Avid Juicy pads...

Surf-Matt

Common question but:

Have had a few sets of Superstar pads (Non sintered) - they seem to work quite well but are an absolute nightmare to fit - they seem to thick and take ages to settle down.

I almost need new front pads and still have some Superstars left but wondering if I ought to try some other types.

I do a lot of miles so need ones that last. I'd say that I'm not a mega heavy brake user - do very little downhilling and if I do, it's at 0.00000001 mph :oops:

Options are:

Avid OEMs - very pricey, my first set squealed and weren't great.
Superstar non sintered - as above
Superstar sintered - any better?
Fibrax sintered - sound like they work well, pricey, the blurb on Chainreaction says don't use with a closed brake system yet they are for Juicys - which are "closed!"
Any others?!

dav1

look on ebay for THEVWMARK. fibrax pads for a tenner a set. I use them and am very happy indeed.

Trouble is they are a tight fit and I had to bend the extraction tab away from the form mount slightly to get the front ones in OK but now they are fitted and bedded its all get out a ride and forget about em for a good few months until I wear them out.

papasmurf.

I just bought a load of Avid ones recently as was getting annoyed with the fiddly faffing about with after market brands not fitting well..conversley the the superstar ones for my Oros fit better then the Oro ones..

supersonic

Have a look at these:

http://www.discobrakes.com/?s=0&t=0&c=2&p=85&

Surf-Matt

Supersonic - have you tried them out? Any good?

supersonic

I havn't, but saw a review in a mag that rated them highly.

Certainly an option!

Surf-Matt

Indeed - sale price makes them sensible too.

Waddya reckon - sintered or ceramic?

supersonic

Ceramic look interesting, but again, never tried them! I certainly agree with the proposed benefits.

Surf-Matt

I could be the test mule I guess...

supersonic

hehe, why not?!

Anonymous

my faves are ebc gold, very long lasting and powerful and a decent price too.

best performing i have used are swissstop green pads, superb power, nice and long lasting but howling pricey.

fibrax are decent enough and tend to be cheap but i dont think they were as long lasting as t'others i have tried.

i really like superstar pads, ive used sets on loads of brakes and find that for the money, they are outstanding. mind you i have been lucky and never received any of the bad ones.

Surf-Matt

Supersonic - ordered some 3x life ceramics. Will report my findings when I fit them!

clarkson

juicys arent closed brakes!! they have a resevoir and diaphram, and so are open!

im still running stock pads in mine, but they're about through, so i'd probably go for fibrax or ebc. I usually use fibrax but may just go for ebc this time.

myopic

I ordered a couple of pairs of the 3X Ceramic from DiscoBrakes about 6 weeks ago for replacements once the current stock ones on my Juicy 3s wear out (These are my first disc brakes so wasn't sure how long to expect them to last). Pads weren't in stock so came direct from the parent company in the US. Took a bit to arrive (about 2 weeks I think). Hopefully they would have shipped to UK distributer at some time, but if not you may have a wait.

The pad is a lot thinner than the stock, but I haven't needed to use them yet so no idea how they will last. Will be interested to hear how they go for you.

Surf-Matt

If the pad is thinner then I'm happy - my issue with the Superstar pads is that they seem too thick and are REALLY hard to fit.

FSR_XC

Matt

Keep me informed on how they perform.

I just fitted Superstar Sintered to my front (along with a new disk) and bu**er me do they stop well!!!
Same problem fitting them though. Had them rubbing for about 20 miles.

Sikora

Anyone here tried both the organic and sintered superstar pads? Currently finding my stock avid pads good in the dry, but useless as soon as a splash water gets on them. Superstar advertise both as being good in the wet

clarkson

has anyone tried the SOS Sintered Organic Sintered pads advertised in MBUK? id be interested to see how they fare.

stevieboy

Surf-Matt wrote:

I could be the test mule I guess...

Sorry to spoil the party

I found these to be better than OEM hayes pads.

Currently got a set in my gf's Meta (Oro K18's), no probs so far and wear rate is 'honest'

Surf-Matt

FSR_XC wrote:

Matt

Keep me informed on how they perform.

I just fitted Superstar Sintered to my front (along with a new disk) and bu**er me do they stop well!!!
Same problem fitting them though. Had them rubbing for about 20 miles.

Will do - they arrived today but not fitted them. Very very red!

Stevie - okay then, secondary test mule! Going to fit them to the front brakes - rears nearly gone too so will get more ASAP if they work.

ExeterSimon

Re. fitting the Superstar pads. Not wanting to teach anyone to suck eggs but I remove the caliper when fiitting mine and they slide in a treat. Unless I've just been very very lucky.

Surf-Matt

Well so far not impressed - the pads have no "ramp" for them to get past the piston "pin" and are very crudely made. As usual I had a complete nightmare trying to get them in (pistons simply do not retract far enough) so tapped them with a hammer - and crumbled both pistons. So probably need a new brake. I HATE pad replacement - surely there is an esaier way?!

SuperstarComponents.com

Hello, usually the reason for pads being "too thick" is the system has absorbed water over time into the fluid. Just open the bleed valve a little and let excess out when you push back your pistons.

Other reason is that avids are prone to corrosion around the pistons because of the alloy they uses, especially if you get road salt on them. This make pushing the pistons back hard. Driving at 70mph blasting road salt at them on a bike rack is what kills them!

Any questions feel free to pop me over a email

Neil

Surf-Matt

My bike has never been on a rack - only goes inside the car!

Taken it in to have the brake stripped and serviced (TBH it probably needs it after 4000ish miles of use) as well as the rear brake.

Going to get the Discos fitted to the front and Avid sintereds to the rear (that's all they stock).

Thanks for the info Neil - I was going to try your sintered pads but had so much trouble fitting the last two Superstars (non sintered) that I thought I'd try these. They were even worse - yours have little "ramps" for the piston pin to slide over - the Discos have none and are splurged in red paint which is about as professionally applied as a bat painting a Renoir.

Will see how they last once fitted.

Anyone got any alternatives to Juicys? TBH, I've had a lot of trouble with mine over the 1.5 years I've had the bike. And the pad replacement is simply a joke.

myopic

Hi Matt, I told you the other day I'd boiught a couple of sets fo the same pads for when time comes to change - I guess you'd recommend getting another spare set? Still interested to hear how the ones you put on the front do in terms of wear.

omegas

I have used DiscoBrakes on my Avids and Shimano brakes in the medium and Ceramic Pro.
Had no problems fitting any of them but did not find them that good and went through a few sets.
The Medium are supposed to be long lasting and idea in the wet , found the braking good but you could waste a set in a day at Llandegla if it was wet. For general xc they would last a few weeks riding every day.
Ceramic Pro I did not like the feel of as it felt like metal to metal or grinding to a stop and a lot of vibration coming in to the brake lever.

They might work fine for someone else or where and how they ride, maybe the 3x life ceramic are a lot better , will be interested to see how you get on with them when fitted.

Currently using superstar sintered which have lasted well over the last few months .

gcwebbyuk

Just ordered 4 sets of Sintered superstars...

2 for Juicy 5 (My Bike) and 2 for Juicy 3 (Wife's bike)

myopic

Thanks for the feed-back Omegas. I bought the 3X Ceramic, same as Surf-Matt. Hopefully they will be better than your experience of the others.

Surf-Matt

I'm seriously considering some Formula Oro K18s. Anyone got them? How easy is pad replacement? Juicy's simply aren't set up for easy maintenance. Yes I have to bleed to system a bit to make sure the pistons go back in better but then I'll have less power when I brake - and I shouldn't have to faff around so much - what if pads need replacing during a race?! It should be a two minute job yet seems to always take me at least half and hour and a small amount of measured violence.

Anonymous

i had the k18s on my golden willow and thought they were ok, but not as good performers as any of the juicys i have (i have 3, 7 and ultimate and have owned five) but most folk absolutely love em.

mine developed a problem whereby after half of the pad life was used up, the pistons wouldnt return far enough and over a very short time, the levers would then pull all the way to the bar without actually biting.

M6TTF

why on earth would you need to change pads in the middle of a race!