[cookieMonster]

I have a pair of Codes sitting in a box with only 4-5 rides on them. Couldn’t get them off the bike fast enough. Dangerously underpowered.

My trusty Saints went onto the new bike and there they’ll stay. All I ride is steep fall-line trails on that bike, and the Saints are perfect. One finger, never fade, plenty of modulation. Very easy to bleed; all I use is the shimano funnel.

 

[ballisticexchris]

As someone who had SRAM brakes on the mountain bike, and still has a road bike with SRAM hydraulics: don't touch them with a barge pole unless you don't care about constant adjusting and servicing.

When they work, they brake well. But to keep them working is a PITA.

Over 200 miles since last bleed and zero adjustments. They work as perfect as they day I bought the bike. I have adjusted the reach one time when I bought the bike and that's it.

One finger, never fade, plenty of modulation. Very easy to bleed.

You are describing my Sram Codes perfectly. And I'm running 200mm F/180mm R rotors.

 

[Amt0571]

Over 200 miles since last bleed and zero adjustments. They work as perfect as they day I bought the bike. I have adjusted the reach one time when I bought the bike and that's it..

I can ride 200 miles in two weeks. In a week if its on a road bike. I don't expect having to bleed my brakes every 3 months.

My mountain bike with shimano brakes hasn't been bled in more than 2000km. Almost zero issues with them.

Meanwhile, all the bikes I had with sram brakes, are unable to wear a couple of pads without having to center caliper, fix sticky pistons, or bleed them at least twice.

 

[Nat]

One finger, never fade, plenty of modulation.

You are describing my Sram Codes perfectly. And I'm running 200mm F/180mm R rotors.

You two couldn’t be further apart on the scale of rider type lol

 

[Macharza]

I was about to switch to TRP brakes, but a few things made me change my mind.

• no pad contact point adjustment
• lever blade too big for my small hands
• spongy feeling

I got the same confirmation here TRP DH-R EVO brakes review

The brakes are such a personal feeling, they are suitable for some others.

 

[ballisticexchris]

I can ride 200 miles in two weeks. In a week if its on a road bike. I don't expect having to bleed my brakes every 3 months.

Wow I'm impressed!! Good on you Sir!! 100 miles a week on a mountain bike or 200 a week on a road bike. Must be retired like me. I have yet to meet a full time employee working 60-70 hours a week and peeling off those kind of miles. (unless a young commuter).

I recommend a good bleed and caliper disassemble check/clean every three to six months of use.

All I ride is steep fall-line trails on that bike, and the Saints are perfect.

You two couldn’t be further apart on the scale of rider type lol

I'm just a normal novice getting out 3-4 times a week on slow and mild to steep and fast. For overall versatility the Codes are really good.

I honestly believe a lot of issues guys are having with any brand of brakes are the feel. It is very personalized. As far as stopping power, I don't believe for one minute that any brand is better than the other as long as piston count and tier level is about the same.

Any issues with proper setup and problems with bleeding and mechanical issues is almost always user error.

I watch a lot of riders on the trail and very few have a finger hovering over the brakes. From the time I mount to when I dismount I have a finger over the brakes and a finger over brake and clutch on my motorcycles.

I imagine I'm so used to motorcycles that it might have something to do with the brand I'm choosing. With the exception of bite point my Codes feel natural. Almost like my motorcycle brakes. Only difference is in hard braking situations I'm two fingers on the motorcycle and one finger on the bicycle.

 

[Notthatbryan]

I have a pair of Codes sitting in a box with only 4-5 rides on them. Couldn’t get them off the bike fast enough. Dangerously underpowered.

My trusty Saints went onto the new bike and there they’ll stay. All I ride is steep fall-line trails on that bike, and the Saints are perfect. One finger, never fade, plenty of modulation. Very easy to bleed; all I use is the shimano funnel.

I've cracked 2 pistons in under 2 years in Shimano brakes with no apparent cause, so I'm done with Shimano. The first one was trying to free a frozen piston, the second (most recent one was during bleeding after swapping the brakes over to a new frame). I squeezed the lever with the bleed block in and poop, piston cracked and fluid leaking badly.

 

[J.B. Weld]

I have yet to meet a full time employee working 60-70 hours a week and peeling off those kind of miles.

What county do you live in?

 

[arnea]

I squeezed the lever with the bleed block in and poop, piston cracked and fluid leaking badly.

Same thing happened to me too. I wanted to get a good bleed and squeezed the lever really hard during the bleed. Piston cracked. I think the reason is the undersized bleed block that doesn't support the piston evenly. I made my own bleed block that fits tightly and supports the piston fully and haven't had problems since then.

Out of curiosity I tried Dominions and like them very much. They do not require rebleeding for years.

Still have Shimanos XTs on my son's bike and like them as well. Dominions just have better feel and modulation. I don't ride steep so I'm not using the full stopping power of them.

I find both of them equally easy to bleed.

 

[Verbl Kint]

Just moved to Code RSC's from Shimano XTR 4-pot brakes. There is a difference in power but there is also a pronounced difference in modulation. It's been muddy and rainy lately and the extra modulation has been useful. But when the weather gets drier and the speeds go faster, I think it will be easier to do late braking with the XTR's.

What I do like is that the lever feel is far more consistent with the Codes. The"wandering bite point" issue is still very much present on Shimano's top shelf 4-pot brakes, although it's not as bad as the previous generation.

Note: Be mindful when you turn the bike upside down or after a tumble (on Shimano brakes). Make sure to pump the levers before even mounting the saddle, especially on steep and rough tracks.

I do seem to get more arm pump with the Codes on technical descents, tho. More mileage on these brakes will hopefully fix it.

Which one do I prefer? For a DH or Enduro race, I will probably want the XTR but my thoughts are that the Codes are better "daily drivers".

OT:For Saints vs Codes, I would go with the Codes 100%. For Shimano Saint vs XTR 9120, I would go XTR's, definitely.

Sent using Tapatalk

 

[ballisticexchris]

What county do you live in?

I live in the USA just like you. From the time I was a teen working for my grandfather to military service in the Navy Sea Bees to grown adult, It was very rare to work a regular 40 hour workweek. The industries I worked in required hard work and commitment to the job. I was rewarded with good wages and great work environments albeit sometimes stressful. Last few years were really tough. The bonus was the ability to retire early and enjoy my later years on this earth without the stress of working long hours.

 

[J.B. Weld]

I live in the USA just like you. From the time I was a teen working for my grandfather to military service in the Navy Sea Bees to grown adult, It was very rare to work a regular 40 hour workweek. The industries I worked in required hard work and commitment to the job. I was rewarded with good wages and great work environments albeit sometimes stressful. Last few years were really tough. The bonus was the ability to retire early and enjoy my later years on this earth without the stress of working long hours.

Depends on the job but generally very bad for your health, I know this from personal experience. You gotta do what you gotta do though.

My stress free retirement plan is to work less and resign myself to being poor and spending the extra free time enjoying relatively cheap hobbies like cycling and hiking. Which thankfully happen to be my favorite ones.

 

[ballisticexchris]

Depends on the job but generally very bad for your health, I know this from personal experience. You gotta do what you gotta do though.

My stress free retirement plan is to work less and resign myself to being poor and spending the extra free time enjoying relatively cheap hobbies like cycling and hiking. Which thankfully happen to be my favorite ones.

I agree with you whole heartily!! I'm paying for it orthopedic wise. The last 5 or 6 years were brutal/torturous and I was pretty much forced into early retirement. And I'm ending up not as well off as I hoped. (but at least livable). Motorcycling is waning off and I'm doing more walking and biking.

 

[louiesquared]

I live in the USA just like you. From the time I was a teen working for my grandfather to military service in the Navy Sea Bees to grown adult, It was very rare to work a regular 40 hour workweek. The industries I worked in required hard work and commitment to the job. I was rewarded with good wages and great work environments albeit sometimes stressful. Last few years were really tough. The bonus was the ability to retire early and enjoy my later years on this earth without the stress of working long hours.

I spent 20 years in the printing industry as a production artist and worked 60-70 hours a week for a large portion of that time. I got out of that about 16 years ago for a manufacturers sales rep position that eventually turned in to a marketing position. Now I make way more money and work 40 hours a week. And best of all, no working weekends. I moved to Bentonville in June and I ride all of the time now.

 

[antigravity19]

I’ve really liked the set of Code RSC on my new bike. In the past, I’ve used XT and Deore 2-pot and Saint 4-pot but exclusively Shimano.

May have slightly less power than the Saints but I love the building power as you pull. With the Shimanos, I didn’t like the wandering bite point and the grabby nature in hindsight. Ultimately, I can use either but leaning towards Codes on my next build if I can find a decent price.

Ive had the codes 1 full season and other than a slight caliper and rotor adjustment, I haven’t had to touch them.

 

[Notthatbryan]

Had the first ride with the Codes this afternoon. I'm happy. They come on slower but also smoother than the XTs when pulling the lever. There is plenty of power, if anything they are more powerful than the XTs (both set up with 200mm front/ 180mm rear rotors) I do like having the ability to adjust contact point and lever position separately.

While I dislike having to deal with DOT fluid, the bleeding edge setup makes bleeds pretty straightforward. No real complaints here.

My only niggle is that the front brake that has a factory bleed is not quite as firm as the rear that I bled after routing the cable internally. I'll likely bleed the front the next rainy day I have off.

 

[Amt0571]

Wow I'm impressed!! Good on you Sir!! 100 miles a week on a mountain bike or 200 a week on a road bike. Must be retired like me. I have yet to meet a full time employee working 60-70 hours a week and peeling off those kind of miles. (unless a young commuter).

I recommend a good bleed and caliper disassemble check/clean every three to six months of use.

Sorry, in Europe we don't work 70 hours a week. I work exactly half of that.