Sinter Model 003 Shimano D / H Type

The Shimano D-type and H-type pad shapes (Sinter Model 003) live in the calipers that take the most thermal load in Shimano's MTB catalog: Saint, Zee, and the four-piston Deore XT M8020 / M8120, SLX M7120, Deore M6120, and the current Deore M5100 four-piston platforms. If your bike runs a four-piston Shimano caliper for downhill, enduro, or heavy e-MTB duty, this is the replacement pad. Sinter's organic compound earns its keep on these brakes because the rider is asking the brake for sustained heat dissipation, and the resin matrix's modulation is the difference between bite-and-fade and bite-and-control on a long descent.

What's in the kit

One caliper's worth of pads (2 pads, left and right) for the D-type or H-type Shimano pocket. Bedding-in instructions are included; spring and pin are part of the pad assembly. Order two kits if you're replacing front and rear pads on the same service.

Fits

D-type and H-type pad shape, covering the Shimano four-piston MTB platform plus several aftermarket calipers that licensed the same geometry:

• Shimano Deore XT M8100 series (BR-M8120), M8000 series (BR-M8020)
• Shimano SLX M7100 series (BR-M7120)
• Shimano Deore M6100 series (BR-M6120), M5100 series
• Shimano Saint M820 (BR-M820), M810 (BR-M810)
• Shimano Zee M640 (BR-M640)
• Shimano BR-MT520, BR-MT420
• Shimano CUES U8000 (BR-U8020)
• Tektro: HD-E725, HD-M735, HD-M745, HD-M750
• TRP: Quadiem, SL Slate, T4, DH-R EVO
• HEL Advocate 4-Piston

If your Shimano four-piston caliper is in this generational range, the Sinter Model 003 is the pad. The TRP DH-R EVO and Quadiem coverage extends the same pad shape into competitive DH builds.

Compound and feel

Sinter's organic ceramic-loaded compound (kevlar, ceramic, clay minerals, and carbon bound in resin) is calibrated to the sustained-load profile that four-piston MTB calipers create. Where a two-piston caliper sees short, hard inputs, a four-piston caliper sees long, moderate-pressure dragging on technical descents. Organic compound modulates better for that pattern; sintered pads transfer more heat into the rotor and run noisier in the wet. Match the pad to the use case the brake was designed for.

Specs

• Compound: organic (ceramic-loaded, resin-bound)
• Backing plate: steel
• Pad shape: Shimano D-type / H-type
• Pads per package: 2 (one caliper)

Includes: 2 pads (left and right), bedding-in instructions.

From Sinter's Ljubljana plant

Sinter has been making friction materials in Ljubljana since 1969, and developed the first disc brake pads in the former Yugoslavia in 1972. The same plant supplies organic-compound pads at scale to motorcycle OEMs and to the bicycle aftermarket. Unior has been forging hand tools in Zreče since 1919, and is the official technical partner of multiple World Tour and downhill teams. Both run through Euro Toolworks in North America. The Model 003 lands in the four-piston MTB segment where the riders who put the most hours into descending demand the most from the friction matrix.

Pro tip from our mechanics

Four-piston Shimano calipers reward a careful piston-spread step before pad install: pistons that retract unevenly produce uneven pad wear and the well-known Shimano “rubbing rear caliper” complaint within a hundred miles. Spread the pistons evenly with a flat-blade tool or a piston-spreader before sliding fresh Sinter pads in, and the brake bites cleanly from the first descent.

For the broader compound primer and fitment grid, see How to choose Sinter brake pads →.