For those who upgraded their brakes to Shimano

[DrKrown]

Hi everybody,
I would upgrade the brakes of my Turbo Levo from Sram Guide to Shimano(Saint or XT four pistons).
Could I use the same spacers for the calipers that come with the Sram, or are they manufacturer specific and I need to purchase the original Shimano?
I’m asking rhis question because if I look at the rear spacer, this looks a bit different from the Shimano:

 

[Harmialized]

These are made for Sram brakes, in most cases the Shimano brake will fit but I would prefer the Shimano adapters for a perfect fit

 

[DrKrown]

These are made for Sram brakes, in most cases the Shimano brake will fit but I would prefer the Shimano adapters for a perfect fit

Thank you... it seems that the Sram spacer moves the caliper a bit forward.
Juat wondering if this is good for the Shimano too.

 

[ccrdave]

just bear in mind if you change to shimano mounts they are designed for 203mm rotors not the sram 200mm, if your using smaller rotors it doesnt matter either way

 

[Gary]

As above the shimano mount is the correct soloution but 1.5mm of washers between the shimano caliper and SRAM mount should give you the extra clearance the 3mm larger rotor needs. I have run a set of guides with 203mm rotors spaced this way with no issues

PM me if you're selling the old REs?

 

[DrKrown]

As above the shimano mount is the correct soloution but 1.5mm of washers between the shimano caliper and SRAM mount should give you the extra clearance the 3mm larger rotor needs. I have run a set of guides with 203mm rotors spaced this way with no issues

PM me if you're selling the old REs?

Gary, Where are you located?
I’m in Italy, so don’t know if the shipping costs could worth the deal.

 

[DrKrown]

By the way, anyone who upgraded their brakes experienced any problem routing the new hoses thru the frame?
In my Turbo levo FSR 6fattie the only trouble seems to be between the motor and the frame... if you don’t want to remove the motor

 

[ccrdave]

i upgrade my 2018 levo to 4 pot shimano xt brakes, didn't have any trouble routing the brake hose, just followed the path of the old one

 

[Mcharza]

I think one of the best upgrades

 

[junglie69]

Hi As ccrdave said, I also upgraded to XT four pot.

I went the 203mm rotor so used Shimano adapters. As far as rerouting, apart from disconnecting the hose from the rear lever to reroute through the frame all I had to do extra was take the battery out upper left motor cover and one securing clip on the swing arm. After shortening the hose, reconnecting to lever, all that was required was a lever bleed.

 

[Jezzer]

I have the Level T brakes and have never liked them. I was just about to upgrade to Code RSC. Are they as good as the Shimano ones? TIA

 

[eabmex]

It might be worth reading this post:
Best disc brakes

 

[Isshogai]

Hi,
this is the Setup i've been using for the last 5k Kilometers. Its an Hope Tech3 Mono 6 ti running on Bionol Brake Fluid and 223 Discs.
Very dependable and controlable Power.

 

[jxj]

Hi As ccrdave said, I also upgraded to XT four pot.

I went the 203mm rotor so used Shimano adapters. As far as rerouting, apart from disconnecting the hose from the rear lever to reroute through the frame all I had to do extra was take the battery out upper left motor cover and one securing clip on the swing arm. After shortening the hose, reconnecting to lever, all that was required was a lever bleed.

View attachment 8942 View attachment 8943

Could you post the part numbers for the Shimano adapters you used on the front and rear. I love this setup.

 

[outerlimits]

As above the shimano mount is the correct soloution but 1.5mm of washers between the shimano caliper and SRAM mount should give you the extra clearance the 3mm larger rotor needs. I have run a set of guides with 203mm rotors spaced this way with no issues

PM me if you're selling the old REs?

Drawing on your vast experience Gary.
I have 200mm Hope rotors and wish to change to Shimano brakes from SRAM. Would you just run the original SRAM adaptors ?
I did ask for 203’s for Christmas, but Santa bring 200’s ?‍

 

[Gary]

Drawing on your vast experience Gary.
I have 200mm Hope rotors and wish to change to Shimano brakes from SRAM. Would you just run the original SRAM adaptors ?
I did ask for 203’s for Christmas, but Santa bring 200’s ?‍

I'd have thought a 200mm SRAM adapter should do the trick if that's what you're asking? So if I had them already like you do yes I'd try that route first. (I'm running 203mm discs with guides meant for 200mm discs on one of my DH bikes by using shimano 203mm adapters so am fairly confident this will work fine).
Another option for fitting a 200mm disc with a brake caliper/mount designed to use a 203mm disc is to carefully file 1.5mm off each mounting face of the 203mm adapter. (or going the other way adding 1.5mm of spacers)
Either way you'll be able to see clearance/pad position fairly easily by eye when fitting the caliper and spot anything that's a miss. the important thing to check is that your pads do not overhang the outer perimeter of the disc at all. If they do braking will wear a step in the pad material and eventually the step on each pad will hit each other bottoming them out when you pull the lever leaving you with next to no braking power.

 

[junglie69]

Hi jxj, the Shimano adapters are, front - SMMA90F203PPM and rear - SMMAF203PP. Readily available I got mine from SJS cycles and they came complete with bolts, spacers and washers. Hope this helps.

 

[Stumpy]

Hi jxj, the Shimano adapters are, front - SMMA90F203PPM and rear - SMMAF203PP. Readily available I got mine from SJS cycles and they came complete with bolts, spacers and washers. Hope this helps.

Is this true for all Levo models? (I’m on an ‘18 s-works)

 

[junglie69]

I believe so my levo is a 18 comp with alloy rear triangle and revelation forks and 180 post mounts. The only reason for ditching the standard adapters is I went 203mm rotors from 200mm. As others have stated you could use 1.5mm washers to achieve the same result. I just wanted to do the job neatly.

 

[jxj]

junglie69 ,
Thanks for this info on the part numbers. I plan to do this upgrade. It does look so clean. I assume those are the RT86 6 bolt rotors? After I pull the SRAM Guide brakes off I'll likely be selling them in a few weeks, I know some riders like them, they are just not for me.

 

[Gary]

After I pull the SRAM Guide brakes off I'll likely be selling them in a few weeks, I know some riders like them, they are just not for me.

Are they REs?

 

[Dirtnvert]

Hi,
this is the Setup i've been using for the last 5k Kilometers. Its an Hope Tech3 Mono 6 ti running on Bionol Brake Fluid and 223 Discs.
Very dependable and controlable Power.

View attachment 9048

View attachment 9049

View attachment 9050

I’m all about 4 piston shimano brakes but those 6 piston hopes seem like they might make a lot of sense on an emtb. I don’t see many 6 pistons on peoples bikes or the interwebz. I’d really like to try them, and the floating rotors. Might have to buy a ten pack of brake pads to keep stock. I can’t see many shops, local or online, keeping stock

 

[jxj]

Are they REs?

Yes, RE and 200mm.

 

[Gary]

Yes, RE and 200mm.

If you're selling them PM me?

 

[jxj]

junglie69, or others that have managed this upgrade to Shimano brakes how did you handle the cockpit lever mounting? Mixing the dropper post and the Sram shifter looks problematic as I look at the mounting arrangements. I'm betting there is a simple solution. Pardon my ignorance, I'm a fair mechanic but am a roadie by background and haven't done that much work on MTB or mixed mfgr setups on any bikes. Thanks for the support.

 

[R120]

Both Shimano and Sram have systems for mountain the dropper lever/shifters to the brake lever clamp.

Most dropper lever manufacturers offer specific mounts for utilising the brake clamp.

Third party companies, such as Problem Solvers offer solutions for mixing Sram/Shimano products onto one mount

Products | Problem Solvers

 

[R120]

In this pic I have a One Up dropper remote mounted using an MMX adapter to my SRAM Guide RE brakes

 

[jxj]

Looks real nice. I'm with shimano XT 8000 levers now, just had too many problems with the Guide REs thus the mixed shimano lever with Sram shifter and the stock "Command" dropper (second command dropper as the first failed on the test ride and this 2nd one is not great)

 

[R120]

If you want to tidy up the cockpit I would suggest buying a third party dropper lever, such as a Wolftooth, PNW Loam Lever, or One Up lever, which can be bought with the applicable compatible mount for the Shimano levers.

With the SRAM shifters you are looking at getting one of the Problem Solvers adapters if you want to piggyback the shifter on to the Shimano levers.

 

[jxj]

Thank you all for the input. I'm going to get the Problem Solvers Mismatch Adapter 1.2 for left and right. This looks like the best solution for me.