troubles with my XX brakes

[mtb-nate]

hi
i bought a set of avid XX brakes from my local shop about 4 -5 months ago and have never been able to get them to feel nice
they always come up spongy they pull to the bar or they constantly are rubbing / dragging on the rotor,
i have had a couple of bike shops bleed the brakes
i have even had them sent back to have the internals swapped for a revised internal
i have spent hours trying to bleed the brakes myself
but they still feel average for an expensive brake

just wondering if anyone else has had issues with the avid XX brakes
and if so what they have done to fix the issues
cheers nate

 

[vtwiz]

Unfortunately the XX brakes are made by Avid. Avids disk brakes are notorious for poor feel, lever pulling to the bar unexpectedly and everything else you mention. Out of the 6 or 7 guys I ride with that use Avid brakes, every one of them has had issues with them. I would take then back to where you bought them and ask them for a refund. With the common issues with Avid brakes I am surprised they haven't had to recall them. There are serious safety issues with a lot of them.

 

[PepsiMax]

hi
i bought a set of avid XX brakes from my local shop about 4 -5 months ago and have never been able to get them to feel nice
they always come up spongy they pull to the bar or they constantly are rubbing / dragging on the rotor............

maybe use some rubbing alcohol to clean up the rotors, maybe switch out to new pads,

did you use the correct DOT brake fluid when you bleed the brakes yourself

 

[Timmy!!!]

I had the same issues with a set of Juicy Ultimates that came standard on my XC bike. I replaced them with Shimano XT and have never had a problem since.

 

[Mattydv]

Sounds like my old Juicy 5's. My solution was to sell them.

Buy some XTR's and you won't have the problem

 

[vtwiz]

As far as I know Avid brakes have a two year warranty on them. You shouldn't have to sell them. They don't work as disk brakes should and as it sounds like the shop has already tried to replace parts I think there is nothing left to do but get a refund.

I can highly recommend Formula disk brakes. I have had them on my bike for over two years. I ride off road 1-2 times a week and they have never needed a bleed and still feel as solid as the day I got my bike.

 

[jathanas]

I've XX World Cup on all my bikes (3). Compared to my old Hope Tech X2 & XTRs they do require more frequent bleeding, and caliper alignment but they generally work OK. I've heard that the XX World Cup are not as problematic because they don't have that contact point adjustment which seems to let air in the brake-line.

I will move to Formula next, but I wont rush into it. My training partner runs XX World Cup as well and they've been OK.

 

[ido09s]

mine are quite the opposite, the lever is rock hard and doesnt give me enough feel lol I have thought about bleeding them to see if i can soften the lever up but by the sounds of it i wont bother as i am likely to only give myself problems

I would take them back though and ask for a refund

 

[bear the bear]

As far as I know Avid brakes have a two year warranty on them. You shouldn't have to sell them. They don't work as disk brakes should and as it sounds like the shop has already tried to replace parts I think there is nothing left to do but get a refund.

I can highly recommend Formula disk brakes. I have had them on my bike for over two years. I ride off road 1-2 times a week and they have never needed a bleed and still feel as solid as the day I got my bike.

Formula did all the development for Avid for their brakes.... They work better than Avid, but IMHO Shimano are better again especially the new XT. Same stopping power as XTR trail but half the price!

 

[rearviewmirror]

Return them and buy the Hope X2's or M4's.... Solid stopping power and hella easy to service, a true win win.

 

[toby]

Don't have anything nice to say about XX/Avid brakes... my vote new XT. XTR performance and a significant discount.

 

[sclyde2]

I dunno about the new formula brakes, but I didn't have great luck with them. Yeah, they had great power/feel, and were really light too, but they tended to need a lot more maintenance than any other brake I've ever had. After riding truly maintenance-free hopes for years (about 4 sets of them), after a while those formulas (both the oro puro and the original 'the one' brakes) would start getting into a habit of going to the bars and needing a bleed. And super-long free-stroke in them, and inconsistent too - different between each individual brake, and different at different times. Maybe it was because I hung my bikes up when I store them, dunno, but it didn't affect the hopes (or my newer brakes). I never could bleed those formulas properly, nor could I find anyone that could. Maybe a couple of bad examples, and/or maybe a result of having them when they weren't that common around here (hence the difficulty bleeding them). With the inconsistent braking I was getting from them, I lost some confidence in braking, and it has taken a while to get it back.

I've since got some XX brakes, while not as good feel, they work, are consistent, and haven't needed bleeding since the original bleed when I got them nearly 12 months ago. Maybe just lucky with the avids? A few of my mates have avids (some with more than one set), and no one has complained about them.

If I was to have any more brake problems and/or need new brakes now, it is a no-brainer - just get shimano xt/xtr. I got some on my other bike this year, and they are faultless. Me, I wouldn't be taking a risk with formula again. Maybe others are luckier with formula than I was.

 

[rek]

I had the same issues with a set of Juicy Ultimates that came standard on my XC bike. I replaced them with Shimano XT and have never had a problem since.

+1 (actually +2, I had two sets of Juicy Ultimates and both were horrible in the exact way the OP described). Strangely enough the more pedestrian Juicys I've had (7s and 3s) both held up perfectly and were remarkably reliable. The seals on the Ultimates plain seemed to suck - they just kept on disintegrating and letting air in, and at times you could see bits of seal in the fluid when bleeding.

They were replaced with Shimano XTs and all was good. I would have gone back to 3/5/7s but after the 20th bleed, I was sick of dealing with DOT fluid.

 

[harmonix1234]

Avid = shit.

I had some juicys for about 6 months and they made my riding experience really unpleasureable. I will never use avid again. Bridge burned.
An otherwise great ride would be continuously ruined by all of the traits you mention above.

I went and got a set of XT brakes. Never looked back.
3 years and still no bleed. Smooth, quiet, great modulation, reliable blah blah blah.

Buy shimano and never have to think about brakes ever again.

 

[72Fury]

Avid = shit.
Buy shimano and never have to think about brakes ever again.

+100......

 

[Cap]

Got 3 sets of XX brakes including 2 WC. Nothing but dramas. Atleast 5 warranties in 2 years. Other Avid models I have owned including Elixr & Juicy have been fine. Next set of brakes will not be XX.

 

[leftieant]

Am I the only person in the world that doesn't have issues with Avid brakes? I've run Juicy's on 3 bikes (all rock solid) and now running Elixir CR on the A29 - also idiot proof.

Having said that, just got a set of SLX for the singlespeed and am impressed. Less impressed with having to buy a new bleed kit though.

 

[Trickymac]

i had a set of elixir cr for 2 years...rode 3 times a week, not one problem or one bleed, faultless
now i have a set on avid/elixir xo...6 months use so far...faultless
thats said, did ride a bike with the new shimano xtr brakes not long ago....fuck me they are good, they would stop my heavy old mercedesbenz car

 

[rone]

Every set of Avids I have owned have been garbage. I now run Shimano or Hope only. The only Avid I would recommend is the BB7 which is an excellent brake. But their hydros suck balls bigtime.

 

[MountGower]

I can echo some of the previous comments.

I know a few people using Avid hydraulic brakes. All hate them and are constantly taking in air.

I love my BB7s.

I love my XT hydraulics. Bleed when installing and never worry again.