XC Parts » Shimano LX M585 Hydraulic Disc Brake Set Reviews

Shimano LX M585 Hydraulic Disc Brake Set

I got this as an upgrade from my old Hayes Sol3s, they have two pistons and is ready built.I found the rear pipe to long but I assume this is for people with full suspension bikes, as its ready made its easy to fit and amazing value for money.The handles themselves don't look amazing but for this price it does the job.

Good Brakes

5 Stars all the way!Shimano LX M585 vs Shimano XTR M965 These are now discontinued and came with my Singlespeed Kona Explosif. I soon fitted my xtr's and ran disc sizes 203mm upfront and 160mm on the rear(polygon avid disc gives big increase in braking power over the shimano discs btw). Xtr's are very good with a light lever and good feedback(adjust using shims), tho even with organic shimano pads still squealed a bit in the wet.  So i swopped over to the LX's and straight away noticed the lever feel before applying braking pressure was even lighter than the xtr's! LX callipers are post mount so just undo the 2 bolts and adjust the calliper till no disc rub is noticed.This is way better for me as i have 2 sets of wheels(roadie slicks on DT Swiss rims and hubs and the other a set of knarly knobblies on XT hubs and mavix x317 rims) and disc offset is slightly different for each set, which means i have to mess around for ages with shims on the XTR's callipers, whereas the LX's are just a loosen the bolts and reposition the calliper and tighten up!  Typical shimano quality on the LX's, no lever play or wobble, no leaks, nice hard wearing finish on the lever blades, they are a very sensible set really!  Power-wise i did a test to compare the two, both using the same set of organic shimano pads so matched to the disc, the XTR's needed a pulling force of around 6lb on the lever to stop me rotating the front wheel(with a 203mm dics), the LX's needed about the same, maybe even 1/2-1lb less if anything! I used a set of fishing scales with the hook end around the lever and slowly rotating the wheel as i pulled more and more until the wheel physically wouldn't turn. Over prolonged braking the lever design of the XTR and its more direct linear piston motion will probably combat fade a bit better but for road riding and occasional off road trips the LX's are very hard to beat or justify any upgrade to XT or my XTR's in fact! Just as a note, the pressure on an XTR lever with a 160mm rotor(my rear brake basically) is about 7-8lb with sintered pads in, so needs a lb or so more pressure than the 203mm disc needs.Conclusion, these M585 LX hydraulic disc brakes are amazingly functional for all except downhillers who need huge stopping power, have less squeal than XTR's and makes you think why bother spending so much more for XT or XTR etc for very little gain????10/10