The 4-piston Shimano Deore XT hydraulic disc brake ups the stopping power by 20% over the M8000, 2-piston version making it perfect for aggressive trail riding.
The fade, which can occur to disc brake rotor and pad when braking on a long downhill ride for instance, has a negative impact on the braking performance. Shimano has adopted Ice Technologies disc brake rotor and Ice Technologies pad to realize the cooling technology for consistent performance. The clad disc brake rotor blade, which has a 3 layer-sandwich structure of stainless steel, aluminum and stainless steel, provides better radiation performance. Also, the radiation fin has been adopted for the pad. Moreover, the clad disc brake rotor blade and the radiator fin provide long pad life, less noise, less fade and lightweight.
Ice Technologies piston in order to achieve optimized lightweight, high rigidity and heat dissipation. Oversized pistons transfer hydraulic power directly to the brake pad, and ceramic material is used to avoid heat transfer for constant stable braking, providing efficient stopping power transfer without loss.
“One Way Bleeding” was developed for quick and easy prevention of air in our hydraulic system. We have streamlined the oil route throughout the system to prevent air bubbles from being captured in the system.
One way oil routing plus a funnel tool with mineral oil provides an easy and clean bleeding system.
Disc brake system with the dual diameter opposed-piston caliper design has differently sized pistons in front and in the rear. The system adopts a power transfer system in which the disc brake rotor is pressed by the smaller sized piston at the entrance of the disc brake rotor intake and also by the more powerful larger sized piston at the back. This prevents the wobbling motion of the disc brake rotor and reduces noises significantly.
The 4-piston caliper also allows a wider contact area for the disc brake rotor while keeping the size compact, and the efficient location of pads is adjusted as necessary to stabilize the pressure. In combination use with the Servowave lever it provides an incredible 50% more stopping power than the previous model. The advanced Saint / Zee disc brake system, which adjusts to accommodate the different braking styles of different riders, offers stable braking power and excellent modulation.
I spec II lever
SHIMANO'S DEORE XT hydraulic disc brake levers are the epitome of mountain bike durability and performance. With SERVO WAVE Action, Free Stroke and reach adjust, and I-spec II compatibility, the BL-M8000 levers offer reliable, stable stopping power across a wide range of mountain bike disciplines.
I've been a fan of Shimano brakes for quite a few years now. After trying numerous different brands I always seem to gravitate back to the modern Shimano’s – their predictive feel and ease of maintenance being hard to beat. My go to brake of choice was Saint for their amazing ‘dropping an anchor’ power, but due to recent bike builds involving internal routing and non-compatibility of levers / callipers, I’ve been running XT’s for the past year or so.
The XT 2 pot brake offers good performance, but I found myself missing the additional power of Saint’s on long steep descents, and their ability to get you out of trouble when needed. So when Shimano announced the new XT four pots, they went straight to the top of my list of ‘must have’ test kit.
Did they live up to the expectation? I’ve been riding them since mid-April to find out!
The new 4 piston M8020 XT brake has been designed for trail, enduro and e-MTB use. Using the same lever as the current M8000 2-piston XT’s, the new M8020 calliper uses a pair of 17mm & 15mm pistons in each to give increased stopping power over their lighter 2-piston siblings.
With the lever being the same, it uses the same servo wave technology for fast pad engagement and offers tool free reach adjustment and the ability to also adjust the free stroke of the levers.
As with all the other Shimano brakes, the M8020 uses mineral oil and these particular brakes come fitted with Shimano’s H01A resin brake pads, which are also finned for better heat dissipation. The pads are the same shape as you’ll find in a Saint brake, so spares are easy enough to get hold of and are also readily available in a metal sintered flavour. Both the pads and rotors employ Shimano’s Ice Tech technology.
Far from being a replacement, this new brake is an addition to the groupset, sitting alongside the M8000 2-piston brakes for those riders that are looking for enhanced stopping capabilities. Shimano claims that the new callipers offer 20% more power than the existing M8000 2-piston brakes, while actually improving modulation. Big claims for sure.
I originally set the brakes up on an Orange Stage 6 that was running the standard M8000 brakes. With the Stage 6 having internal hose routing, the fact that the new M8020 brake uses the same lever and BH90 hose as the M8000 made it a quick and easy job. To test the compatibility between the two brakes, I kept the rear M8000 lever and hose in position and just changed the calliper (one thing to note here is that the main banjo connecting bolt is different between the two callipers, so make sure you use the right one if swapping and changing yourself!).
A quick bleed of the rear brake using Shimano’s simple One Way Bleed system to get rid of any air bubbles caused by swapping around the callipers was all that was needed. Add to this the split clamp design and I-spec II compatibility, and set up is a simple affair.
I fitted the M8020 brakes the day before I was due to fly out to Malaga for a few days riding overlooking the Mediterranean and the Costa Del Sol. As far as brake testing goes, the area was perfect with a mix of steep, rocky, natural tracks and flat out built DH style tracks. This was followed up with five days up in Fort William and plenty of local riding on the steep natural tracks that litter the valley and my local hill.
Using the four pots, the initial feel is the same as other Shimano brakes, with quick pad engagement and then a nice, solid feeling bite point. The overall power delivered by the four pistons is certainly a step up from the M8000 2-piston callipers though and lets you feather the brake more, using the increased modulation to control speed rather than having to grab a huge handful.
This is especially noticeable on steep tech tracks where it feels easier to adjust the braking force rather than locking up the wheels. This lets you concentrate more on riding the lines you want and picking your braking points rather than just slithering your way down, fully locked up at both ends. Or alternatively you can just ride flat out into everything knowing you can rely on the brakes to do what they need to, exactly when you want them to.
Before fitting these brakes I’d been running a 203m front rotor with the M8000 piston brakes to get some added stopping force, but due to swapping forks part way through the test, this changed to 180mm rotors. Even with the smaller rotor though, the braking performance was still higher and I didn’t feel the need to go back to 203mm.
The increase in calliper size also seems to cope better with heat build-up and dissipation, and during the test period, even on on 20+ minute long descents the brakes weren’t affected by heat build up and fade.
After a few (unbelievably) hot and dusty rides on the steep tracks around Fort William, I went out in the wet to ride the same tracks and nearly got caught out a couple of times. There was a noticeable drop in braking performance when conditions were damp and sloppy, but thankfully this is an easy and relatively cheap change to make and shouldn’t reflect on the brake’s overall performance. In my experience (with other brands’ brakes too), organic pads don’t really cut it in properly wet UK conditions. When I got back from Fort William I replaced the worn out organic pads with Shimano brand sintered ones, and although not finned, the performance has been just as good.
The M8020 brakes are good. Really good. In the two months that I’ve been testing the performance and reliability has been outstanding. A change of pads on the rear was all that was needed to keep them running consistently. There’s a substantial increase in power over the two-piston versions but it’s delivered in a nice, smooth, manageable way. You can certainly still grab a handful and lock things up when you need to, but you can also use it to refine your riding.
With only 30 or so grams weight difference over the two-piston variety, they’re a great way to up your braking without adding much weight. The callipers are also available separately so you can use your existing levers making it a good way to upgrade if you’re currently running the regular two-piston version, though just be aware that you’ll need to source the correct banjo bolt.
MODEL NO | BL-M8000 |
---|---|
SERIES | DEORE XT M8000 Series |
Color | Series color |
Average weight | 104 |
Brake type | Hydraulic disc brake |
---|---|
Lever size (finger) | 2 |
Brake hose (kit) | SM-BH90-SBM |
Hose joint | Straight |
Brake hose color (kit)|1 | Black |
J-Kit spec (for OEM) | ✔ |
SERVO WAVE | ✔ |
Reach adjust|Toolless | ✔ |
Free stroke adjust | ✔ |
Compatible shift lever mount|Clamp band | ✔ |
Compatible shift lever mount|I-SPEC II | ✔ |
Clamp band|Open clamp | ✔ |
Recommended brake caliper | BR-M8000 |
Oil | SHIMANO mineral |
Funnel bleeding | ✔ |
MODEL NO | BR-M8020 |
---|---|
SERIES | DEORE XT M8000 Series |
Color | Series color |
Average weight | 153 |
Brake type | Hydraulic disc brake |
---|---|
Brake hose (kit) | SM-BH90-SBLS |
Hose joint | Banjo |
Brake hose color (kit)|1 | Black |
J-Kit spec (for OEM) | ✔ |
ICE TECHNOLOGIES pad compatible caliper | ✔ |
Pad|Standard 1 | H03A-RF Resin (w/ fin) |
Pad|Option 1 | D03S-RX Resin (w/o fin) |
Pad|Option 2 | H03C-MF Metal (w/ fin) |
Recommended brake lever | BL-M8000 |
Recommended disc brake rotor | RT-MT800, SM-RT99, RT-EM810, RT-EM910 |
Compatible rotor size|140 mm (SS) | ✔ |
Compatible rotor size|160 mm (S) | ✔ |
Compatible rotor size|180 mm (M) | ✔ |
Compatible rotor size|203 mm (L) | ✔ |
Compatible rotor size|220 mm (LL) | ✔ |
Oil | SHIMANO mineral |
ONE WAY BLEEDING | ✔ |
Mount type | Post type |
Piston | 4 |
Caliper fixing screw|Tool size | 5 mm |
Caliper fixing screw|Anti loosen method | Snap ring |
Pad mount | Pad axle |
Mount type | Post type |
---|---|
Piston | 4 |
Caliper fixing screw|Tool size | 5 mm |
Caliper fixing screw|Anti loosen method | Snap ring |
Pad mount | Pad axle |