Shimano XTR BR-988 Trail Brake

Product Descriptions

Backcountry Description: Just as you can get XTR Cranksets in two versions, Race 2x10 and Trail 3x10, the brakes are available to match. And with the wholesale design change from the previous 970 brakes, the performance is more akin to the Shimano brakes we relied on for years, and they weren't recent models either. These XTR Trail Brakes M988 are visually similar to the 985 XTR Race Brakes, though a close inspection will reveal that there are indeed a few differences that make the 988 Trail Brakes more suitable for extreme use. The lever blade itself is one mm wider, at 14mm, to give you a bit more surface area, and it's dimpled for extra gription. Your fingers will appreciate the beefier blades after lengthy, white-knuckle descents. This version also allows you to adjust the free stroke of the lever blade where the XTR Race levers do not. This function lets you determine how far you like the blade to travel before your pads make contact with the rotor, and couple that with a reach adjustment and you can dial them to perfection. In comparison with the previous 970 XTR's radial master cylinder design, this 988 XTR master cylinder is far different. For starters, the integrated barrel reservoir sits along and atop the master cylinder which is positioned at a tangent to the bar rather than straight out from it. Sizewise, these levers are much lower profile, but more importantly, the movement of the lever pivot towards the bar creates a more ergonomic design. In essence, the arc of the lever optimizes your natural finger movement and position of strength with the point in the lever travel where your power is transferred through the system to the caliper. These also feature Shimano's Servo Wave technology where the Race Levers do not. Servo Wave allows the pads to sit further from the rotors at rest (a great feature for trail/all mountain bikes that might see more rotor abuse than a race machine).