Shimano XT, hydraulic disc V's Avid Juicy 7 hydraulic disc

Babbs

Hi there any opinons on which is the better brake set up would be great. this is the only thing seperating the bike im looking at buying.

Cheers

artillerydave

I have the 2008 XT servowave brakes and they are superb, however I have never had Avids so can offer no comparison, the XT's are very powerful and effective brake however.

Andy

I personally would go for Shimano every time but thats just my opinion. Had the Juicy Carbons on my old bike but just never seemed as good as my XTR discs.

clarkson

id go for the avids. feel much nicer to use and more powerful than shimano in my experience.

Babbs

so far its 2-1 to shimmano i think ill have to test them both!!

The Big Cheese

Not saying this to even the score but Avid all the way for me - I have used Juicy 5s, Juicy Carbons, Codes and Juicy 7s and they have all been fit and forget - FANTASTIC!

Andy

Ignore him ^^^^

dav1

i just bought my juicy 5s and they are fantastic.

My options were the previous XT set or the 2007 juicy 5s so my choice was to be more current, however from the reviews the feel of the avids was more towards what i was looking for.

The best thing to do is read reviews bearing in mind how you want your new brake to feel, and if possibible try a set of each on a friends bikes if they have them.

I can assure you this thread wont get you far, the shimano fans will tell you shimano are the best and avids are crap, the avid fans will tell you the exact opposite.

In reality both are very good, its just down to personal preference in the brake feel and performance with your particular riding style.

omegas

Have to agree with Dav1 most people are brand blind.

I have Shimano on GT and Avid on my Stumpy both stop you on a sixpence, both have there own feel, modulation and characteristics. What ever you end up with you probably won’t be disappointed.

One thing I would consider is if you are looking at 2 bikes, hydraulic brakes are cheap to replace and keep getting better for a lower cost every year so you can always upgrade.

Don’t let the brake choose the bike for you, the frame, forks, shock, reach and feel ect are what you should have at the top of your list. (oh and colour if its for a women …….. lol)

Babbs

the two bikes are almost identical the main difference is the brakes i have a friend with juicy 7's on his ill see if he will part with his toy and let me see what they are like!

omegas

Just out of interest can I ask what the 2 bikes are?

Babbs

scott scale 50 and focus raven i like both the bikes i can get a test ride on the scott but the raven a friend has but its only a m i would require an xl.

omegas

Yes both good bikes and good specification, at the price range you have so many choices it gets confusing.

The Focus Raven has Fox F100RLC forks the Scott has Tora 302 (depending on what year model you are looking at) I know which bike I would be buying if I could not make my mind up and I would not worry about the brakes.

Babbs

would the fox forks sway it for you or would you stay with the scott??

joeraul

i learned a lot from you guys just reading your comments especially to Dav1. thanks

dave_s

Not sure about the new XT brakes but I've had 2007 ones and was impressed with the power but not the squealing or the sticky piston I had with mine on the rear.

In contrast I've got Avid Juicy 7's now and fitted them myself with no probs whatsoever and they are better brakes than XT in my experience of both brakes. Avids are extremely simple to setup and the stopping power is excellent once bedded in (which doesn't take long at all to do)

BlackSpur

I take it that no-one uses hydro V's then? I always thought they looked a tad expensive, consdering the inherent advantages of a disc and the fact that you can get a decent set hydro discs for the same price.