What brakes do you run?

little wiser

Hi thought this may be a interesting topic for loads of people including me.
So what brakes do you run?, rotor size and lines?, and are you happy with them or want to change if so to what?

1 I will start have used juicy threes on 160mm rotors with standard lines and organic pads and dont really like but on a commuting bike so they will do.

2 Juicy fives with 185mm/160mm rotors standard lines and sintered pads these feel ok but i hate the lever feel.

3 Hope mono mini 183mm/160mm rotors, sintered pads, braided lines and i love these brakes have been awesome.

Im looking out for some new brakes to replace the juicy fives so come on what you all use and like?

I know i want hopes but dont want to spend the £££££££££

Herbie The Dog

Hayes Stroker Carbons on the 905 with 160mm and 180mm rotors back and front respectively.

Avid Elixer CRs on the E120 with 160 rotors front and back.

Both with standard hoses.

Pads depend on the weather.

bennett_346

Avid Elixir 4 with 203/185 rotors, organic pads i believe. love the feel and power but a bite point adjuster would be nice. Heavy braking can cause cramps if done for a long time.

little wiser

Herbie The Dog wrote:

Hayes Stroker Carbons on the 905 with 160mm and 180mm rotors back and front respectively.

Avid Elixer CRs on the E120 with 160 rotors front and back.

Both with standard hoses.

Pads depend on the weather.

You happy with both? and favourite pair given the choice?

miss notax

Formula Oro K24's on the Orange 5, and Hope Mono Minis on the old Superlight (both 180 / 160). The jury's out on which ones are best - to be perfectly honest i'm not sure I even notice a difference between them :oops:

whyamihere

LX levers, XTR calipers, XTR hoses, XT rotors.

They're brilliant, but I may change the calipers at some point to post mount ones, saving messing about with spacers.

xtreem

Avid BB5 160/160 with original pads (they suck )
Want BB7 with 185 rotors, just because they look cooler.

astormatt

I currently run:

1. Juicy Threes on my Boardman, 160mm front and rear, sintered pads as standard i believe? I personally think they are good, more than powerful enough for xc duties.

2. Shimano M575s on my Kona, 203mm front and rear, standard pads, absolutely, shockingly crap. I will be replacing the pads soon with SuperStar Kevlars and see how they fair then. But they inspire no confidence whatsoever as they are now.

lawman

hope minis (2007) on the maxlight with 183 rotors front and rear, standard pads and hoses, awesome power and the pads last ages

supersonic

LX M585 with sintered SS pads. 160/160

Avid Speed Dial 7, Arch Rival Cantis, Kool Stop EagleClaw pads.

Both do the job nicely, the latter with a better feel and more adjustability.

Herbie The Dog

little wiser wrote:

Herbie The Dog wrote:

Hayes Stroker Carbons on the 905 with 160mm and 180mm rotors back and front respectively.

Avid Elixer CRs on the E120 with 160 rotors front and back.

Both with standard hoses.

Pads depend on the weather.

You happy with both? and favourite pair given the choice?

If I had to chose? The Hayes. But IMO it's a close run thing. The Avids have some nice features but the Hayes have a bit more bite.

peter413

Front - Hope Mono M4 with braided hose. Floating Hope 183mm rotor. Kevlar or Sintered superstar pads depending what I have to hand at the time (it's mostly kevlar now since I don't buy sintered anymore)

Rear - Avid Elixir 5 with standard hose. 160mm rotor. Kevlar superstar pads

Biggus86

Had the old 2 part caliper Hope Mini on the front of my trials bike years ago... 185mm, sintererd pads, and stupidly powerful on rigid forks... loved it, and felt great.

Then i got some Juicy 3's, 180/160, sintered, hated the feel of them.

And now i run a 183 F/R Hope M4's (newer tech at the front and older mono on the rear) both sintered, and both great. I'm going to upgrade the rear to a tech at some point just to pair it up with the front.

I rode a bike with Formula The One (i think) at BR this year, and it felt great, if not better than my hopes, though i'll need to test them again on day to really know whether i like them or not.

cooldad

Avid Speed Dial 5 levers, Avid Single Digit 3 V's with Tri Performance pads on Marin - cheap, decent stopping power and excellent modulation.

Shimano something or other Canti (front) and chainstay mounted Shimano something or other U brake (back) with Mountain Exage levers on old Specialised - lousy for stopping, but excellent for building up muscles in the hands and forearms.

Or did you mean these new fangled discy things? You'll want suspension next. Bunch of girls.

Andy B

I have used

Hayes HFX Nines 180/160 with Goodridge braided hoses, powerful, very on/off in feel
Hope Mono Mini MkI 160/160 with std Hope hoses, not quite as much power as the Nines, but much better modulation
Avid Juicy 3 160/160, bloody awful brakes they were, mushy as hell & not that much power
Quad QHD-1 180/160 great budget brakes, good power & feel

Currently using

Hope Mono Mini MkII 180/180 with Hope braided hoses, superb brakes, great power & modulation
Formula R1 Mag, without a doubt the best brakes I've ever had, incredible power, great modulation & very lightweight (I can see why the Louse rates Formula brakes so highly now)

little wiser

:shock: Keep em coming interesting reading and all you lookers post what brakes or dont you use em

ratty2k

Mix of Hpoe tech M4 and X2;s, on both bikes.

*AL*

Avid Elixer CRs on the Stumpy, Avid Juicy Ultimate Carbon on the Epic, both with 185 rotors front and 160 back.

blister pus

avid elixir r

i like them because they are silver

cat_with_no_tail

Avid Code 2010 with straitline levers, goodridge hoses, superstar sintered pads and 180mm rotors F&R

jay12

avid elixir 5s, standard levers and hoses, snadard pads(organic i believe) with 185/185mm rotors. i need to shorten the rear hose, re bleed teh brakes(they were very soft before but seem better now?weird). gonna get some sinerted pads after winter. before lever feel was just how i liked it, had a good bite point but didn't bite straight away. just before they were very soft and lacked power and now they just lack power, they are still powerful but they'r not like they used to be.

teacherman

Hayes Stroker Trail with standard hoses on my SS

Hope Tech X2 (braided hoses & floating rotor) front & Hayes Stroker Trail rear on my On One.

Much prefer the lever feel and action of Hopes. Once set up you can pretty much leave'em alone.

Hayes are a PITA to set up right - they rub and I find I have to line them up by sight rather than the loosen bolt/pull brake on/re-tighten method. Really easy to bend the pins when changing pads as well. They're cheap though

Have run Avid juicy 3's - never,ever,ever again - horrible, mushy, underpowered cr*p :evil:

MountainPete

Avid Juicy 5's with sintered pads. 180mm front, 165 back. Never had any issues with them - they just work. Have got used to their feel but can't really compare to anything else as they're the only hydros I've used!

Biggus86

Few posts dissin' the J3's... and i thought it was just me haha.

jon87uk

Old Kona that is being sold, HFX nine, good power but they have dragged for years, probably should have ditched them.

Marin runs juicy 3's 185mm front, 160mm rear. Power is not up there with the Hayes but they have been reliable, rear heats up far too much (might be my lack of finess whilst braking).

Juicys might well be going come my birthday, not sure what for though. Would quite like some Hopes but money might mean elixirs.

Bar Shaker

Avid Elixir R 160 front and back. Mental braking force, perfect modulation, best used with only 1 finger.

LeighM

Avid Juicy 3 with standard hoses, avid sintered pads and 185/160 CS2 rotors.

Haven't had any issues with them, although they squeal like a girl when wet.

chedabob

Avid Juicy 3s with 185/160 rotors. Stock pads.

I think they're alright, but I only weigh 50kg so I don't really notice the lack of stopping power they supposedly have.

wesk

Avid Juicy 5's - OKish power but always needed phaffing with. More time servicing than riding (could have been my pir though)
Ebayed and then XT's. Far, far better, great feel, more power than I've needed, running 180/160 superstar rotors and not fading even on 1500ft decents (I'm 85kg) so very happy
In fact, so happy I'm off out riding now.

baser

I run Juicy 7's (160/140 rotors) Superstar organic pads, goodridge hoses, Ti bolts, powerfull, modular, reasonably light and fairly quiet, might try Superstar kevlar pads but the organics have made through a year of rideing.

Thinking Avid Elixirs or Juicy Ultimates for 2011!!

snotty badger

Juicy 3's on the Pitch with Superstar Sintered pads, I like the feel and plenty of power too (203fr/186rr)

Hayes Stoker Rydes on the SS, not as powerful as the Avids and quite wooden feeling.