Brakes! what a nightmare!

abaser666

abaser666

Likes Bikes
My Juicy Ultimate 7's decided they've had enough, and rather than try to fix them (its a bit of a gamble, a seal kit will cost a bomb to get done by the lbs) I thought i'd get some new ones.

Man. what a drama. I think I must have changed my mind about 5 times over the last week or so. this is my thought process...

* CRC are having a huge sale, so I really want to take advantage of the great prices.
* LBS recommended I stick to avid or shimano due to better after sales service in Oz. they prefer I get the xt's because they don't want to do the obligatory brake bleed for the avids
* Not a fan of xt brake action. But these might be easier to sell later on because avids are a bit on the nose for a lot of people. I love my codes, and seriously considered buying another set for my enduro, but they didn't have much of a discount...
* Really wanted to try the new Guide RCS, but out of stock!
* leaves me tossing up between elixir 9's (2013) and xo (2013). both the twin piston version, not the quad. because they're all sold out too!
* so I chose the carbon elixir 9's, until such time I can get my hands on the guide RCS at a killer price.

I hope I don't regret this. I was so close to getting the xt's at $87 an end...don't let me down avid!

A666
*
 
foxpuppet

foxpuppet

Eats Squid
You'll probably regret the elixir 9's

Is it too late to cancel your order? Should have looked at MBD they have the guides for 180ish an end.

I've got trail 9's and they are the business. Bled when installed by LBS.... Pretty easy job AFAIK and never given issue since.
 
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kwikee

kwikee

Likes Dirt
Yeah, XT's are good, as are SLX. Had both on the same bike, can't tell the difference other than an extra adjustment on XT. I had Ultimate 7's on my old bike and they were great, more progressive than the Shimano's but not quite as strong.
 
abaser666

abaser666

Likes Bikes
Cheers!

Ezkaton said:
"What's goin' on up in there mate...?"

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Ha! yeah, i get that a bit. I really like the feel of the avids, where you can feel the brake bite point at the first touch of the lever. I dont like how XT's/SLX's feel like theres a soft patch at the start of the stroke. I like it hard n fast. This conversation is degenerating fast...


Thanks for everyone's comments. We'll have to wait and see how it goes i suppose.

Thanks for the tip on MBD too - i wasnt aware of them - i'll be sure to keep an eye on that page in future. to be honest though, i thing they would have been stretching the budget at this point...
 
T

takai

Eats Squid
abaser666 said:
Ha! yeah, i get that a bit. I really like the feel of the avids, where you can feel the brake bite point at the first touch of the lever. I dont like how XT's/SLX's feel like theres a soft patch at the start of the stroke. I like it hard n fast. This conversation is degenerating fast...
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Yeah, you can feel the bite point at the start of the travel, then you have to use 80% of the remaining travel to the bars to start braking. Avid fail. Oh and you forgot to mention the obligatory ducks that Avid hand out with their brakes.

XTs all around here.
 
pharmaboy

pharmaboy

Eats Squid
takai said:
Yeah, you can feel the bite point at the start of the travel, then you have to use 80% of the remaining travel to the bars to start braking. Avid fail. Oh and you forgot to mention the obligatory ducks that Avid hand out with their brakes.

XTs all around here.
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As in wood ducks?

My avids were a little more progressive than shimano, but howled like a porn star. Bleeding avids - computer says no.

Best of luck OP - admire your grit and determination - I'd give you a job in a second, just not in the purchasing dept. ;)
 
J

JakeLemin

Likes Bikes
my avid 9s are fucking terrible. can never get them working perfectly, theres always a problem. shimano is the next stop.
 
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takai

Eats Squid
pharmaboy said:
As in wood ducks?

My avids were a little more progressive than shimano, but howled like a porn star. Bleeding avids - computer says no.

Best of luck OP - admire your grit and determination - I'd give you a job in a second, just not in the purchasing dept. ;)
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Yeah, as in noisy quacking squarking ducks. Although perhaps its more like a Vuvuzela these days.
 
D

dej

Likes Bikes
Was glad to be rid of my Avids, i'll never buy those again..
I ended up with formula oro k24's running 180 front and 160 rear.
Quiet brakes, very powerful with nice modulation..
Bit of a pain to bleed and cant really get pads locally but just kept a couple of spare sets handy
Current commuter has shimano M446 which work really well for entry level
 
Jim Junkie

Jim Junkie

Used to sell drugs, now he just takes them
dej said:
Was glad to be rid of my Avids, i'll never buy those again..
I ended up with formula oro k24's running 180 front and 160 rear.
Quiet brakes, very powerful with nice modulation..
Bit of a pain to bleed and cant really get pads locally but just kept a couple of spare sets handy
Current commuter has shimano M446 which work really well for entry level
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I put Deore M615's on my commuter a few months back and they've been great. For $50 an end, I would recommend them to anyone. Silent, reliable and good feel.

For the mountain, M810's, all the stopping power you'll ever need. They take a bit of getting used to, but once you do get used to them they are top notch for one finger braking.

Avid's, well I tried once and that was enough. The noise, leaks & generally crappiness were enough to put me off for a long time. Then again, they were Juicy 3's, what did I expect?
 
treble

treble

Likes Dirt
Never understood how people find avid's hard to bleed. I Bleed my codes R's all the time, piece of piss. Perhaps work on your tool skills rather than blaming the equipment.
 
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takai

Eats Squid
treble said:
Never understood how people find avid's hard to bleed. I Bleed my codes R's all the time, piece of piss. Perhaps work on your tool skills rather than blaming the equipment.
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They arent hard to bleed once you have the kit. Plus you get tons of experience by having to bleed them after basically every ride.

Ease of serviceability is good, having to service them every ride, even though it is easy: bad.

The M810s on the DH bike haven't had to be bled in the 4 years they have been on various DH bikes. In fact only bleeds they have had were at the start when i shortened a line, and the other day when i figured after 4 years i should give them a bleed. But even if i hadnt i doubt it would have had any negative impact.
 
Fred Nurk

Fred Nurk

No custom title here
pink poodle said:
You didn't consider Hope?
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These are the shit.

I've run Avids for about 7 years now, starting to get to the point of issues with seals letting go and various stuff, the Hopes are awesome in comparison. Next set of brakes won't be Avid either...
 
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