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avid juicy 7: early review

4K views 36 replies 10 participants last post by  WhiteRavenKS 
#1 ·
lots of people were asking about this disk set up a while ago and now that i finally got the set i ordered (no joking) over a year ago. this is by far the best brake i have ever owned. i hate to say that because such an early preliminary type review shouldnt ever include something like that but this brake seriously did blow me away.

this brake is for: anyone who likes their avid mechanical but wants the "feel" of a hydro brake, anyone who hates the fact that every single maggie disk in the world ends up leaking, anyone who wants disk but hates that whole crap of non-independent throw/reach adjustments.

this brake is not for: the poor (ok, budget impared, whatever), the UBER weight savy (its not the lightest brake by any means, not a lard ass but not an hfx plus or marta sl or mini)

pros- the speed dial pad adjuster is AWESOME. i love to run my levers in close but in doing so my lever throw has always been all out of wack with other hydro brakes. this is the main feature of this brake i love so far. not only can i now have a lever reach where i want it but i can have it match my rear lever in throw. its surprising what you can get used to when it comes to out of balance bike parts but levers are not one of those things for me at all. the feel of the brake is surprisingly nice for a factory bleed. most factory bleeds are shite- this one works but i will bleed it nicer when i shorten the line. the caliper is small and clean looking. the lever is goofy looking but it grows on you and it is designed better than any other lever i have seen.

cons- cost? like i said, the brake is not for the tight budget types but if you save up this brake will pay off big time. it isnt all that light, just mediocre weight. they are working on an "SL" version that will be lighter and have ti hardware and stuff but i dont want to wait for that to come out.

the new rotor is really cool but unfortunately i recieved a 6 inch instead of a 203mm one so im still on my hayes rotor for now. the new rotors are really cool looking and are also quite functional. im not using the stock pads but they work fine once they are really well broken in.

overall this brake is killer-bot 5000. please feel free to ask any questions or comments or whatever. i will post a more in depth review after i get in some serious time on the brake.
 
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#27 ·
Well I managed to get one full real trials ride on these. They broke in amazingly. Right out of the box I could ride trials with the red pads. So I go to pull my bike out of my shed the next week to ride. Dot fluid all over my rear rotor.

I'm really not too impressed at this point. For something that is the same weight as a Magura Louise but twice the cost I dunno.

I guess for some reason I got caught in all the hype and assumed they would never leak. My maguras always lasted me a few months. The rear Avid lasted me one ride. Not impressed at all. Guess its back to the cable disks.
 
#29 ·
With the kidding aside I'm starting to wonder that myself. I really have no idea how any seals really work and if there is force applied to them, but most rear tabs can't handle the force of a rear disk when used for trials, maybe that same force is on the seal and it just can't take it? I really have no idea at all.

I just cleaned it all up and its coming from the seal under the pad on the spoke side. I have the option of sending it in on monday for warranty. I think I'm gonna see what it feels like riding it as is today and see if I can hold out on it possibly. Even with the oil coating the rotor as long as I rode honestly (the brakes are really powerful and will hold a lot better than most, so when some people are slipping cause they arent right where they should be mine will stay locked. I call it honest when you rely less on your brakes and stick the tire right where it should be) the brakes would hold enough to do trials on. So maybe the leak won't be too known right away with it all clean. I dunno. I wanted them front and rear for Motorama.
 
#30 ·
I have no clue, I've just run maggies for 4+ years.


At motorama I couldn't 4 finger brake my hope mini, it wouldn't work at all- take it from me you don't want to travel all that way to have a not working bike- at least bring the cable with you, or put it on before hand.
 
#36 ·
I wouldn't recommend a rear disk to anyone. Maybe 1 in 10 people can actually stand the feel of it. Then throw in that they weigh more, get in the way if you go to the left, and all the potential other problems with frames and leaks and all that and not too many people are interested.

I happen to love it but it makes for a very stressful time. The cable avids weigh in aboots the same as the hydro ones and lock up wicked. But I am also a sucker for the feel of a hydro. Maybe I just got a really bad one.
 
#37 ·
you got a bum set there brett- we had something like this happen on a 5000 dollar yeti at our shop. it was some bum seal in the caliper. i drove down to avid and they gave us a new brake. they will take care of you.

i would never use rear disk in trials as it stands now, maybe if they improve a ton in both frame and brake systems int he future i will consider it but for now- no dice. my juicy is still working amazingly well and i still think its the best front brake i have ever owned. new sets will be going on my dh rig in the future.
 
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