What's the difference between these SHIMANO BRAKES?

In this video we are testing and reviewing cheap Shimano M41OO brake levers and MT420 4-Piston brakes versus Shimano Deore XT. You'll be surprised which one wins!

Marin Alpine Trail 7

SHIMANO BR-M4120 Disc Brake Black, Front

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Chapters
00:00 - Intro
00:42 - Side-by-side XT versus MT420
01:30 - XT M8100 versus M4100 Break lever
02:14 - 2 Finger Brake Lever vs. 1 Finger
03:16 - What's Shimano Servo Wave Action?
04:27 - Wondering Bite Point Shimano Brakes?
05:55 - Shimano MT420 vs. M8120 XT
06:44 - What's Shimano Ice Technology Brake Pads?
08:01 - MTB Brakes Price$$$

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[renanrossidias]

One of the most sincere and cut-to-the-chase reviews i've ever seen. I have a pair of Deore 4 piston brakes. These are the entrance to high end and in my opinion they offer almost every feature a XT has with tons of less nonsense branding costs.

[skinny]

i have the same shimano m4100 brakes on my giant trance x....works really well...stops great....i didnt like the lever feel in my hand...swapped out lever with XT 8100....kept the MT420 calipers...works great....no need to fully replace....completely agree with your assessment.

[YuunaAndCuddles]

I've used a Shimano MT200 before. When I brought my bike to a downhill, my brakes smoked. I bought the M6100 brakes and calipers, and had my brakes replaced. Later on, I also replaced the pads to one with fins, as well as the RT86 rotors. The braking power improved. The MT200 I had was relegated to my folding bike.

[CaptainFailor]

Thanks for your video! You really save my money. Best analysis difference between cheap 4-piston and expensive brakes. I only bought Deore break levers for my MT420 because I use 1 finger and don't like the look of M4100's big size lever.

[tonysadler]

Remember - xt levers use BH90 hose. The cheaper levers use the BH59 hose. BH90 hose has a narrower bore, and the xt lever unit is developed for that. So if you connect the xt levers to the bigger bore BH59 HOSE you are not going to get the proper results. The "bite" point will wander, because the fluid force amount pumped will be dissipated by the larger cross sectional area of the internal bore multiplied by the hose length. Also note BH90 uses the grey barb insets, whereas BH59 uses the larger diameter gold coloured barbs.
The outer casing has the same external diameter so the olives are common to both.
In any case, people very much under rate the cheaper M400 series units - they are a good brake.
Regards Tony Sadler South Wales UK 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[ducmonster]

Now that's a good honest review..thanks mate

[jaygames]

4100 levers with the 420 calipers will stop most people in most situations with no problem. However, mounted with the deore shifter using ispec2 I could never get the ergonomics that I wanted. One finger braking would either leave my middle finger squashed or I had to increase the distance from the bar and stretch. Swapping to deore levers has made a world of difference getting my cockpit set up ergonomically with a slightly easier pull. Best $60 I spent on my bike ever. No issues with wandering brake point that I notice. If the budget friendly 420's come with your bike, replace the levers if you don't love them. If you are purchasing new on a budget, go with the 520's(did they stop making these?) or 6120's and get the nicer lever.

[ellerybice]

It is very enlightening when one becomes familiar with the different quality levels of bicycle components, and how bicycle manufactures, retailers take advantage of people's ignorance in these matters.

[havefunandbikestuff]

I'm in the market for new hydraulic front brake. Building a singlespeed traclocross bike. Ordered a gravel fork for it, but didn't know much about hydro brakes since my bike was 105 rim style on my old fork. Thanks for helping me decide. And subscribed for sure!

[urgnnahme]

Love the video, Jared. Let's be honest about the real issue here. Most people that are just getting into mountain biking are ok with whatever comes on the bike. They won't know any better until they've been riding and made some friends. Friends that have better bikes with better parts. I've felt that wandering bite on SLX 4 pots and everything below. I haven't felt it on the XT's yet so I'm wondering if the bite point adjustment on the XT's levers eliminates that. I have 8100's on one bike, TRP Slate T4's on one, Hayes Dominion A4's on one, Magura MT4's on one...anyhow, the Dominions are my favorite. They'll send you otb in the blink of an eye and they've never faded on me. The MT4's with their race pads are pretty insane also and they're 2 pot. And this is another point I think a lot of people miss when shopping for, or setting up brakes, your rotor and pad choice absolutely matters. The MT4's came with the blue resin pads. They wouldn't stop me for the world. No matter what I did, because I didn't have the right rotor. So instead of buying the rotors, I bought pads to match the rotors I do have (ice tech). They're unbelievable now. So many other brake choices and a lot of them are better, and cheaper, than the Shimano alternative.

[MichalSzul]

In case of lever M4100 are different because of Servo Wave which changes initial bite but M6100, M7100, M8100, M9120 are more or less the same. They have different materials and weight. Different lever, steel, alu, dimples on lever's end. Also if someone want longer free stroke from M7100 up it could be set with free stroke screw(in case of M7100 you need to replace screws with Y-8VC98070). But in the end they are working exactly the same with same power and lever feel. Combine them with crazy stiff magura's caliper and you have the best brake on the market ;) MT4/5 for normal free stroke, MT7/8 for shorter free stroke but more demanding setup.

[Jc-zqrp]

Totally agree with this review.
I got front Xt m8000 levers and rear Mt501 levers on MT420 calipers on my Norco sight VLT and i find i got more than enough stopping power going downhill, you can only pull so hard until you break traction. I really cant tell the braking power difference between my XT levers and my Mt501 levers. The only difference i see the XT is made in japan and the Mt501 is made in Malaysia and the finish on the XT is nicer but i cant really justify the price difference for something that performs roughly the same but made in japan with slightly better looking finish (depends on personal preference).

[martinmbae]

Hi and thanks for a real review that gives feedback on what really matters in contrast to what the marketing channels would have us think.

I mean the XT's look great but for a completely reasonable person you have to ask yourself whether your friends' compliments are worth the extra bucks or not, because for the most part what you're really paying for are the looks. That servo wave thing means nothing if you can't substantially feel the power when you're braking.

And I'm not hating, no, I'm speaking from an experience perspective - When I was building a friend's bike I installed the mt400's and was really surprised by the power when I rode it. It was a complete banger because I was expecting significantly less power than what I have on my bike but was completely blown away because I really couldn't tell the difference, and now I'm here wondering what other marketing gimmicks we've fallen for.

[TheCooGuR]

I am very happy to land on this video as I was wondering for the past few months if it was worth it to upgrade. I also have the same bike Marin AlpineTrail 7 and have upgrade some components but kept the brake since they are working quite nicely on Enduro/DH. Sounds like I would also need to replace the disk, pads etc if I upgrade the shifter and calipers. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this!

[onur_aygun]

Hi jared. I have a shimano mt200 brakes. And i want change to deore m4100. Is it worth it? Is there much difference? Thank you :)

[GF-cbrr]

Hi Jared. I never felt the wandering brake feel you described when I upgraded my lever's . I ordered a more basic Deore BL-M6100 Disc Brake Lever from Thunder Mountain Bikes, $65 total with tax for the pair. Kept everything else the same 401 brakes calipers and pads however my bike did not come with the "resin only" Shimano rotors so I think it gave me a little bit better bite. My base Deore levers do not offer any adjustment other than lover reach. Work out really well on my budget bill. As I mentioned from your previous video I was able to get away with a lever bleed both front and rear too. .... In my experience the base 401 levers had a much more aggressive on off bike point and my servo brakes feel far superior ergonomically and feel at the finger tip.

[lichray]

I like the idea of 4-piston brake, which allows the initial action to use only a half set of the pistons. In theory this can reduce the chance of brake-locking.

[FerrariGTO]

Honestly the simpler the better, a friend of mine had the Sram RSC brakes and i got the code R's a year or so later. He was blown away by how much more powerfull mine were despite both of us having the same caliper and the lever being the only difference. I still ride them and they were a great choice for me, especially since they were a bargain with very little use (160 bucks for the pair)

[benwalker]

I have the same 4100 set up, I didn't like the larger levers at first, but got used to them. They work great . No problems and prefer to the guides they replaced.

[mike]

Hi J, I have just bought a Specialized Turbo Vado SL 4.0 and would like to upgrade the brakes to Deore XT 8100. Bike came with Tektro HD-R290. Would I be able to disconnect the OEM Tektro caliper and brake lever and connect the XT caliper and brake lever to the existing hydraulic hose? Thanks for your thoughts and the readers.