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DH/Freeride brake selection


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Hey

 

What brakes do you guys use for your riding? And what are the Pros/Cons with what you use? Is it necessary to have dual piston or will a single piston system be sufficient.

 

The guys who have hit the really steep stuff like some of the stuff around Morzine what was your feelings about the brakes you took.

 

I am looking at getting some brakes on my izumu and am leaning towards the Hope M4s drool.gif but wanted to see what people prefer out there.

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Guest Omega Man

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Hope.

 

Did a trip to Morzine this year. In our crew.

 

1 x Formula The One

4 x Avid Code (New ones)

1 x Avid Elixir

1 x Hope V2 (Me)

 

Mine were the only brakes that didn't need a bleed the entire trip. There's a reason everyone who pays for their own brakes over there run Hope. Even the Frogs.

 

The cool thing if you get M4's is that you don't have to spring for Hope rotors like I had to for the V2's. Also. The master cylinder and the caliper are machined out of one piece of billet. You won't get that from Saint or Avid which are forged in batches of 100 000. The lever feels like a custom piece and the tool free adjusters have such a great feel to them.

 

I've got a mate who bought M4's after years of faithful service from his old style codes (I confess I did nudge him a little) and he is over the moon.

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Saint:) smile.png if I could I would. At least I have the cranks!

It just looks soooo good!

http://gp1.pinkbike.org/p5pb8284166/p5pb8284166.jpg

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Saint... Ran Avid this past season and had quite a few problems (Admittedly they were Elixer 3's).

Upgraded to Second hand Saints and they are just brutal!!!

 

Every brand has a different feel, I prefer the direct feel of Shimanos over the more spongy Avid feel and the Wooden Hayes feel.

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SHIMANO! ... I run the new 2012 XT's on my Fury - they are amazing. You dont need anything more for our riding here in SA. If you planning to go to Morzine etc, I'd say probably look at a set of Saints or Zee (depending on your price bracket).

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I ran Avid Elixir CR's for our Morzine trip and they were fine the whole trip (although I did take a bleed kit along, I never had to use it on my brakes). I did bleed them right before the trip with Dot 5.1 fluid and had no real issues of brake fade, so I can't really fault them.

 

That said I do really like a 4 pot brake, it makes a lot more sense to me as there is just more brake pad in contact with the disc, bigger caliper size so more fluid and great area to disapate heat (less likely to fade). If I wasn't such a thrifty spender I'd probably go with the Hopes too. I've only heard good things about them.

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I have experience with the following...

 

Avid Code (new design). Powerful! Didn't fade on the Steepness that is Morzine. But they are "on-off" brakes. Not much feel to them. Squeeze that front one a little too hard and you're dirt napping.

 

Avid Juicy 7's with Goodridge hose upgrades. Great feel. Plenty of power. But for the cost of the brake plus hose upgrade, there are better options. Front can also be a little too sharp, if you're not prepared.

 

Hope Tech M4 Evo's. Powerful. Amazing feel! Seriously have not felt brakes that consistent before. Not as sharp as the Codes, but will still stop you in time. The down side... the price.

 

But yeah, for the riding here is SA, upper model Elixir's (like Super_mil uses) will be more than adequate.

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SHIMANO! ... I run the new 2012 XT's on my Fury - they are amazing. You dont need anything more for our riding here in SA. If you planning to go to Morzine etc, I'd say probably look at a set of Saints or Zee (depending on your price bracket).

I'd like to add that nige is a small guy, I've had codes,elixirs formula the ones I've also ridden saint on my bros bikes,besides the elixirs they have all been good. The main thing for me is running 203mm rotors,makes a huge difference,obviously keeping a watch on pad wear and starting off the season with a brake bleed is important. I'm currently riding with some BlackBox Codes with 220mm rotors and they are absolute beasts,one thing that is crap is that they have carbon levers and if your gloves don't have good traction on the finger tips they get slippery even in the dry Edited by Unclerico
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Just ordered a pair of X0 Trails, judging by the opinions here, wrong move. Anyway, will see how the handle. 220mm rotors, wow, would love to see a photo of them and he BlackBox Codes.

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I'd like to add that nige is a small guy, I've had codes,elixirs formula the ones I've also ridden saint on my bros bikes,besides the elixirs they have all been good. The main thing for me is running 203mm rotors,makes a huge difference,obviously keeping a watch on pad wear and starting off the season with a brake bleed is important. I'm currently riding with some BlackBox Codes with 220mm rotors and they are absolute beasts,one thing that is crap is that they have carbon levers and if your gloves don't have good traction on the finger tips they get slippery even in the dry

 

Thanks for the feed back,

 

I have concerns about weight as I am definitely not a small guy (110kg). i have Juicy 3's and SLX sets on other bikes. I'm thibnking of just transfering one of them while I save for something like the Saints or M4.

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Saints I have heard are very "on-off" like the Avid Codes. But Danny Mac has mastered the art of feathering them, so maybe just rider preference?!

 

Based on what the European guys ride (and according to these figures), Formula R0's are the brakes to get. But they also leave your wallet limping. Although they are on sale at CRC

Edited by patches
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