Disc Brake Calipers, Rotors and Hose
I got the new XT BL-M775 Servo Wave Hydraulic Disc Brake Levers on my bike last night.
Just testing the bike on my street, the brakes felt extremely powerful. The claim is that these levers increase brake power 20% and I don't think they are lying. I've got 7" front and 6" rear rotors right now. I was planning on going back to 8" front once the rains came and traction improved. With the improved power of these levers, I am thinking of trying 6" front and 5" rear for now. I may do Dana's 15 cent tour this Saturday, and the brakes will be tested well going down paradigm.
The biggest problem that I came across was that the new XT brakes have gone banjo-less at the caliper, so hose can now be cut from bulk. It's a good thing, but that means that I didn't have what I needed to connect a longer line for the rear brake and my older BR-M765 calipers. In getting caught off guard with this, I had to jump through some hurdles to get a longer rear brake line in. I didn't have a spare with a banjo, so I needed to fabricate one with some old jagwire parts. It seemed to have worked.
I played a bit with the stroke adjust. I couldn't really tell if it was making any change. I was tired and I still need to re-bleed the systems once the bike has been used a little to get it perfect. Maybe then the change will be more clear. It may be more noticable while actually riding.
The reach adjustment is great. Very easy to change, even while riding.
The entire lever is about 1/2" longer from the pertch than older versions. I had to move the shift and brake levers inboard a bit more than I already had. Luckily, I had just enough room before the bar bend to get my preferred lever position. I now have about a 1.125" gap in the bar from the end of my grab-on grip to the brake perch.
While dry, the servo-wave feature felt wrong, like the lever was sticky at the start of action. I was worried that this would be a deal killer. Once the hydraulics were fully bled, this felling went away and the lever action is extremely smooth as I would expect from Shimano brakes.
We will see how they work on the trail.
