Brakes - XT or Avid Juicy 7s...

The Big Cheese
The Big Cheese Posts: 8,650
edited October 2008 in MTB buying advice
Ey up.

As most of you will know, I have a fully (well nearly) Yeti ASR built up without any brakes... so I need to get some.

The rest of my drivetrain is the 'new' XT so was thinking about getting some XT brakes from Merlin...

I have used Juicy 7's before and loved them, however I thought a 'matching' drivetrain could be in order...

I have heard lets say 'mixed' reports of the XT brakes (maintenance, fitting issues etc) and thought if any of the forum gods (nick, sonic... whoever) could shed some light on this..

Or I could go cheap on an expensive bike and buy Juicy 5's ????

Would be good to get some feedback

Budget should be no more than 170 for the pair

Ta muchly

Comments

  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,673
    dont know about the XT but Formula Oros. K18 or K24's
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • The Big Cheese
    The Big Cheese Posts: 8,650
    cheers nick - the formulas look great but a little out of my price range - would love a pair....

    I think CRC prices seem to be a little steep compared to the OE deals at merlin..... never thought I would say CRC were expensive ha ha
  • GT Destroyer
    GT Destroyer Posts: 1,719
    Well me and easyG both have XT brakes, they are '07, but we can't fault them. Absolutely no issues at all, 1 finger braking, great modulation, then again neither of us have tried Avids?
    500 Miles in 5 days
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    Got Avid Juicy 3s on one bike and 5s on the other - The 5s took ages to get properly adjusted (think it was the bike shop's fault) but are now brilliant - also easy to bleed. The 3s worked brilliantly from day one.

    The 7s are almost the same but with a pad contact adjuster thingy - possibly useful but never felt the need for them.

    Bike tests seem mixed on the XTs.
  • artillerydave
    artillerydave Posts: 715
    I have been running my 08 XT brakes for about 12 months now and have to say they are spot on, i have never had any of the fitting or bleeding problems reported on other reviews and mine have always been consistant and offer excellent braking power and modulation. i would highly recommend them. :D
  • Big Red S
    Big Red S Posts: 26,890
    I've heard lots of not-so-good about the avids, and quite a bit of good about the XTs.

    FWIW, my XTs are fine, but I hardly ever ride that bike...
    http://avi.co/doc/Forums.html
  • Andy
    Andy Posts: 8,207
    Big Red S wrote:
    FWIW, my XTs are fine, but I hardly ever ride that bike...

    It's true!

    I've got some of the old XT's on my Anthem and they are awesome for the money. With them being the old model (M765) if you can find them online, you can get a great deal on them as well!
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    Have you thought about some hayes strokers? I've used a set, some juicy 7's that could have used a bleed and hope minis. For the price the strokers were outstanding, consistent and controlled with just enough bite to stop you in a hurry, plus they come in white.

    Or howabout the elixir's?
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
  • tedm
    tedm Posts: 23
    I've been using Juicy 7's for about 8 months and they're fab. I'm pretty big and they have no issues stopping my big a** :D
    Not had to bleed them at all (2 year old bike), been through one set of pads which are easy to change and the pad contact adjustment is great.
    Not used XTs though so can't comment on them.
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    Big Red S wrote:
    I've heard lots of not-so-good about the avids, and quite a bit of good about the XTs.

    FWIW, my XTs are fine, but I hardly ever ride that bike...

    Funny how opinions can differ - heard mostly good stuff about Juicys but a few average reports on XTs.

    Probably a case of "filtering" out the bad stuff relating to the stuff you own!
  • The Big Cheese
    The Big Cheese Posts: 8,650
    Cheers for the input guys....

    I have narrowed it down to either Juicy 5s or XT... I never used the pad adjustment dial when I had sevens so no point buying them.....

    The selling point on 08 Juicy 5s is that I can get a set for 129 smackers which is a steal although I would love to have the whole 'matching' drivetrain with the XT... need to watch my pennies so may well have to be the 5s :lol:
  • Chaka Ping
    Chaka Ping Posts: 1,451
    I've switched from Juicys to XT.

    Lack of a split clamp on XT is main problem, other than that performance and feel seem as good as Avid.

    Not so squeaky so far either.
  • mcbazza
    mcbazza Posts: 251
    Cheesey wrote:
    Cheers for the input guys....

    I have narrowed it down to either Juicy 5s or XT... I never used the pad adjustment dial when I had sevens so no point buying them.....
    It's not a pad adjustment dial. And, although Avid (Sram) refer to it as 'Pad Contact-Point Adjustment', it's actually a bite-point dial - it determines where in the lever pull stroke the braking begins.

    The point is to be able to adjust how much 'give' there is in the lever before the pistons engage. Some people like a little, some like none at all. It depends on the style of riding you do, and where you believe you have most control/power when you go to pull the lever.

    Once you are happy with the bite-point, you leave the dial alone - regardless of how much pad is left.

    Perhaps that is why they leave the adjust off on the Ultimates? (them using the same adjuster as the rebound adjuster on Rockshox)

    I upgraded my Stumpy from 5's to 7's. And, I'm glad I did. I was happy with the stopping power of the 5's, but, just wanted to move the bite-point. Which is exactly what the 7's gave me.
    Stumpy, Rockhopper (stolen!) & custom SX Trail II - that should do it!
  • singlespeedexplosif
    singlespeedexplosif Posts: 1,564
    +1 for the Juicy 7s. Brilliant bit of kit

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