Avid mechs

"Zilla" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Are these really good? I'm thinking about buying a set (f & b) from pricepoint or eBay. Need
advice from folks who've actually tried and liked/hated them, and to indicate how long you've had
them. Thanks!

The mtbr reviews are mixed.

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- Zilla Cary, NC (Remove XSPAM)

Sorry, I mean Avid mech. disc brakes!

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- Zilla Cary, NC (Remove XSPAM)

Quoted message said:

Are these really good? I'm thinking about buying a set (f & b) from pricepoint or eBay. Need
advice from folks who've actually tried and liked/hated them, and to indicate how long you've had
them. Thanks!

I have only had one set of disc brakes, and they were Avid mechanicals. I used them for 6
months. I can't compare them to other disc brakes, but I was very pleased with their performance
over rim brakes.

-John Morgan

I have a set on a Cannondale F600, & like them very well. I also have other bikes with Hayes
Hydraulic, and Magura Marta's, I think the Avids perform almost as well as either hydraulic brake,
and when it comes to adjusting squeal from them they are much easier, can usually be done right on
the trail.

But, I'm not a hardcore mountain bike rider, so I may not be a good comparison between the brakes.
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"Zilla" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

"Zilla" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Are these really good? I'm thinking about buying a set (f & b) from pricepoint or eBay. Need
advice from folks who've actually tried and liked/hated them, and to indicate how long you've
had them. Thanks!

The mtbr reviews are mixed.

--
- Zilla Cary, NC (Remove XSPAM)

Sorry, I mean Avid mech. disc brakes!

--
- Zilla Cary, NC (Remove XSPAM)

If your going XC they'll probably suit you. I personally don't like the feedback they give me
especially going DH. I have found them very easy to lock up at high speed. They also seem to pulse a
lot. I swapped them for Hayes Hydros.

"Zilla" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

"Zilla" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Are these really good? I'm thinking about buying a set (f & b) from pricepoint or eBay. Need
advice from folks who've actually tried and liked/hated them, and to indicate how long you've
had them. Thanks!

The mtbr reviews are mixed.

--
- Zilla Cary, NC (Remove XSPAM)

Sorry, I mean Avid mech. disc brakes!

--
- Zilla Cary, NC (Remove XSPAM)

Zilla said...

Quoted message said:

Are these really good? I'm thinking about buying a set (f & b) from pricepoint or eBay. Need
advice from folks who've actually tried and liked/hated them, and to indicate how long you've had
them. Thanks!

The mtbr reviews are mixed.

I have used mine for about 4 months now. They work very well and they are very adjustable. I find
the modulation to be perfectly acceptable, in spite of some people calling them grabby. Mine
squeal a little bit after they get warm, but it isn't that bad and it goes away pretty quick. The
front v-brake on my old GT howls like a banshee no matter what I do to it. One down side that I
have noticed is that they are wide and stick out from the side of the bike quite a bit, making
them a likely contact point with the ground on those unfortunate occasions when I am no longer one
with my bike.

"Zilla" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Are these really good? I'm thinking about buying a set (f & b) from pricepoint or eBay. Need
advice from folks who've actually tried and liked/hated them, and to indicate how long you've had
them. Thanks!

The mtbr reviews are mixed.

--
- Zilla Cary, NC (Remove XSPAM)

Used for 2 years.

Pluses:

Easy to setup and adjust.

Use with any V-brake levers and no need to get new shifters if you have intergrated units. Avids
brake levers with Speed Dials are ideal for Avids discs.

Braking power is up there with the hydros.

Except for the caliper and rotors, parts are ready available to fix from any bike store. (cable and
any brake lever) This is great if you travel a lot.

After market pads are available.

Can be up graded to larger rotor sizes.

Minuses:

It's cable so high speed modulation not as good as hydro. Not a factor if your riding is XC or
general trail riding.

Cable can get mucked up. This is a easy fix. Just run full length brake housings.

"Zilla" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Are these really good? I'm thinking about buying a set (f & b) from pricepoint or eBay. Need
advice from folks who've actually tried and liked/hated them, and to indicate how long you've had
them. Thanks!

The mtbr reviews are mixed.

I only do XC riding, and they are very well matched for that, IMO. My SD-7 levers and Avid mech
front and rear brakes are a lot better than the SD-7/Avid Ti Vs set-up I used prior. I had Hayes
hydraulic at one point, and they were better than the Avid mechs, but not by much. I don't miss the
Hayes stoppers, but they were very smooth, relatively easy to set up and keep up, and were very
powerful over the entire range of my use for them.

Avid mechs couldn't be any easier to set up. Dead simple - even a retarded monkey (like JD) could
set these things up. Blindfolded. Drunk. One-handed. OK, not one-handed, but you get the picture. I
have spent more time on a front V-brake pad adjustment than it took for me to install and cable up
both ends of my Avid mech-equipped bike.

Now, the obligatory warning about front disk brakes:

Supposedly, there's a danger of wheel ejection by using disks on the front. If you want to know
more, search groups.google.com, in rec.bicycles.tech using the search parameter "disk brakes wheel
ejection." Sit down with a nice sixer of beer - it'll take a while to get through all the posts.
It has been suggested that a properly done-up QR would *probably* prevent accidental ejection. But
a good quality QR is necessary. Sheldon Brown has lately recommended Shimano or Campy QRs for
their quality. Even if I didn't have another Shimano bit on my bike, I might go with XT QRs for
this reason.

Experience: 3 years running front disks with a QR-dropout fork. I've never had the QR move, at all.
Always Shimano hubs and skewers.

Good luck,

Jonesy (formerly Spider)

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E-mail me: rfjonesy *at* hotmail *dot* com

Zilla said:

Are these really good?

yes.

Thanks to all who replied. All I do is XC and no DH so I believe I got that covered. The front wheel
QR warning is more pertinent for fast DH'ers, but thanks!

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- Zilla Cary, NC (Remove XSPAM)

"Zilla" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Are these really good? I'm thinking about buying a set (f & b) from pricepoint or eBay. Need
advice from folks who've actually tried and liked/hated them, and to indicate how long you've had
them. Thanks!

The mtbr reviews are mixed.

I use them on my xc hardtail. I love them.

- CA-G

Can-Am Girls Kick Ass!

"Zilla" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Are these really good? I'm thinking about buying a set (f & b) from pricepoint or eBay. Need
advice from folks who've actually tried and liked/hated them, and to indicate how long you've had
them. Thanks!

Yes, they are good if adjusted properly and used with Avid speed dial equipped levers.

Quoted message said:

The mtbr reviews are mixed.

The mtbr reviews ar more than half e-tarded.

JD