Help with Brake Decision

[knucklebuste]

http://www.universalcycles.com/ucycle/images/products/medium/79.jpg
http://www.universalcycles.com/ucycle/images/products/medium/145.jpg
http://www.universalcycles.com/ucycle/images/products/medium/70.jpg
For $365

Or

http://www.universalcycles.com/ucycle/images/products/medium/94.jpg
For $320

:-\

Knuckle

Hmmmm, what set would i want to be able to buy from you at half price in June. Hmmmmm, i Hope you make the right choice ;D ;D ;D

[Tim]

I was kinda thinking Juicys for myself -- guy on eBay's got 'em for $330 a pair. I've got Avid cables now and am pretty happy with them, and I'm sure they'd be even nicer with the Ultimate levers. Where'd you find the Hopes for $320? I might be looking for the 2-pot Hopes rather than the Monos, but I don't know how gravitationally challenged you are.

Hmmm... not much help in there as far as deciding goes. I guess the nice thing about Avid cable disks is that they're very easy to work on -- so if bleeding hydros makes you nervous, that would be a major factor.

Tim

[Coolriding]

I just put the Avid's on my 2001 Sugar...pretty simple to install. Haven't been out on the road yet to test them out. I bought them online as Nashbar.com for $69 per wheel (160mm set) plus $25 for the Avid cable setup. Of course I had to spend $300 for new Mavic wheels.

[Tim]

Knuckle, before you make the decision read the bleeding instructions at www.hopetech.com. Sounds like a major PITA, with brake fluid dripping all over the shop. Beautiful brakes though.

Tim

[knucklebuste]

Already read it 19x, LOL. It's actually not bad at all compared to hayes brakes. Hope is essentially a smaller dirt bike caliper and resivour, and you bleed from the caliper, not the lever, just like on a dirt bike. Knukcle

Knucklebrain,

I would like to know what kind of rig this is going on. With that said, I am partial to the Avid's.

I ride with some guys who swear by the Hopes though...of course they work at LBS and can bleed em in their sleep.

If you go the Avid route I'd be interested in how those ultimate levers perform...they are pricey but are advertised to deliver the goods. I need some new levers. I am running Altek's....anyone remember those? They were the Shinizzle in the 90's.

NOO

[Tim]

Already read it 19x, LOL. It's actually not bad at all compared to hayes brakes. Hope is essentially a smaller dirt bike caliper and resivour, and you bleed from the caliper, not the lever, just like on a dirt bike. Knukcle



I didn't like the part that said "fit the seal back on the reservoir and let the excess fluid drip over the edge" but if that's not that bad, maybe I'll reconsider them.

One more thing on the Avid cables (my family has 5 sets of them) is that the full metal jackets are not compatible with dual crown forks, it that matters. You also have to be willing to do some custom fabrication to use the FMJs for the rear -- I've got them on my wife's bike and they came out slick, but took some fiddling... Can't say I notice a whole lot of difference with the FMJs, though -- I use derailleur housing for the brakes and it's just about as imcompressible as the FMJ tube.

Tim

[knucklebuste]

Well bleeding brakes is not that bad once you know what your doing. I just hate the horrid stench of brake fluid and the eerie feeling of getting it on your fingers. With the hayes brakes, you have to put the lever so the handle is facing the floor, and insert a tube (HFX9 requires adaptor to put on the tube) into a cup of fluid mounted somehow to the handlebar. Don't use the shitty bottle that comes with the brakes to force fluid in and out of the caliper. Use a shringe. Push the fluid in the shringe through the whole brake system till it comes out of the hose at the lever and watch the air bubbles come out. Then, pulling on the shringe, pull the fluid back through the resivour (lever body) and out of the caliper. Do this about 3-4 times till you see no air bubbles. Then before tightening the caliper bleed screw, force fluid back through the system, tightening the bleed screw as the fluid goes in (important). While you are shringing, sometimes I've noticed that it helps when you squeeze the lever a few times as well. I realize this little tutorial is out the way of this thread, but I thought I'd try to allevaite some pain and questions about bleeding. Now the hope system is nice. No dual hose bullcrap. Just a resivour (lever-body) and caliper. Fill the resiviour, squeeze the handle, hold it, and crack open the bleed screw (which will have a tube attached to a jar, glass or whatever of brake fluid) and wait for the air bubbles to escape. Tighten the bleed screw and repeat, just like on a dirt bike, or motorcycle.
As far as the avids, if I do go with them, I will try those levers. I'm just weary that I wont like the feel of the mechanicals compared to the hydraulic system and will be out some $$$ when they are for sale on here in a week when I am buying the hopes.
As for the bike? It's a top secret project. Could be a new bike. Could be some upgrades to the Hollow point. :-\
Who knows. All I know is I love parts, bikes, wrenching on them, researching. What the hell else am I to do in the dark cloud state during these non-riding days?

Knuckle

[bike187]

i vote for avid 7" mechanical. i run those on my trailbike and they work awesome. once they're broken in, the power is phenominal. don't have much experince with disc brakes for long term testing thoguh except for my dad's bike which has hayes mechanical (which are junk compared to avids). the 7" work great for me and i weigh 260lbs and go downhill with somewhat recless abandon speed at times, but the avids can stop real nice. the new juicy's look nice though i haven't heard much for reviews of them yet.

[Tim]

FYI, AEBike has the Hope Mono M2s for $151 apiece.

Tim

[knucklebuste]

Description Stock Status Price Qty Item Total
AVID MECHANICAL DISC BRAKE 160MM
SILVER, FRONT In Stock $64.98 1 $64.98
AVID MECHANICAL DISC BRAKE 160MM
SILVER, REAR In Stock $64.98 1 $64.98
AVID SPEED DIAL ULTIMATE BRAKE LEVERS
BLACK In Stock $115 1 $115
AVID FLACK JACKET BRAKE CABLES
In Stock $24 1 $24

This Order will ship via: Fedex Standard Overnight - edit SubTotal: $268.96
Shipping: $23.95
Tax: $0.00
Total: $292.91

My check for $146.455 stands ready. Please notify me upon delivery. Sweet levers, abit pricey but i'm not going to complain. Why not the 185mm's?

[knucklebuste]

Hmm...
I'm not sure if the 8" rotor in the back would hit the chainstay. Perhaps, perhaps not. Maybee I'll get the 8" rotors if the 6" ones don't do the trick. Or maybee I'll just sell them on Monday when I get them. ;D

well that's one of the nice things about the Avid system, you can get 6"(160) 7"(185) or 8"(205) For half price I'll pay the shipping

[AGENTGRAPE]

you can run 8 inch on the front and the 7 inch on the rear. just like on every moving vehicle the front brakes are bigger.and more powerfull than a speeding locomotive. this is where the avids have the mix and missmatch advantage

OK, Where are "our" new brakes and shock. If you have them in your possession they are "used" and only worrth 1/2 price. Let me open the bidding at------

[steve_b]

AVID SPEED DIAL ULTIMATE BRAKE LEVERS
BLACK In Stock $115 1 $115

Get these for $35 instead:
http://www.cambriabike.com/SALE/brakes/avid_speed_dial_7_brk_levers.htm