Bengal Helix 3 Brakes £65 full set

Sleipnir's Master

Hi Everyone

Just thought I'd write a quick "First Day" review of a new set of brakes I bought from ebay.
I normally use Clarks S2 with organic pads, CRC link http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=47543. While I love the S2's I decided to try some thing different so I after a few days of looking around I closed it down to Avid 1's or Bengal Helix 3's.
Having a look around at internet reviews of both seemed pretty good and avid being a large brand I was tempted but in the end it came down to colour and style so I bought the helix 3's
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200816145594?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2648#ht_2709wt_1064

Rear
http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 1693_n.jpg
http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 4340_n.jpg

Front
http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 7107_n.jpg
http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 3224_n.jpg

Levers
http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 5900_n.jpg
http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 9378_n.jpg

What's in the Pack
The brakes come in a large Jiffy bag once removed the brake calipers are also wrapped with a small amount of bubble wrap. x2 160mm rotors (I wish they would just take £10 off and not send em'), x1 front & x1 rear 160mm risers, x1 front brake & x1 rear brake (fluid already filled).

Fitting
Simple enough in the usual ways apart from the rear cable being abit short simple re-route solved that. Plus Bengal have a Youtube channel for anyone that has questions or needs a tutorial on fitting.

The Ride
A Short 15mile round trip through main road and wet muddy nature trails on a GT Transeo 3.0 26" wheels rather than the 700c and DMR Moto 2.2 Tyres.
It took I'd say around 5miles and one rather large hill to bed the brakes in on the older "Used" Clarks 203mm disc's. To be honest they felt pretty much bed in after a first hill which is way easier and better than the Deore SLX on my giant. Being on used disc's the pad have to contend with grooves made by the old pads/brakes so such a short bed in time is impressive.

Power / Stopping
toward the end of the ride there is a rather large 2mile downhill which you can really pick-up some speed around 40-45mph. Slamming on the brakes resulted in a rather hair raising wobbly heavy front end stop, the sheer stopping power is impressive for sintered pads vs the organic on the clarks. Hitting the brakes fairly hard results in lifting the back end easy and keeping it there until you stop. Making these great for most type of riding. Bearing in mind that I am around 15 stone and was in no way trying to left the rear end by shifting weight forward.

Pro's
Great colour, Light weight, look great :P , Great stopping power, EASY pad access & at £65 they are a bargain!

Cons
Levers are a little to far if you have small hands, Not a lot of metal in the levers, Pads are fairly small, Cables are quite small to (it better having to long you can hide a little or cut shorter but its hard to fit when the cable just doesn't fit in the proper places I had to re-route)

conclusion
There are better more sturdy brakes out there but for £65 these are more powerful than my Deore SLX's
If your skint and need brakes then these are well forth the £65 ticket. Also there is a £11.99 import fee from the British post office.

Also while I have you here if you don't want to use Ebay then the Clarks S2's are awesome brakes and £35 per brake on Chain Reaction cycles.

theraggyone

I had cannondale helix 6 brakes (rebranded Bengals )on my 2012 sl4 they were nothing but trouble .they wouldnt sTay centred ,required the pads reseting every few days , pistons got stuck several times both front and back and I had horrible vibrations through my frame from both front and back that came and went .I kept taking it back to my lbs as they were driving me mad!

The lbs ended up warrentying them with cannondale and fitted me deore slx brakes as an upgrade ,I havent had any problems since. The helix 6s had good stopping power and looked great in lime green but had no reliabilty. The deore slxs are 100% better , stopping power better than helix 6 and no relibility issues .

I hope your helix 3s turn out to be more reliable than my experiance but they look very similer

Sleipnir's Master

I have SLX's on my Giant AC-2. 1 main thing the SLX missies over the Clarks and Bengals is the magnetic pistons! such a great idea.
I found the SLX spring is not strong enough the keep the pads from slight rubbing causing the disc's to make shimmering sound iv'e tryed everything to stop it. Also found i had to pump the brakes a little, Bleed and re-bleed the brakes doesn't help.
Still the stoping power on the SLX's are pritty good and they look awesome on the Giant.

Greer_

Bleeding the brakes won't help at all. You need to push the pistons back then re-insert the pads and wheel, and pump the brake to reset it.

Sleipnir's Master

Greer_ wrote:

Bleeding the brakes won't help at all. You need to push the pistons back then re-insert the pads and wheel, and pump the brake to reset it.

thanks for the advise. I'll try it again but i have done Everything Reseating, Striping, RE-Bleeding, new pads, new rotors etc.. it's only the rear brake.

Anyway back on topic.