Upgrading MTB hydraulic brakes

[MrFunex]

Hi all,

A few months ago I bought a Cube LTD Pro. I love it, it’s almost all the bike I need and I’ve covered around 600 miles on it so far. The brakes, however, aren’t great... both front and rear are Shimano BR-M315 hydraulic discs, but don’t seem overly powerful? They don’t inspire much confidence stopping quickly whilst going downhill and I’m sure a decent set of V-brakes could match them. I know these brakes are fairly basic, but how could I increase performance?

I’m thinking either the cheap option of trying a different set of pads, or the pricier option of buying a set of Shimano XT-M8000s, as well as their Ice-Tech rotors. They’re on offer at the moment!

Am I barking up the right tree?

 

[MrFunex]

Thanks, do you think new rotors are needed? I’m guessing not, as the old ones are hardly bedded in, and there’s not going to be a size change..?

 

[MrFunex]

Just to complete the thread, I took the ‘half-nuclear’ option and replaced the calipers with XT M8000 ones. I kept the original discs (180F/160R). In the Wiggle sale, the cost was around £150 for both front and rear.

Due to the weather, I’ve only had a very short ride out, together with many laps on our driveway as I was getting everything centred/set up, but WHAT a difference! I’d imagine the bike can now stop in almost half the original distance; fairly average performance is now properly fierce. Rather shocking the few times I’ve squeezed hard on both levers at the same time!