Shimano divides XTR's brakes into two categories, Race and Trail. The Trail brakes have a little more braking power with larger levers. This Race version is built for Maximum performance with minimum weight. To achieve this goal, Shimano equips the Race with a magnesium caliper and lever body. The brake lever is carbon fiber with titanium hardware. The result is an amazing low actual weight of 189 grams of the caliper, pre-bled hose and lever. If you want industry leading reliability and a super light cross country racing brake, the M9000 race is your brake.

The brake levers are I-Spec II compatible. Combining these I-Spec II levers with I-Spec II shifters cleans the cockpit with fewer clamps. I-Spec II allows the height of the brake lever and shifter to be adjusted independently with fewer tools needed.

Shimano discovered a weak link of and hydraulic brake system is the hose. Hoses can bulge and expand under high braking force and diminish rear braking in particular. You will notice the hose included with the M9000 brakes features "Shimano high power brake hose" in gold letters to emphasize the use of an ultra-premium bulge-resistant hose created with a compression resistant mesh encasing the inner hose. The fluid is held in an integrated barrel reservoir with a hinged handle bar.

The calipers have an improved insulated piston (glass fiber phenolic) and insulated pad coating that created 10 percent more heat resistance. This unit is pre-bled, meaning, the hose is attached to both the lever and calipers and is ready for action, right out of the box. Fittings are included if you decide to shorten the hose.