Stroker Ace for the price point friendly DH brake?

[BmxConvert]

My Shimano XT M765 brakes with dual 8" floating Hope rotors have finally died. They've been a good and faithful brake but I'm in need some something stronger. Unfortunately... I'm not made of money and I've got some heavy investing to do this coming year so I have to watch the funds hard.

A few things I've found...

-I've run the Elixir CR Mag/Code hybrid that came on the 2010 Demo 8 II's and those were excellent but hold a tall price tag.

-My old Hope 6 Pot Ti's seemed to last forever but never gave a ton of bite power. I can't see myself running them again.

-The Saint 810's on friends bike seemed legit and plenty strong. The new Saint 820's should be dandy too. Both, even at cost are pricey.

-I have the Shimano XT Ice M785's on my trail bike and they are bitchin with tons of power on 6" rotors. The price is much better than Saint and even Zee.

-Zee... well I'm not really sure. It's at least an extra $100 over the Stroker Ace brakes so I'm curious how better they would be.

The Stroker Ace brakes looked to have the same lever blade as the Stroker Trails which felt good in hand. They also are available for $115 a wheel which has my attention.
Power and modulation wise, how do they compare to the other 4 piston brakes out there now? Are they worth it? Would it be a noticeable increase in power over my current clapped out, 4 season old, xc brakes on a dh bike?

[shredden.]

Get the 2012 XTs mate, if you hunt around you will get a pair brand new for 240...

So sick, and plenty of power.

[dfinn]

just picked up a set of these this morning for the FR bike

http://www.blueskycycling.com/produc...e_wAdapter.htm

[blackohio]

Also look into the Haye Prime. Running those on my dh bike and they are great. Excellent power, modulation and cheap.

[mtg]

Also look into the Haye Prime. Running those on my dh bike and they are great. Excellent power, modulation and cheap.

Both my teammate and I started off the season with the Primes, and we both spent a bunch of cash to replace them with Shimano SLX's.

According to Hayes, the Prime's require 60 sprints to hard stops to bed in the pads, and if you don't do that, they never really develop the correct power. We didn't know about the bed-in procedure until after inquiring why they had really low power & grab. I ditched mine because I didn't want to do 60 sprints every time I changed pads. My teammate bought new pads and actually did 60 sprints to hard stops, and then they actually started to work well....until Snowmass. He only weighs 145 lbs, and not exactly known for riding his brakes, but on a brake-intensive track like that one, his brakes overheated, and suddenly lost most of their power as he was dropping into Hell's Kitchen. After a big OTB, the Prime's were replaced immediately.
This part is a bit observation, and a bit speculation: it seems that the brake pad compound on the Prime's only works well in a narrow temperature band. Too cold, and they don't grab, too hot, and they fail. I think if they come out with a better pad compound, those brakes could be good, but in their current state, I think they are dangerous to use on a DH bike.

The Stroker Ace's should be fine for DH, though. I know a few people (including my wife) that have run them for a few years without issues. Personally, I'd rather run the new SLX w/ Ice Tech rotors, though. I'm 175 lbs, they have enough power for me, and I just got back from Whistler, where I purposefully dragged them a little coming down some of the upper Garbanzo descents (like Una Moss) to try to get them to fade. They never did.

[blackohio]

I've run the primes now for about a year (maybe a little less) no bed in procedures, no loss of power, no issues. Been through several pad sets, steep, fast long trails and honestly havent had a single issue. I think experiences will certainly vary as there will always be good units and bad units. Remember all the saint loss of power issues a few years back?


Im not small or easy on brakes. Been through an Oregon winter, spring and summer and a whistler summer.

I will say though prices on the SLX stuff are sure looking nice.

[sbabuser]

I've ridden a newer Devinci Wilson with Ace's, and they worked well. Unless weight's a concern, if you can get them for a deal, I'd say go for it.

[mtg]

I've run the primes now for about a year (maybe a little less) no bed in procedures, no loss of power, no issues. Been through several pad sets, steep, fast long trails and honestly havent had a single issue. I think experiences will certainly vary as there will always be good units and bad units. Remember all the saint loss of power issues a few years back?


Im not small or easy on brakes. Been through an Oregon winter, spring and summer and a whistler summer.

I will say though prices on the SLX stuff are sure looking nice.

What brake pad compound have you used on the Primes?

"not small or easy on brakes".....that could actually help to a certain extent, as long as you don't put enough heat into them to cause fade. When I had my Primes, the best they ever performed was after I let two novices ride my bike that did a lot of brake dragging.

[blackohio]

Im not 100% what pads i've been running but I think they are just the sintered metallic cheap-o pads. I tend to be an on/off braker. So maybe i've just been lucky heat cycling them.

The only real issue i've had was an otb in a rock garden that resulted in a broken level, master cylinder plunger and I cracked on of the triangular support braces.

[Sandwich]

$100 a wheel for SLX brakes. keep your old rotors and spend the rest on beer?

[Sonic Reducer]

Both my teammate and I started off the season with the Primes, and we both spent a bunch of cash to replace them with Shimano SLX's.

Whats your opinion of the SLX's for full DH? I need to replace some 08 codes that are stuck down. sick of bleeding those things. I like the look of the XT's and saints but slx sure look like a good buy if the performance is there. I have tried the deores on a trail bike and they were pretty good, dunno about for a DH bike though.

[dfinn]

I have a set of the latest XTs and I think they might be more powerful than the 810 saints on my dh bike.

[mtg]

Whats your opinion of the SLX's for full DH? I need to replace some 08 codes that are stuck down. sick of bleeding those things. I like the look of the XT's and saints but slx sure look like a good buy if the performance is there. I have tried the deores on a trail bike and they were pretty good, dunno about for a DH bike though.

I like them a lot, they are the best brakes I've used on a DH bike, imo. I've owned the same Codes you have (worked great when they worked...), Elixir CR, Hayes Prime, and SLX. I've also ridden Hayes Stroker Ace and Saint M810. I'm using the current version of SLX with 8" front, 7" rear Ice Tech rotors (RT86). I chose SLX over XT because the Shimano rep told me they were functionally the same thing, other than the XTs features free stroke adjustment.

The consistency is better than anything I've used from Avid or Hayes, and the power is good for me. For heat capacity, we were lapping Garbanzo down and did a full Top of the World to base run at Whistler on the SLX's and didn't have an issue. Everybody I know that has had Shimano brakes for extended periods of time has had good things to say about their longevity. That's the only part I haven't personally tested yet, as I've only had my SLX brakes for a few months.
If you're hard on brakes and/or over 200 lbs, you may want to go with Zee/Saint, for the extra power and heat capacity.

[Zark]

I have a set of the latest XTs and I think they might be more powerful than the 810 saints on my dh bike.

I just installed xt brakes on my enduro and they feel better than the code r brakes on my M9.

[Mr Horse]

After much pondering, I pulled the trigger and am now using Stroker Aces w. sintered pads and have no complaints.

If anything, they may have too much stopping power for a fly weight. I'm #275 with a Shrek-ish physique and they can stop me pronto on even the steepest slope.....