I think you need to exercise some perspective here. These brakes cost less than the rebuild kits for some premium systems. No one is voluntarily trading their boutique brake set (likely equipped with pads that cost almost as much as these brakes) for a pair of M396 brakes. At least not voluntarily. No one racing competitively at any level of mountain biking will be riding these brakes.
But I rode them down plenty of aggressive brake-forward black-rated trails and the slop in the levers wasn’t an issue at any time. It’s worth noting, it’s not ideal, but if these are the brakes someone can afford they do an impressive job relative to the investment. YMMV, but if lever slop, and curing it, is a deciding issue then be prepared to invest significantly more money.
March 28, 2022, 12:06 p.m. - Andrew Major
I think you need to exercise some perspective here. These brakes cost less than the rebuild kits for some premium systems. No one is voluntarily trading their boutique brake set (likely equipped with pads that cost almost as much as these brakes) for a pair of M396 brakes. At least not voluntarily. No one racing competitively at any level of mountain biking will be riding these brakes. But I rode them down plenty of aggressive brake-forward black-rated trails and the slop in the levers wasn’t an issue at any time. It’s worth noting, it’s not ideal, but if these are the brakes someone can afford they do an impressive job relative to the investment. YMMV, but if lever slop, and curing it, is a deciding issue then be prepared to invest significantly more money.