Currently shopping for a new set of hydraulic discs for my bikepacking/ XC hardtail. I’ve only ever used Shimano XT or SLX (other than a ghastly pair of Avids that broke very shortly after buying the bike they came on).

Merlin have some good deals on Deore, SLX and SRAM Level TLM currently. Am I best off sticking with what I know? Or
Any others I should be considering.

Thanks

Shimano have a reputation for micro failures and are not repairable ( well new caliper fixes it )
I have had some sram and they have been fine for 2.5 k so far
Tbh i have used hope, shimano, .sram and magura ( and still do except shimano ) and all work fine. Only hope offer rebuild kits but they are the dearest.

I've probably had more than one micro-leak failure on the Shimano brakes. But Gian/Alpinum suggestion of using Putoline for the bleeding did seem to help significantly.

One thing I'm almost certain we're all guilty of is not opening up the caliper bleed nipple before retracting the pistons for a pads change. The Shimano manual states that there is a tiny bladder in the lever and this can rupture. Surely they'd know...

Only problem with changing pads out of the trail with the above mentioned bleed nipple thing, is that it can probably before a bit of a faff very quickly so no one would ever do it! For the moment I'm sticking with Shimano (currently SLX) as they do work well when they do and are affordable.

Tried the SRAM Level (older models) but they didn't last anywhere near as long as the older top end SRAM/Avid carbon whatnots. Probably the best brakes ever for me for many many years (but I assume are now unaffordable or obsolete).

Thanks both. I’ve generally had good experiences with shimano so might just go with the 2 pot Deore at £110

My main problem with shimano brakes has been several broken levers.

I've upgraded my main bike to hope tech 4 e4, no complaints so far.