Avid's New 4 Piston X0 Trail brakes

[Capricorn]

I thought i was dreaming when i saw the words Trail on Troy Brosnan's Demo 8 X0-brakes at PMB last weekend (in a Monster Energy team vid). But it's official:

 

http://lp1.pinkbike.org/p4pb7861951/p4pb7861951.jpg

Four Piston Caliper

We admit that when we heard whisperings of a trail-oriented four piston brake from Avid we expected to see a Code caliper and an XO lever combination being made available. Avid had much grander plans than simply paring up two existing components, though, instead developing an entirely new brake caliper that is much trimmer than the Code design. The piston combination is also not lifted from Code, with a slightly smaller 16mm and 14mm pairing that has been used to tune the power for aggressive use, but not what is required of a true downhill bike that goes faster over rougher terrain. The XO Trail caliper uses pads that are, unfortunately, differently shaped from what you'll find used by the Code system due to varying constraints in both designs.

 

 

Avid doesn't claim any exact percentage figures relating to the power increase over the standard two piston XO caliper, but it's safe to say that the four piston design and much larger brake pads should add up to a big jump in power.

 

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb7859328/p5pb7859328.jpg

An XO Trail caliper split in half (left) shows its four pistons - one 16mm and one 14mm piston per side. The new brake also uses new pads with much more surface area (right), another key factor that adds power to the system. No, Code pads are not compatible.

 

http://lp1.pinkbike.org/p4pb7861959/p4pb7861959.jpg

 

Refined Lever Assembly

Avid's focus wasn't limited to only the new caliper, with the lever assembly also receiving attention from the engineers. Gone is the hollow lever blade pivot and bushing layout that used a small set screw to hold it all together, replaced with sturdier dual sealed bearing pivots and a torx bolt that should keep the levers rattle free far down the road. Internally, it utilizes the same Taperbore system (including the Airtrap feature) that was used previously, meaning that the same fluid volume and port size are employed. This makes the new lever assembly cross-compatible with other brakes in their lineup.

While the brake's quad piston caliper and correspondingly larger pads surely produce an appreciable increase in power, along with updating the lever pivot assembly to include a twin sealed bearing pivot, system weight has only risen by a mere seven grams over the previous XO design, putting the claimed weight at 340 grams (160mm rotor; front post mount). The increase in weight is marginal, but riders should also consider that they may now be able to combine the XO Trail brake with a smaller rotor to create a system that is actually lighter and more powerful than a standard XO brake with a larger rotor. This is where the new addition of the 170mm HS1 rotor comes into play, allowing riders to choose from 140, 160, 170, 180, or 200mm rotor sizes to tune the power to their riding style.

 

Source

Edited March 22, 2012 by Capricorn

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

yummy!

[ichnusa]

I need!

[Louis for real]

shoe! whats next mind control?

would like those darm.

[RiderX]

These looks cool but I still don't understand why it wouldn't be better to just get codes (that's if you want that much braking power in the first place)

[Capricorn]

These looks cool but I still don't understand why it wouldn't be better to just get codes (that's if you want that much braking power in the first place)

 

cos the single pot X.0s are seen as performance XC brakes. Trail/AM category needed something that matches the Shimano equivalents, which by all accounts for 2012: are stupendously good performers.

Also, these do not match the Codes for stopping power, and it's been designed to not match them Codes. Market segmentation = new price point.

As for copying Codes: it seems they got everything just right with the 2011 Codes. Superb stoppers. holyShipAnchors; those things are brutal.

 

So if u want sick stopping power, but not at the same price or weight points as the Codes, these are what you want.

If you want less power and less weight, then X.0.

if you same power as X.0, but less weight, XX

Must say though, my Elixir 5s are doing surprisingly well. I'm starting to wondr if they'll be as reliable as my Juicy 5s. Those things just wouldnt fail.

Edited March 28, 2012 by Capricorn