which brakes

skullthaw

i need some new brakes
thinking of either avid juicy 5
hayes 9
hayes stroker
which would you go for
or any other suggestions for this price

cheers

skullthaw

or hope minis

kegs

I really like my Hope mono minis, very controllable power with good modulation, and Hope's after sales service is second to none.

The Juicys are nice too, a mate has juicy 3s on his bike, and they work fine.

I don't have any experience on the Hayes brakes, but the 9s are reputedly very off or on, very powerful apparently though.

I'm sure someone will be along to recommend Formulas soon, too

snowfruit

Chain Reaction have some good deals on Shimano XT, how do they rate?
I was thinking of getting Formulas as they get good reviews in the mags, but they are a bit more pricey

Surf-Matt

I reckon Juicys are probably the easiest to look after and work pretty well.

warrerj

Formula K24 !!

Fit and forget with tons of usable stopping power.

kegs

XT are apparently very good too, not quite as shiny as things like Hope, formula etc, but they are reliable and work well, which is kind of important for brakes

globalfish

I've got juicy 3's and 7's and they have been great brakes. I use the 7's on my Trance and had 'em on my Scott previously and despite all the crap of the winters, they still work fine. Easy to bleed/maintain yourself too.

hucking_fell

I've a pair of Hope M6, 2 pairs of Hope M4s, and an older style front Hope mini (not mono).

Like all of them.

Unsurprisingly I'd go for the Hope mini.

I like the lever feel of Hopes but some others don't seem to. It's a personal preference thing. For example, several of my mates like Hayes but I can't stand using them.

synchronicity

The funny thing about HOPE is, purely from an aesthetic point of view, the calipers look better than anything. OTOH, the levers look like they came out of an American CNC house in 1992. :?

toasty

I like my XTs, so much I bought a set of very similar SLX for my other bike They came needing a bleed (as brakes often do), fortunately this is a breeze with them and mineral oil is nice and safe.

Nice sturdy brakes, easy lever adjust, comfy levers, bit on the heavy side though (SLX were 691g, then 160g per centerlock rotor, 1011g all in).

kegs

New levers for Hope in 09, not sure I like the look of the new mini caliper though.

Pics about a 3rd of the way down the page here

synchronicity

True, they look better than the originals, but why don't they have an all-black option? :?

skullthaw

cheers all im still not sure but thinkin the hopes!!

ratty2k

Hayes Stroker trails. Powerful, lots of modulation, cheap. From Merlin anyway... around £130-140 for the pair of F+R.
Hopes are good brakes, but for the cost...