Flat Mount XC Brakes (front AND rear)

[jbattermann]

Hi there,

I am currently playing with the thought of turning my gravel bike into a flatbar city / non-sportive-spare-time speedster and was wondering if there are any native flat mount mtb disc brakes out there because as far as I can tell, those are still a bit of a rare thing these days.

I saw that Shimano has a FM disc brake caliper (https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/ ... M9110.html) and apparently Trickstuff offers their Piccola with FM calipers as well, but they currently seem to have a 9 months waiting period / lead time and also are quite, quite expensive.

Magura appears to have the MT8 SL as FM option but I was wondering if there are any Sram MTB FM options out there.. I've seen posts about the Canyon Lux having had a FM Level Ultimate version 1 or 2 years back and ideally I would want to go with Sram just because I already have the bleed kit and Sram on my road bike etc and was hoping somebody might know a little bit more and for a fact whether those are a thing/exist.

If not, does anybody have any real life experience with the aforementioned vendors (Magura, Shimano, Trickstuff) and can give some experience-based advice for all/some of them comparatively?

And/Or - does anybody have any real-life experience with Post Mount (brakes) to Flat Mount (frame) adaptors?

Thanks!
-J

[Dan Gerous]

All Shimano MTB and road calipers and levers can be mixed and matched, so you could use Dura-Ace, Ultegra, 105 flat mount calipers and pair them with XTR, XT or SLX levers. I suspect the same might be true with SRAM as I know someone who used Force flat mount calipers with Guide levers.

[Dan Gerous]

And Shimano just started offering XT and SLX flat mount calipers as well as the XTR you found... Not sure how long until they're available but price should be more acceptable for the type of build you want to do.

SLX MSRP USD 72$


XT MSRP USD 80$


XTR MSRP USD 180$

[MichaelB]

All Shimano MTB and road calipers and levers can be mixed and matched, so you could use Dura-Ace, Ultegra, 105 flat mount calipers and pair them with XTR, XT or SLX levers. I suspect the same might be true with SRAM as I know someone who used Force flat mount calipers with Guide levers.

Just one thing to note though, the 'Road' calipers have much smaller pads than the older twin piston MTB calipers.

Any idea if this pad size change carried over for the new MTB flat mount ?

[TurboKoo]

XTR race calibers (BRM9100) have same flatmount sized brake pad as road variants. These should be basically the same as road brakes just with branding to match.

[jbattermann]

Thanks for the replies so far!

I've also inquired with SRAM a couple of days ago asking if their road Flat mount calipers can be matched with their (Level) MTB brake levers and appears, theoretically it should work:

Hi Joerg,

Thanks for reaching out! If your eTAP AXS flat mount calipers are one-piece (Monobloc) then they compatible with Level series MTB brake levers in theory - which also use the Monobloc caliper design. These have not been tested, nor verified for cross-compatibility. If your eTap AXS calipers are the two-piece design, then they are not compatible with any of the mountain bike levers.

Your flatbar city bike sounds fun. Hope the project goes well. Happy riding!
Regards,
SRAMTech USA

So right now I can either choose or go with Magura's native Flat mount MT4 or MT8 SL calipers and brake levers, get Shimano's ones (XTR or the other options and mix/match) OR try and see if that Sram theoretical statement works in real life. Given I have SRAM on my road bike and tools etc I am almost leaning towards that risky/theoretical option.. but need to sleep over that.

Anyway.. just wanted to let you / others here know about that statement by Sram.

[MayhemSWE]

As far as I can tell the Level TLM and Ultimate calipers are the exact same as AXS calipers aside from the color/graphics. Both used identical monoblock designs for their first iterations (A1) and for their respective second iterations (B1) switched to identical two-piece designs.

[MichaelB]

XTR race calibers (BRM9100) have same flatmount sized brake pad as road variants. These should be basically the same as road brakes just with branding to match.

Reckon that they will then wear out REAL quick !!

[jbattermann]

As far as I can tell the Level TLM and Ultimate calipers are the exact same as AXS calipers aside from the color/graphics. Both used identical monoblock designs for their first iterations (A1) and for their respective second iterations (B1) switched to identical two-piece designs.

Yeah now that you said it & looking at the Level Calipers...



vs the eTap Axs ones...



.. they do seem quite a like from the outside. Not sure about the overall fluid in the system/ reservoirs etc.. but I think I'll just give that a try. Thanks for the heads-up!

[Alexbn921]

Is there any Sram flat mount adapters that are lightweight.

[robbosmans]

Thanks for the replies so far!

I've also inquired with SRAM a couple of days ago asking if their road Flat mount calipers can be matched with their (Level) MTB brake levers and appears, theoretically it should work:

Hi Joerg,

Thanks for reaching out! If your eTAP AXS flat mount calipers are one-piece (Monobloc) then they compatible with Level series MTB brake levers in theory - which also use the Monobloc caliper design. These have not been tested, nor verified for cross-compatibility. If your eTap AXS calipers are the two-piece design, then they are not compatible with any of the mountain bike levers.

Your flatbar city bike sounds fun. Hope the project goes well. Happy riding!
Regards,
SRAMTech USA

So right now I can either choose or go with Magura's native Flat mount MT4 or MT8 SL calipers and brake levers, get Shimano's ones (XTR or the other options and mix/match) OR try and see if that Sram theoretical statement works in real life. Given I have SRAM on my road bike and tools etc I am almost leaning towards that risky/theoretical option.. but need to sleep over that.

Anyway.. just wanted to let you / others here know about that statement by Sram.

If I where you I would go with magure, they are easier to bleed and work great


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[gtee]

Thanks for the replies so far!

I've also inquired with SRAM a couple of days ago asking if their road Flat mount calipers can be matched with their (Level) MTB brake levers and appears, theoretically it should work:

Hi Joerg,

Thanks for reaching out! If your eTAP AXS flat mount calipers are one-piece (Monobloc) then they compatible with Level series MTB brake levers in theory - which also use the Monobloc caliper design. These have not been tested, nor verified for cross-compatibility. If your eTap AXS calipers are the two-piece design, then they are not compatible with any of the mountain bike levers.

Your flatbar city bike sounds fun. Hope the project goes well. Happy riding!
Regards,
SRAMTech USA

So right now I can either choose or go with Magura's native Flat mount MT4 or MT8 SL calipers and brake levers, get Shimano's ones (XTR or the other options and mix/match) OR try and see if that Sram theoretical statement works in real life. Given I have SRAM on my road bike and tools etc I am almost leaning towards that risky/theoretical option.. but need to sleep over that.

Anyway.. just wanted to let you / others here know about that statement by Sram.

Has anyone tried this yet?
I'm planning on trying some Level TLM levers with flat mount Force 1 calipers but unsure if it'll work.

[jlok]

I'm using Red AXS lever with 2-piece Level TL postmount caliper with great results. I think the vice verse should work as well?

[jbattermann]

Where those levers specifically for / with the newer 2-piece Red/Force calipers or are these original/unchanged ones?

[gtee]

I'm using Red AXS lever with 2-piece Level TL postmount caliper with great results. I think the vice verse should work as well?

Excellent, that's good to know.
Time to start buying parts now.