With this article I’m going to share my thoughts on what I feel should be the contenders for the best disc brakes for downhill riding.
There are a number of aspects to take into consideration. Apart from raw stopping power, the big three of braking, Shimano, SRAM, and Magura, all have pretty distinctive lever feel.
The thing you want is modulation, which is your ability to control how much stopping power you want the brake caliper to apply to the wheel. Traditionally Shimano has the quickest draw, SRAM the longest, and Magura sits somewhere in between.
Then there’s maintenance. Where Shimano and Magura use mineral oil, SRAM uses DOT fluid, which has a higher boiling point but a limited longevity. It usually means SRAM brakes have a shelf life, whereas the other two don’t really.
Then there’s materials used. Apart from the fact you want a caliper design using 4 pistons, calipers are reused throughout a brand’s lineup, with some exceptions. The main difference resides in the levers, and then not very much. So apart from a bit more adjustment, and difference material used for brake levers, there really isn’t that much difference.
It means you pay a pretty premium to obtain brakes with magnesium or carbon composite brake masters, carbon levers, and titanium bolts. It’s up to you how much you value these things, besides a bit of weight gain as well.
And with that out of the way, it’s time to head over to my list of the very best disc brakes for downhill.
Shimano XTR BR-M9120
The Shimano XTR BR-M9120 is the flagship mountain bike brake from the biggest components manufacturer in the world. So what can you expect from this brake besides the hefty price tag?
Excellent, snappy braking power in a four-piston setup for one, yet you can find a similar braking experience with cheaper models.
There’s a bit of weight reduction if you care for that stuff, with a magnesium brake master and carbon brake lever in the compatible BL-M9120 brake lever.
In terms of feel it’s an excellent brake lever with all the adjustment options you’ll need, including reach adjustment of the brake lever, and free stroke adjustment to control the position of the piston. Both options can also be found in the XT and SLX brakes.
XTR is the most well-known brand series in the mountain bike industry, yet when it comes to brakes virtually indistinguishable from options which will set you back way less financially.
These are without a doubt outstanding brakes. However, instead of denoting a rich set of premium features the XTR model is used more as a sales-ploy to spice up price.
- Flagship 4-piston Shimano brake
- Except for weight and looks no different from Shimano's more affordable options in terms of braking power and feel.
Shimano Saint M820
By having a different lever blade (shorter) than in combination with a classic servo-wave curve, the Shimano Saint M820 doesn’t have more stopping power than other Shimano brakes, but certainly feels that way.
The lever action bumps this brake into pure downhill territory for those who are familiar with Shimano’s snappy feel, and want instant stopping power at their disposal.
With the perceptual decrease in modulation, especially when compared with the SRAM Code brake, you’ll either love or hate this brake. Yet its ability to lock up your wheels and no-fuss maintenance from the Japanese giant are undeniable.
I haven’t been able to detect any difference with XT, the brake I feel is this brake’s closest competitor. And there probably isn’t, because both brakes use 15 and 17mm pistons, so I don’t see how stopping power could be any different looking just at the caliper.
The Saints have been accused of having the most on-off feel of probably any premium brake, but there’s more to braking than just the lever. And you can do a whole lot by swapping out rotors and pads to get to the exact feel you want.
But in the end, it’s a simple and clear fact that the Shimano Saint brake is made for giving you ample amounts of stopping power on high speed descents over and over again.
- Distinctive and quick braking power at your disposal, even outdoing other Shimano brakes.
- None
Shimano SLX BR-M7120
The Shimano SLX BR-M7120 is the go-to choice for people who want a 4-piston brake from Shimano for a decent enough price.
If you don’t care about adding some weight to your bike, which would equal a sip from your water bottle, the SLX is a far more financially healthy choice than the XTR.
A similar overall design, both in brake caliper, brake lever and features, made from less expensive materials give you the exact same ease of installation, use, and maintenance as its flagship counterpart. With all the features to boot.
That means no chrome finish for the calipers, no titanium fixing bolt for the pads, no magnesium brake master, but with a price that’s nearing half that of XTR.
Don’t be fooled by the weight difference anyway, because besides a single titanium bolt the weight difference stems from the paired rotor, with the SLX one (SM-RT70) accounting for most of the added weight. So if you want as close to XTR as you can get, simply get the XTR rotors (RT-MT900) instead.
The best value-for-money Shimano 4-piston brakes, and arguably the best value-for-money hydraulic disc brakes.
- Best value-for-money Shimano 4-piston brakes by far
- Forgoing lever and brake feel, absolutely none
Hope Tech 4 E4
Keeping it simple, the Hope Tech 4 E4 is the UK brand’s only hydraulic disc brake offering for all round trail riding, and the most gorgeous one money can buy.
It’s bulky, comes in many colors, it’s breathtakingly machined, easy to operate, and offers a quite distinctive lever feel.
Hope is not necessarily about making anorexic components, and rather add weight for increased durability, stiffness, and functionality, than reduce it. That’s probably the reason why you get this rather large forged aluminum dimpled lever blade with huge adjustment dials.
That being said, depending on how you cut your hoses, you’re bound to get a sub-300 grams setup for either brake, which is impressive.
To me it says this says they’re less likely to either brake or fail, and a distinctive indexed click for the dials is just that little extra that tells me we’re dealing with professionals here. The longer lever does mean you have to position them differently than you are used to with other brands, but the hinge does the job perfectly of keeping the levers in place.
Similar to SRAM’s Matchmaker clamps, Hope has got a range of adapters to also be able to mount your dropper post controller and shifters.
Two indexed, and anodized dials offer reach and bite adjustment.
A possible downside is that the bleeding process might be more involved. You will need to trim the hoses, so an initial bleed is simply required. You will need Hope’s proprietary, non-syringe based, bleed kit to do this.
Another signal of Hope’s craftsmanship and single-minded focus on excellence is their inclusion of sealed cartridge bearings for the lever blade pivot. Unless you actually crash onto your lever it means you’ll never experience any sort of play and will enjoy miles of supreme lever feel.
When it comes to the brake calipers the build quality is there as well, with the calipers being machined from a single piece of aluminum. The pistons are stainless steel coated polymers, said to reduce friction and increase durability.
Does all that technology translate to an improved brake feel and stopping power? The answer is yes. I can’t say for sure if there really is a 30 percent increase in stopping power with the new design. I’m no engineer and don’t have the equipment to test it out.
But as far as I’m concerned, these brakes offer the gold standard in braking power and feel, in a well-designed allround great package, that offers every feature you’d want in a brake without any compromises.
- The perfect trail brake that doesn't compromise anything
- Price
Hope Tech 4 V4
The Hope Tech 4 V4 has the same brake lever and master cylinder of the E4 but comes with a different caliper to add a smidge of extra stopping power specifically for enduro and downhill mountain biking.
They basically crammed 2 larger pistons besides their more standard size ones to provide a stronger bite using brake pads which are slightly longer The pistons reside in a caliper unibody that’s ever so slightly wider, which possibly enables them to transfer braking power better because of its stiffness.
It makes the brakes a tad heavier compared to the E4, pushing the needle just over 300 grams. Naturally they are also more expensive.
Of course you can use this brake on a XC bike, but that’s not this brake’s strong suit. It’s enduro or downhill where you get to enjoy the oversized caliper’s extra stopping power alongside the unrivaled modulation of the brake lever.
- Beautifully machined, fantastic enduro and/or downhill brake where it makes total sense to simply reuse the already fantastic brake lever of the E4
- Even pricier than the E4
Magura MT7 Pro
The Magura MT7 Pro are my favorite brakes from the entire Magura lineup and here’s why.
They are 4-piston brakes, incredibly powerful, and when compared to other top-tier brakes like the Shimano XTR and SRAM Code Ultimate, much cheaper.
They are not the 4-piston best value brakes, because that price goes to the Magura MT5. However, these brakes offer a stiffer brake master, made from Carbotecture SL, which is a carbon-reinforced resin compound.
They also offer a single-finger forged aluminum brake lever operating a unibody forged aluminum brake caliper.
The carbotecture material not only keeps the price down, but also the weight, with these brakes sitting well below 300 grams at 255.
Every component manufacturer is known for asking exorbitant prices just to get that little extra, and Magura is no different. Yet I feel both the stiffness of the brake lever in combination with a single-finger blade might just tip the balance for those of you willing to shell out the extra cash.
- Better lever feel than the much more affordable MT5
- Substantial price hike in still a very affordable brake just to get another brake master, and lever blade
Magura MT5
The Magura MT5 brakes are the German’s most affordable 4-piston hydraulic disc brakes for trail riding purposes.
They’ve ditched the use of carbotecture in favor of traditional forged aluminum for the brake calipers. It’s small touches that make the products from the German brand stand head and shoulders above some similar offerings from the competition. One is the well-crafted unibody design offering rigidity and an immediate brake feel.
The glass fiber reinforced polymer called carbotecture is used for the brake master, accompanied by an aluminum brake lever. This ensures a very high-quality, lightweight brake, with excellent braking characteristics in one of the most affordable 4-piston packages you can get.
The in-house produced material is claimed to offer similar strength properties as aluminum at half the weight. That might be true, but it’s a fact they don’t use it for brake calipers across their entire range, and that’s because the material is more flexible than traditional forged aluminum. Something that doesn’t matter in a brake master, but does in the caliper.
Magura has already claimed the top spot in the budget section for dual piston brakes and with the MT5 they might have done the same for 4 pistons as well.
- Powerful yet affordable 4-piston brakes for trail riding, or any other type of riding where you need ample stopping power.
- None
SRAM Code Ultimate Stealth
SRAM is the biggest brand for enduro mountain biking with the SRAM code the go-to brake. The SRAM Code Ultimate Stealth is the newly designed top-of-the-line version within this series.
As I’ve stated many times already, you need to pay a hefty price to get the top-tier enduro and downhill brake from SRAM. And a couple of hundred dollars will let you obtain a glossy finish, titanium hardware, carbon brake levers rotating with the help of bearings, and the new Stealth design.
Otherwise the brakes are pretty much exactly the same as the Code R, which are almost half the money. And the Stealth design doesn’t add anything to the brake’s performance other than moving the brake master closer to the handlebars, and quite possibly interfering with your existing setup, because of the reduced handlebar real-estate it causes.
Although, truth be told, if you stay within the SRAM family and use the Matchmaker clamp, this is a non-issue. And with handlebars being the width they are today, there’s enough space to mount lights or such.
There’s a marginal weight gain between this high-end Ultimate and the Code R, which is located in the rotors, not the caliper or the brake lever. But it’s nothing to write home about, and doesn’t really matter for enduro or downhill riding, if at all.
Codes, used for enduro and downhill, are said to outperform the G2 trail brake. This is largely due to the fact Codes in general use a somewhat larger brake pad, which is moved with both 15 and 16mm pistons. This is in contrast to the G2 pistons which are 14 and 16mm.
It results in a somewhat different brake feel, other things being equal, with a more on-off experience versus the Guides, offering easier access to instant stopping power.
The Ultimate Stealth version rivals the Shimano XTR 4-piston in terms of occurrences on championship enduro bikes. Whether that’s just because SRAM has very deep pockets, or they’re really that good is always a delicate subject.
One thing is for sure. If you’re willing to spend the surplus for a bit of carbon, and titanium, you’re sure to get championship approved stopping power on your rig, and some bling to show for it.
- You want the championship endowed stopping power and don't blink an eye for its jaw-dropping pricetag
- You pay a pretty premium for a carbon lever and titanium bolts
SRAM Code Silver Stealth
The SRAM Code Silver Stealth ditches the carbon lever and titanium bolts, but are otherwise exactly the same as the Ultimate Stealth.
- Somewhat more affordable than the Ultimate
- If you're willing to pay this much, pay the extra for the added bling
SRAM Code RSC
The SRAM Code RSC are similar to the Code Silver Stealth, but have the classic lever design more removed from the handlebars.
- Best-in-class SRAM enduro and downhill brake with classic design
- No carbon lever for you
SRAM Code R
If you’re willing to overlook the fact these brakes don’t have bite point adjustment, which is something you really can do without, you’ll have all the braking power of a brake, which costs twice as much as this one.
I think that about sums up how I feel about this brake. It’s the best way to obtain legendary SRAM stopping power in a high quality package for enduro and downhill.
- Who would've though a bite point adjuster would set you back 100 USD?
- None
Specifications disc brakes for downhill
Name | Price | pistons | caliper weight | oil | blade | brake master | caliper | reach adjust | tube connection | buy at Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shimano XTR BR-M9120 | 312 USD | 4 | 267 | mineral | forged aluminum | magnesium | forged aluminum unibody | tooled | fixed | |
Shimano Saint M820 | 225 USD | 4 | 306 | mineral | forged aluminum | aluminum | aluminum | tool-free | banjo | |
Shimano SLX BR-M7120 | 187 USD | 4 | 320 | mineral | forged aluminum | aluminum | aluminum | tool-free | banjo | |
Hope Tech 4 E4 | 269.99 USD | 4 | 275 | mineral oil, DOT fluid | forged aluminum | aluminum | forged aluminum unibody | tool-free | banjo | |
Hope Tech 4 V4 | 303.5 USD | 4 | 308 | mineral oil, DOT fluid | forged aluminum | aluminum | forged aluminum unibody | tool-free | banjo | |
Magura MT7 Pro | 219.9 EUR | 4 | 255 | mineral oil | 1-finger aluminum | carbotecture SL | forged aluminum unibody | tooled | banjo | |
Magura MT5 | 109.9 EUR | 4 | 255 | mineral oil | 2-finger aluminum | carbotecture | forged aluminum unibody | tooled | banjo | |
SRAM Code Ultimate Stealth | 300 USD | 4 | 309 | DOT 5.1 | carbon | aluminum | aluminum | tool-free | banjo | |
SRAM Code Silver Stealth | 265 USD | 4 | 317 | DOT 4 | forged aluminum | aluminum | aluminum | tool-free | banjo | |
SRAM Code RSC | 264 USD | 4 | DOT 5.1 | forged aluminum | aluminum | aluminum | tool-free | banjo | ||
SRAM Code R | 167 USD | 4 | 333 | DOT 5.1 | forged aluminum | aluminum | aluminum | tool-free | banjo |
Johan van Seijen
FoundeR Restoration.bike
Johan van Seijen is the founder of restoration.bike. His passion for cycling in general, and restoring older bikes turned into a website to share his knowledge with a broader audience. Starting out on his father’s road bike and riding classics as the Amstel Gold Race and Liege Bastogne Liege he has shifted his attention to trail, XC, and gravel riding since. No matter how much he loves writing about everything related to cycling, nothing beats actually using his ever-expanding bicycle collection.
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