I need a Brake...

rhubarbcrum-

Please help, I've finally had enough of trawling on the internet trying to make a decision on what brakes to go for and get rid of my Avid Juicy 3's which have dragged all of their life. I've seen that there are a few threads discussing various options but none that discuss the below options for brakes but would like to see if I can get some help with my final decision and have narrowed it down to the choices below,
Formula RX 2010 for £240 from Chain Reaction (I can bike down there from where I live to pick them up and get them fitted)
Avid Elixir CR - Merlin Cycles (£199.95) These are the ones I am edging towards at the moment.
Hayes HFX-9 - Ltd Edition 2007 (Around £240, Chain Reaction)
Hope X2 - (£210 Chain Reaction)
Hope M4 (£240 Chain Reaction)
I'll be fitting these to a 2006 Specialized FSR XC Pr
Thanks everyone

supersonic

The Elixirs.

rhubarbcrum-

Concise and to the point cheers Supersonic. Will add a review if I do decide to go down that route.
Was wondering if it was worth the extra £40 for the Formula RX's as they are the ones that everyone raves about on the forums, but I like the idea of being able to adjust the pad contact to stop rotor drag which has been driving me mad since I've had the bike and regardless of how much they are serviced, where they are serviced, type of pads or adjustment the front brakes always drag, that's all I ask for...no drag.

supersonic

The Avids have pad contact adjust - wasn't aware the RX did though.

bomberesque

I have elixir CR carbons from Merlin and they're great. You'll need to shorten the hoses (same with any new brakes unless you're *very* lucky) and this means you'll need some olives and hosebarbs then a bleed. Olives and hose barbs come included in the Avid bleed kit but ofc this is extra expense

rhubarbcrum-

Your right Supersonic, the RX don't have pad adjust only amazing write ups and lots of fans.

Thanks for the advice about the adjusting, I might get in touch with Chevin Cycles who I normally get my bike serviced with etc to find out how much it'll cost for a pro to fit and get the job done properly rather than me spending half a day doing it wrong then taking it to them later as I've done pretty much all parts of basic maintenance but not fitting and bleeding disc brakes so better to do it right the first time.

rhubarbcrum-

Your right Supersonic, the RX don't have pad adjust only amazing write ups and lots of fans.

Thanks for the advice about the adjusting, I might get in touch with Chevin Cycles who I normally get my bike serviced with etc to find out how much it'll cost for a pro to fit and get the job done properly rather than me spending half a day doing it wrong then taking it to them later as I've done pretty much all parts of basic maintenance but not fitting and bleeding disc brakes so better to do it right the first time.

Pudseyp

I need a brake......................well have a kitkat

rhubarbcrum-

Yeah, cheers for that.............muppet!

rhubarbcrum-

How does the saying go? If you haven't got anything good to say then don't say anything at all.
Thanks to everyone else who gave up there time to give good advice, to those who chose to take the piss(why can't I write p*ss?)...............

rhubarbcrum-

And that's why most people who like biking and spending there time outdoors don't bother asking advice on forums because one, we don't know the protocol, and two I can't be arsed with pricks like that taking the piss (they have edited what I mean to say again!) when I've asked a perfectly simple question and is just an excuse for geeks to try and take some
form of revenge when normal
people ask a simple question.

supersonic

Ignore it. I will delete it if you want.

It does seem to between the Elixirs and RX: can you do without contact adjust? It is helpful for balancing brake feel. It is not essential though, and as you point out, the RX garners good reviews.

The M4 I would say is overkill, and the HFX a bit dated - notorious for having a wooden on/off feel.

WMB and MBUK have recently reviewed many brakes, some which have been uploaded onto this site with graphs showing stopping power.

rhubarbcrum-

Cheers Super, your advice has been first grade, don't worry about deleting it that, don't mind a bit of wee-wee taking (ha!) as long as it is relevant and not a bad try at a joke, great advice, normally I wouldn't have asked here (again please see above from PudseyP for reason why I wouldn't bother) but I was really struggling to choose and do appreciate advantages of a forum in having lots of very wise experienced people's advice to hand, but on the downside you get the odd wee-wee taker (am I getting used to this now?) which is easy enough to ignore, but if you've been out and had one to many sherberts It'll catch you on the wrong side and you'll just want to give it back as good as you've got.

Do think the contact adjust will swing it for me, like I said earlier, will add a review as best as I can to help other people in the future. Is there not a brakes sticky (or whatever they are called, if not there should be as I did have a bit of a look before I posted).

Once again, thanks for all of you that posted constructive advice.

rhubarbcrum-

Oh by the way, what does the P stand for in pudseyp?................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................rick?

misterdun

As Michael Winner would say 'Calm down dear'! I have been looking at exactly the same brakes as you and probably read as many reviews etc. I would point out that the Formula's don't come with rotors whereas the CR's do. So unless you have some already you would need to add the cost of a pair on top (unless I am totally wrong).

averagebiker

Blimey 4 replies to a simple iff ill advised joke...hey ho

Hope u find what u were looking for.

bails87

I'd go for the Elixirs.


Also, I'm very glad that pudsey beat me to that joke :shock:

misterdun

I was merely pointing out that with the Formula's you are looking at maybe £300 instead of £240, compared to £200 for the Elixirs.

Pudseyp

Pudseyp wrote:

I need a brake......................well have a kitkat

Opppps sorry if I offended you....was only a lighthearted joke...were all bikers at heart and I thought fun was what we are all about....ho hummm...anyway my opinion would be the Shimano SLX..the whole set is £170 a tad more than the Elixir's....my mate has had nothing but trouble from his Elixir's and I am looking at a custom build handjob from them and wanted to change from Shimano to Avids as I have Juicy Carbon on my Marin...the guys at Merlin suggested I stick with Shimano as they have less modulation....going for a look this weekend..

neninja

The RX's seem to be getting great reviews from the press and public alike.

I'd go for them as Formula brakes seem so well engineered and aesthetically look great.

rhubarbcrum-

Yeah sorry about that was probably a bit an over reaction prompted by a few too many Stella. 90% sure I'll go for the elixir's but thanks for great advice everyone especially useful was the hidden cost of the rotors on the formula's and an extra £100 is a big difference.