# Best Hydraulic Disc Brake System for Cross Country/Trail for 200lb Rider



## MCF (Apr 13, 2004)

Looking to replace my 5 year old Juicy 7's on my Ventana with something new and refreshed. Recommendations for trail/cross country riding for 200lb rider please.


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## Caffeine Powered (Mar 31, 2005)

I doubt your weight will be an issue on a cross country bike, downhill bike maybe, but not so much cross country. I'm very happy with my Hayes Strokers. I have the Carbons with aluminum levers only because I snapped one carbon lever in a low-side last year. If you're worried about front brake power you could go up one size on the front rotor. 

If I didn't have a hook-up with Hayes, I'd be interested in the newer Shimano STX or XT brakes because they're also using a radial master cylinder like the Hayes.

Why the radial master cylinder? Motorcycles have been using them for quite a while now. They provide a more linear feel to the braking than the older format.


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## koldsimer1 (Jul 31, 2008)

Give the avid elixer cr a shot. I love 'em.


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## CupOfJava (Dec 1, 2008)

All hydraulic brakes perform about the same. What concerns you? Weight? Stopping power? Looks? Maintenance? Price?


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## yangpei (Apr 18, 2004)

*Hopes*

I'm running Hope Mono Minis on 5 of my bikes and Hope Mono M4s on another bike. I love the modulation and power you get with Hope brakes. Their newer stuff is even sweeter.


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## CupOfJava (Dec 1, 2008)

yangpei said:


> I'm running Hope Mono Minis on 5 of my bikes and Hope Mono M4s on another bike. I love the modulation and power you get with Hope brakes. Their newer stuff is even sweeter.


Yea the Hope Mini X2's are on my short list of "Drool I want... one..." :arf:


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## Cayenne_Pepa (Dec 18, 2007)

Magura Marta SL. Practically maintenence-free, extremely powerful and silent, one-finger brakes. Try 'em all, before deciding- but I think you will love the pricey Marta SLs. These are made in Germany, with Porsche-like precision and quality!

PS- OP, you are definitely NOT a beginner....if you have been riding for at least 5 years!


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## yangpei (Apr 18, 2004)

CupOfJava said:


> All hydraulic brakes perform about the same.


I'm not sure I agree.

My first hydraulic brakes were Hayes (several models). They had good stopping power, but were all-or-none with poor lever feel / modulation.

I then switched to Marta SL's on several bikes - mainly because of the weight savings. They are very nice brakes, but still didn't have the feel of Hopes. But, they are lighter.

Now, I have Hope brakes on most of my bikes. They have good stopping power. But, the main thing is the amount of feel / modulation you get. I don't think I realized what I was missing with the Hayes until I tried the Hopes.

I've heard great things about the Formula brakes as well, but have no personal experience.


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## IM31408 (Dec 24, 2008)

If cost is of no concern, I would look at Formula's. I currently have a pair of K24's and they feel great and are very responsive. Problem is, they are impossible to find. If you can get them, I'd say they'd be a good investment. Good power and modulation. Relatively light for what they are. My vote is for the K24's or the Elixir CR's (I've heard nothing but good things and Avid is a generally reliable company). Oh and make sure your LBS can work on Formula's as mine had some trouble getting parts.


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## boots (Aug 15, 2008)

Go with new Avid Juicy 7s. They are great, but I recommend immediately swapping at least the front rotor with a Hayes. The avid rotor must be broke-in EXACTLY as they recommend or you will end up with low frequency pulsing of the braking power. This happened to me so I put on a Hayes disc and I was good to go with no real worries during break-in. My back disc has the same problem, but since its on the back it is barely noticeable. If this setup isn't for you go with Shimano XT, I hear they are real good too.


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## Oracle7775 (Oct 31, 2008)

If price *IS* a factor for you, check out the shimano deore m535's. From a performance vs. price perspective, I don't know if you can find a better deal. Ridiculous braking power--light years ahead of my old Avid BB5's. Ample modulation. I have them set up with some gator rotors (180 front, 165 rear), and they are completely silent. My set came pre-bled and ready to install. They are perfect for my XC and trail riding purposes. I can't tell you how they perform on long downhills, but it doesn't sound like that matters to you. Here's a review, if you're interested:

http://www.bikemagic.com/news/article/mps/uan/5208


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## MCF (Apr 13, 2004)

Thanks guys..looks like everone has their preference. I have a Ventana Salt with Juicy 7's and the HOWL....no concensus here or on Ventana forum about what can stop the howl, but it is a combination of some brakes with the frame. Most importantly I want silence, then maintenance free (never touched my old Juicy 7's in 5 years other than changing pads, but like I said, howl sometimes), and price is a factor. Tired of all the bling bling and just want something that works as well as my old Juicy 7's but SILENT. Thanks!!


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## Oracle7775 (Oct 31, 2008)

MCF said:


> Thanks guys..looks like everone has their preference. I have a Ventana Salt with Juicy 7's and the HOWL....no concensus here or on Ventana forum about what can stop the howl, but it is a combination of some brakes with the frame. Most importantly I want silence, then maintenance free (never touched my old Juicy 7's in 5 years other than changing pads, but like I said, howl sometimes), and price is a factor. Tired of all the bling bling and just want something that works as well as my old Juicy 7's but SILENT. Thanks!!


I'll reiterate my endorsement for the shimano deore m535--they have given me all of those things--price, ease of maintenance, quiet. Of course, with hydros (especially "budget" ones), it really does seem to vary between different riders/bike setups, even when using the exact same models.

(I don't know why I feel so strongly about this to feel compelled to post twice about it! )


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## [email protected] (Dec 3, 2008)

if your just going xc and occasionally more like i do, your weight dosnt really matter, all the brakes will be plenty powerfull enough
im saving for the avid elixir cr's, heard plenty of great stuff about them
theyve got bigger pads for more power than the juicy's which you might want if you do more than xc, and their modulation is brilliant

joe


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## theextremist04 (Jul 15, 2008)

I'd say go for the Formulas- I really like mine. That being said however, I've never tried Hope brakes. And as far as maintenance/parts, they use the same bleed kit as Juicy's and most bike shops can order parts (through QBP, ask the shop.)

Basically, how I see it is that Formulas have all the nice points of juicy's (easy bleeding) with some major upgrades (better feel, more power, lighter, better looking, fewer howling complains, no wonky mounting.)


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## Jerk_Chicken (Oct 13, 2005)

XT, Hope Mini or X2, or even an M4 on the front, Mini on the back. Formula is ok as well.

Shimano and Hope offer a truly easy bleed solution- no syringes. I've posted my opinion of that and those who state it as "easy" in the case of Formula and Avid. it was the **** in 2002, but it's not competitive now when one can bleed conventionally, like a car or motorcycle by just pumping the lever and opening a bleeder valve on the caliper.


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## eurotrash666 (Jan 19, 2012)

MCF said:


> Most importantly I want silence, then maintenance free Thanks!!


Silence! Noise is easy to eliminate if you know where to look. First is alignment- get your calipers indexed and centered, and absolutely parallel to the disc. Next, keep the rotors and pads clean with brake cleaner, and never let brake fluid touch the pads. If it is still noisy, scuff your rotors with some 600-grit, and your pads too- using a block or flat surface. Make sure your rotors are true. Bleed your brakes. Make sure your bolts are torqued correctly. Spot face your IS-mount on your frame as a last resort. Double check your skewers and axle for position and tightness.

Finally, switch to organic pads. They don't last as long, but work better in the wet, are quieter, and have a better feel.

I've been riding disc brakes since Mountain Cycle was prototyping the Pro-Stop brake back in about 1992. I've owned a bunch- Magura, Hayes, Avid. My money is still on Hope. I just ditched my Elixrs for some X2's on my XC bike, and my trail bike still kicks butt with the M4 Mono brakes from 2002- very low maintenance.

Repeat after me... 180mm rotors, braided hose, organic pads...


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## DannyHuynh (Sep 13, 2011)

i read a review on the new shimano slx brakes being very good with 200mm rotors on. almost too good to where the testers had to learn how to not drag the brakes because they were so strong.


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## MTBiker483 (Oct 7, 2008)

Lots of talk about the Elixir CR's - but the R's are cheaper, perform just as well, and arguably more reliable. They do NOT have pad adjustment at the lever; however, you can remove the rotor and feather the brake lever as your pads wear to tighten up pad clearance.


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## BungSolo (Jan 19, 2012)

is weight an issue with hydrolic breaks? i gather just about nothing MTB is designed for someone who weighs as much as me (285) but i need to replace the junk cable disk breaks that came with my bike.......

upon a time i had a GT i-drive with some tektro auriga (not sure if that spelling is exactly right) and they seemed to handle me well (240lbs at that time) for XC


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## MTBiker483 (Oct 7, 2008)

Being a heavier rider, it will certainly take more braking power to get you stopped. Larger rotors will make a big difference in the effective power of any disc brake system - at 285 I would go as large as your frame and fork are specified to handle. Can you tell us about the bike you're riding?


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## BungSolo (Jan 19, 2012)

MTBiker483 said:


> Being a heavier rider, it will certainly take more braking power to get you stopped. Larger rotors will make a big difference in the effective power of any disc brake system - at 285 I would go as large as your frame and fork are specified to handle. Can you tell us about the bike you're riding?


im riding a 2007 iron horse maverick 3.0.

the breaks on it now are pretty junk. i mean, they keep me from crashing into stuff, but the GT iDrive i had before had hydrolics on it that would lock up with one finger. i full-fist these things on my iron horse and they make nasty noise and wont lock up


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## MTBiker483 (Oct 7, 2008)

From what I can find, correct me if I'm wrong, your bike has "ProMax Mechanical Disc Brakes with 6" Rotors". Six inches is approximately 150mm which is on the small end of the disc brake rotor spectrum, _espeically_ for a guy your size. The specs I found for your bike also indicates that you have a Suntour SF7-XCM Fork - I found the manual Here:

http://srsuntour-files.dbap.de/_pub...s/Fork/Hydraulic_air_SF_instruction_sheet.pdf

It indicates that you can run a 185mm Rotor on the fork - so I would suggest doing so. Chances are you can run a 160mm on the rear as well which should be plenty. Depending on your budget, you can consider your options for brake systems from what people have mentioned above. Even if you don't go to a hydraulic system, mechanical setups such as the Avid BB-7 will be enormously more powerful than your current system if you get it set up properly. Pad clearance has to be kept tighter on mechanical disc brake systems because they are inherently less powerful than hydraulic systems - it's not difficult to do, but does have to be done regularly to keep them performing well.

What sort of budget do you have for new brakes?


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## BungSolo (Jan 19, 2012)

well, a very very max of 200 bucks i was thinking.

looks like the avid bb7s can be had for under 100 on ebay.......maybe thast a good route for me. i have mixed feelings about spending a ton of money on this rather crappy bike.......though i know i could make it not-so-crappy with a few upgrades.


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## MTBiker483 (Oct 7, 2008)

You will have to weight the importance of your braking performance to that of the bike as a whole. The BB7's are a well respected mechanical disc brake - If you do end up going that route; rest assured they will be in an entirely different league than your ProMax setup. You could spend a little more and get something in the Elixir lineup, they are also all over eBay. Keep in mind, however, that you may have to shorten the hydraulic lines which requires some special tools and know how, and will also require bleeding the lines to make sure you don't have any air bubbles inside them.

I personally think the BB7's would be a good decision, and an enormous upgrade to your current system. On the other hand, the Elixir's or another hydraulic system would also not be a bad choice, depending on how much you decide is worth spending on the upgrade and whether or not you would rather deal the more frequent but easy to do mechanical maintenance, or, the less frequent but more involved hydraulic maintenance.


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## CDN_Ogre (Jun 18, 2012)

I'm 270 lbs, I just picked up a XXL specialized stumpjumper comp 29er that came with avid 7 brakes. It's my first experience with hydraulic breaks, and lets just say the cantilever brakes on my old bike had alot more stopping power  I am going to have to look at stepping up from the stock 160MM rotor to the 200MM


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## borbntm (May 4, 2011)

I own two bikes with hydro brakes....one with Avid Elixer 7sl's, a 2011 Stumpy EVO and another with Hayes Stroker Rydes a Trance X2...I will take the Hayes brakes over the Avids without a second thought!!!!

The Hayes brakes are more powerful, quieter and easier to maintain...In fact Pricepoint.com has the next step up from the Stroker Ryde, the Stroker Trail on sale right now for $69.00 a wheel and I am tempted to replace the Avids that came stock on my 2011 Stumpy EVO with them. 

The Avids are noisy, the rotors tend to warp with heat and then go back into shape when they cool down and it seems like I have to constantly adjust the calipers to prevent rotor rub, and then there is the crazy "turkey gobble" noise to deal with....I am a 215 lb Clyde. Rarely any issues with the Hayes, just ride and forget about them!!!


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