without the levers needing to be squeezed all the way into the bars?

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Magura M7s are the closest thing to 8120s with modulation.

I went from M7s to XTs and thought it was a huge improvement though, so imo it's a substantial downgrade. Some guys love em though, so worth giving em a shot. You can swap levers or play around with rotor size/width and pads too.

Shimano brakes having plenty of modulation, but if you looking for something different with similar feel, try Magura MT7 or TRP DHR Evo.