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what hydrolic brakes to get?


Substance's picture

By Substance - Posted on 09 March 2009

NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.

howdy

im thinking i need to upgrade my brakes from standard cable to hydrolics

recently went to ourimbah for a ride, went down a small decline and ended up in the trees cause my brakes failed on me
ive taken it back to the shop, the guy reckons the pads have worn out.

either way, im thinking of doing a decent upgrade to my brakes and get hydrolics.

so the question is....

what should i get?

he showed me the juicy 5 brake system, but they add up to about 400$ for both, which is a bit much
are there any other options that are slightly cheaper?

or is this a component that i shouldnt be stingy about...i dont exactly want to end up in the trees again

i see that there is a juicy 3 which is slightly cheaper at about 130$ each..
anybody know much about these?

well any feedback/thoughts would be appreciated

thanks!

adam.

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Substance's picture

i can get my hands on some hayes brakes for hopefully a good price
anybody know anything about these?

http://www.hayesdiscbrake.com/product_hyd_stroke...
http://www.hayesdiscbrake.com/product_hyd_stroke...

are they any good?

PIVOT MACH 5's picture

Shimano deore are cheap and reliable and also use mineral oil so you can bleed them yourself in future if you get air bubbles in the brake lines. no ongoing cost of taking it to the shop! or hospital visit when you burn your fingers?

goatman's picture

and stick with Hayes 9 or similar to start with, Avid juicys are great when they work but suck from a maintenance perspective.

Try Chain Reaction for some bargains or Topedo 7 when they have a sale.

Gonz's picture

I got some Hayes HFX 9 XC from eBay http://shop.ebay.com.au/merchant/rowersworld_W0Q... about a year ago and they've been great so far.

Substance's picture

ahhh nice!

thanks for the link, ill keep my eyes on that ebay sale see how it goes

LadyToast's picture

This is where my money would be going..

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Hope-Tech-V2-Freeride-MTB...

What was the budget again? Eye-wink

Harry's picture

after cable will be awesome whatever you get, depending on the bike you have Juicy 3's may be more than good enough and will be a huge improvement on what you are used to with cable. Torpedo 7 or ebay you should be able to come good.

jpack's picture

don't go with Hayes.
I have used HFX 9 and El camino, and the hardest descision is which one is the most crap.
If you want quality, value and reliability go with shimano or avid.
BTW I have Juicy carbons, and they are great@@@

goatman's picture

is someone who doesn't work on his own gear methinks!

hopefull's picture

Used and raced deores for years. had no problems. other than going trough pads in really muddy conditions.

Substance's picture

ladytoast....

damn, thats some meaty brakes, but way outta my budget Smiling

im looking at around 130-150 each.

Substance's picture

what didnt you like about hfx 9 or the hayes?
maintenance? did they keep falling apart?

Carlgroover's picture

I used Hayes 9 brakes for 4 years on my Giant vt2 and did thousands of kms with them and I never had any problems.
People commonly complain they drag too much but it makes almost no difference and can be fixed with 10 minutes of patience.
I have Juicys 3's on another of my bikes and they work great, I've been told they have the same internals as the juicy 5's so they work as good as each other.
I also have some XT's and XTR's and they are better but if you don't want to spend a heap of money the others will work fine.
John.

jpack's picture

I had HFX on my Kona Coilair, they suffered from fade alot on downhill runs. Their feel was terrible - on/off. not progressive. heavy, ugly, much harder to setup calipers. little adjustments.
Had el camino's with 8" rotors on a norco atomik. upgraded from avid cable disc brakes with 6" rotors. the el caminos were worse than the cable discs. although quite adjustable, the calipers were a pain to setup, they suffered from sticky pistons. they overheated very quickly and similar to the hfx, they had an on/off feel.

although i haven't tried to bleed my own brakes, i do do all my other servicing and setup.
i have heard great things about shimano XT's and Avid Elixirs as well.

I got my juicy carbons with 8" rotors for $300 for the set on ebay

Substance's picture

what to do....

considering i know nothing about hydrolic brakes this really is a hard decision
but i think the cost of the brakes will be a big factor in this purchase...

i can get the hynes brakes for about 160-180
the ones i mentioned before, but i think they are slighty out of my price range

but i like the cost of the juicy 3's on chainreaction
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?M...

about $130 each...
dunno what shipping is thou

is this a good price for the juicy 3's ?

from what i can see the shimano xt's are slighty more expensive

oh what to do!
so many choices!

kiwiboy's picture

I upgraded from cables to Deore LX - they have been excellent, hard wearing and very responsive. Spoke at length to LBS guy, he reckoned that the XT were not worth the extra money, really about weight saving more than anything. I have had no regrets or issues at all. BTW I am a big fella so I need a lot of stopping!! Also upgraded rotor on front well to assist i nthat...

LadyToast's picture

Personally, if you are looking to save some money I would be on the look out for some used items and learn how to service them yourself. It's not hard and you will (well I would) end up doing it anyway. It sounds like any brakes are going to be better than what you have right now so you will end up happy. Generally the more expensive they are, the better the feel, power, and weight (or lack of it).

Something like these: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Hayes-HFX-9-XC-MTB-Disc-Brake-Set-NEW_W0QQitemZ180335247887QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Sport_Cycling_Parts?hash=item180335247887&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A1|39%3A1|240%3A1318

They are new so won't need work for quite a while. Of course you need to make sure you have the post mounts.

Substance's picture

yeah im not a heavy rider so i do agree that i am trying to save a bit of cash and i will be happy with any brake upgrade...

i do intend on learning how to maintain the brakes myself...

i got my eyes on those hfx-9 on ebay, hopefully i can pick them up at a decent price..

how do i check if i got the post mounts?

my bike is a GT avalanche 3.0
http://www.komcyclery.com.au/catalog/product_inf...

LadyToast's picture

Check this:

Front:

Rear:

hawkeye's picture

I've had Hayes HFX9 and after upgrading from cable discs and then hayes So1e, I thought they were great. However, I'd echo the comments about the on/off feel. Also, the pads are horribly expensive ($72 an end before the exchange rae went south) and the discs wear ... oddly. Sad

The Shimano hydraulics are much better. I wouldn't buy Hayes again.

I have Shimano LX on the Jekyll and XT on the F1000, and while both are far better than the Hayes (more power and more "feel") I prefer the LX slightly to be honest. It's just the ergonomics of the levers are better IMO. I have the dual control system for both - the brake lever doubles as the shifter - I find I am less likley to grab a handful of brake when downshifting udner brakes as it's just a gentle tap of the thumb button, I'm not forcing against the derailleur spring when downshifting.

The Shimano Deore's are pretty good too. As far as wear in the wet goes, the organic shimano pads do go pretty rapidly, but there are Fibrax aftermarket pads that the guys here recommended that I've been using that are excellent - great power, great pad life and they don't rip your discs about either. Laughing out loud

I had some Juicy 7's on the F1000. They were pretty good - on a par with the XTs, and they have that nice pad contact adjustment feature. But I have no idea how you'd bleed them - no bleed nipple at the caliper. Puzzled

Substance's picture

that the general thoughts and experience about the hayes brakes aint that good and that i should stay clear...

somebody is selling juicy 3 front brakes on ebay for 120$

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-AVID-JUICY-THREE-NEVE...

good price?

goatman's picture

Try 15 bucks an end off Torpedo and you can fit em yourself in 5 min. I was getting 12 months out the Alligator ones off Torp.

Little-Ditty's picture

I had a set of Hayes Nine on my Norco for 3 years and never experienced a problem with them. Sure they are not the most powerful brake out there. But I always thought they were cheap, simple and easy to maintain. For a cheapie, I don't think you can go wrong.

Nic's picture

Hi

The Avid Juicy 3 brakeset is OEM only (ie shop won't sell them) and are identical to the Juicy 5s, except for the handlebar mount - Juicy 5 has a split mount (ie you don't have to remove the grips and shifters to take the brakes off the bars), whereas the Juicy 3 has a fixed mount.

Juicy 7 have an additional adjustment wheel on the lever. The Juicy 3/5s have an allan key screw in the lever that adjusts when the brakes start to move. I don't know if these two adjustments are equivalent.

I have had a set of Juicy 3s on my Giant for 2 1/2 years and they have always performed perfectly - very occasionally I have had to adjust the calipers (which is easy) or give the disk a kick when it has got a bit bent. I have changed the pads a couple of times without much drama, but have never needed to bleed them or whatever.

I have also used Avid BB7 which I have found require a bit more maintenance (eg cables get sticky), need to adjust each pad from time to time. The braking of the BB7's is a bit sharper, IMO.

Having said all that, I do just happen to have a brand new pair of Avid Juicy 3 brakes that I was going to put on a new bike, but I am considering getting a pair of Formula Oros or Hopes instead (at vast expense). If you would like to make an offer, let me know? The Avids are complete (levers, hoses, pads, bled), except for the rotors.

Regards
Nic

Substance's picture

any warranty left on those juicy 3's?

Flynny's picture

Juicy 3's can be purchase aftermarket.

There was a juicy 4 that came OEM on some brand but they were just rebadged 3s

Nic's picture

I bought them about 6 or 8 months ago on eBay - I think they cost me $175ish at the time, which I thought was a pretty good deal. Don't believe there was any warranty - but this was not a concern to me.

Apparently more expensive brakes offer more power and better modulation - but whether it is worth the money or not... Also the type of pads make a difference.

Peter R's picture

I am on the Northern beaches if you want to pick it up.

Peter 0405 357460

Substance's picture

just gave you a call and left you a message

very interested in getting the brakes from you, i could pick them up this saturday

incase you didnt get my message or couldnt understand me (which does happen) my number is 0418 696 845

adam.

Substance's picture

does anybody know if my current rotors

Tektro IO
160

will work with Nics juicy 3's that he is offering to sell..

???

jpack's picture

As long as the rotor size is correct for the caliper adapter then you are fine.
Just keep your adpaters and install the new calipers on them.

Substance's picture

thanks for that, im picking my bike up on sat from the bike shop
so im get them to have a look and confirm if ill have any problems fitting on the juicy 3s

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