Sitting at the cheaper end of the SRAM range, the SRAM Level is another brake you’ll find equipped on many lower priced mountain bikes.

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Level is SRAM’s twin piston brake range design for cross county/trail use and this entry Level (sorry couldn’t help it) is the bottom model in a five-tier line up.

The blade is pressed alloy but it does mimic the better SRAM brakes in the range in terms of shape and it also has reach adjustment, although this is slightly tricky to get to. There’s massive nut and bolt holding the clamp together, which seems overkill for something you don’t need to have that tight. It’s also a really tight fit, so tight in fact that it actually scraped a thin layer of lacquer off the carbon bar on our test bike.

The caliper is a stiff two-piece design and features top-loading brake pads, which is handy for checking on pad wear and when fitting replacements.

All the top-end SRAM brakes use the new Centreline rotor but the entry Level makes do with the older G2 design, which is a bit heavier. SRAM does offer most rotor sizes although not the 170mm in the G2.

Like all SRAM brakes, the Level was dead easy to set up and we also didn’t have to bleed it when we cut the hose fitting it to our test bike. Centring the pistons was relatively straight forward but it’s worth keeping an eye on them because they can get sticky.