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Avid FR-5 Brake Lever

3.81/5 (21 Reviews)

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MSRP : $12.99


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Product Description

Avid FR5 Brake Lever. The squeeze of our levers is what dreams are made of. Most Avid levers can be swapped to be run either front or rear, which is convenient if you like to your brakes reversed, and a Godsend if you bust a lever in the middle of the woo


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Reviews 1 - 15 (21 Reviews Total) | Next 15

User Reviews

Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Alan Weighall a Cross Country Rider from Boise ID usa

Date Reviewed: November 29, 2010

Strengths:    Price.weight.ergonomics. adjustability.function.price

Weaknesses:    Modesty

Bottom Line:   
What can I say.used alot of products.there's work as well as the best.love the low profile.easy adjustment install.can't go wrong.maybe not as durable as some,but at under $20 you can always afford another.simplicity is beauty.would buy em again.

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Favorite Trail:   hulls gulch

Duration Product Used:   3 months

Price Paid:    $17.00

Purchased At:   local shop

Similar Products Used:   Deor DX.LX.XT.XTR.avid SD may.

Bike Setup:   Setter reken.single speed.Hayes mechanical disk.noleen Mega air
Overall Rating:3
Value Rating:4
Submitted by Pollution Warrior a Weekend Warrior from Taiyuan, Shanxi, China

Date Reviewed: October 7, 2010

Strengths:    They work well with BB7's
Cheap

Weaknesses:    Short distance between the pivot and the cable end.
Cheap looking
Bad performance with V-brakes

Bottom Line:   
I had Shimano 7-speed brifters on my V-brake bike and when I converted to 9 speed I used the Avid levers. The bike didn't stop worth a crap. The Shimanos have a much longer distance between the pivot and the cable end (in addition to a longer lever) which made a huge difference. The Shimanos are also adjustable for either V-brake or cantilever (you can change the pivot-to-cable distance). The cantilever setting has about the same pivot-to-cable distance as the Avid levers. I ended up going to BB7's. With BB7 discs these levers work well enough to put you over the handlebars, but they require too much braking effort with V-brakes to suit me. I'm also not a fan of the fact that all of the components look like they were painted with a rattle can from Ace Hardware. Shimano makes some better (and nicer looking)levers with a longer pivot-to-cable distance. I plan on getting some soon. Avoid these levers unless you have discs.

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Favorite Trail:   Anything without pollution or garbage

Duration Product Used:   6 months

Price Paid:    $10.00

Purchased At:   lbs

Similar Products Used:   Tektro levers; Shimano 7-speed "brifters"

Bike Setup:   Kona Four
Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Spawne32 a Weekend Warrior from Blackwood, NJ, USA

Date Reviewed: May 21, 2009

Strengths:    Awesome forged aluminum quality, sturdy, smooth lever action that isnt sloppy. Easy to adjust.

Weaknesses:    Levers are a wee bit too short for users with grip shifters.

Bottom Line:   
I bought a budget bike online, an olpran patriot mountain bike, because quite frankly i cant afford anything more, the bike was beautifully built with quality shimano and prowheel equipment on a 6061 aluminum frame. I love the bike to death but the winzip brand brake system that they used was absolute junk and the spring tension mechanisms broke in less then a week.

I ordered a set of avid sd-5 vpull brakes for the front and rear to go along with a set of avid FR-5 levers to replace the cheap plastic ones that came with the bike, and these things are fantastic. I have never seen such quality parts for such a cheap price. I just wish these levers were a tad bit longer because the reach is too short with all the grip shifter length.

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Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month

Price Paid:    $13.00

Purchased At:   jensonusa.com

Similar Products Used:   Avid SD-5 Vpull brakes

Bike Setup:   2008 Olpran Patriot 18"
Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Zachariah a Cross Country Rider from Palm Desert, California USA

Date Reviewed: December 17, 2008

Strengths:    Light; allows one-finger braking; decent modulation; crash-proof design

Weaknesses:    None

Bottom Line:   
One of the lightest mechanical disc levers Avid produces. Only the Speed Dial Ultimate, is a whopping 5g/ea. lighter. The keys to getting great BB7 modulation are listed below:

1) Allow a 1mm gap from pads, on both sides of the brake rotor. Or, the same thickness of a credit card. Turn the inboard/outboard pad adjusters until this clearance is reached.

2) Pre-load the cable-end stop by 1/2" to allow immediate braking, once the lever is pulled. The BB7 allows more than enough lever play, in stock form. Shorten this by pre-loading the loosened cable stop cam of cable slack, then torque down. The result is the cam makes a 1/8 turn less, before braking occurs. This translates to more lever power and controllable modulation.

3) Adjust lever reach by allen screw adjustment at the lever body. This fine adjustment should let your braking finger grasp the lever at the first knuckle, for best stopping power.

4) Use Avid brand Cables(ie; Avid Flak Jacket/Full Metal Jacket) for smoothest cable actuation, and longest life. They both have a special coating and nylon sleeve, that ensures braking smoothness, translating to increased power.

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   Hurkey Creek Park(24Hrs/Adrenalin Course)

Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Price Paid:    $12.00

Purchased At:   eBay

Similar Products Used:   Tektro(snapped lever); Promax

Bike Setup:   19-pound Cannondale XC hardtail, w/ Avid BB7
Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Dave S. a Weekend Warrior from Franklin

Date Reviewed: March 5, 2008

Strengths:    Cheap, not too heavy, look nice, extremely light effort

Weaknesses:    None I can detect.

Bottom Line:   
I'm heavy and this setup feels like it could stop a cement truck. I'm just a trail rider, but our trails have widely varying terrain and some rough surfaces. Nothing rattles this setup. Modulation is absolutely awesome, and one-finger application is the norm! I hope someday to upgrade to discs, but until that day I plan to stick with these components. These levers are cheap and work great, what more can you ask for?

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Favorite Trail:   Winnipesaukee River trail

Duration Product Used:   6 months

Price Paid:    $20.00

Purchased At:   LBS

Similar Products Used:   About a million different Shimano, Tektro, cheesey Promax

Bike Setup:   Mongoose w/Koski V-brakes, Bontrager Maverick rims, Jagwire teflon cables, Aztec pads.
Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Rich a Cross Country Rider from Columbia, SC

Date Reviewed: November 30, 2007

Strengths:    You pull the lever, and the bike stops.

Weaknesses:    None for me.

Bottom Line:   
Despite being dirt cheap, these levers work great. I've read the complaints about durability, and if my lever broke, I'd be upset too. However, after two years of riding (and plenty of spills) mine are holding up just fine. I'm building another bike right now and was considering getting some 'nicer' levers, but I think I'll just stick with these and enjoy the saved money some other way.

Bottom line: these are simple levers that simply work.

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Favorite Trail:   FATS

Duration Product Used:   2 Years

Purchased At:   On bike

Similar Products Used:   Shimano LX, XT

Bike Setup:   Karate Monkey 29er with BB7 disc brakes
Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Pedals Fastly a Cross Country Rider from Austin, Texas

Date Reviewed: September 17, 2007

Bottom Line:   
I upgraded my Avid Single Digit 3 v-brakes to SD7s and these levers cam with them free. They have a hight quality feel to them and modulate smoothly. They are light, but have a substantial "heavy" feel when you pull the lever (if that makes sense). I understand these usually get fitted with disc brakes, but they work very well with my v-brakes.

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Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month

Purchased At:   blueskycycling.com

Bike Setup:   Gary Fisher Marlin
Overall Rating:3
Value Rating:4
Submitted by Iliy Vozhzhov a Weekend Warrior from Volgograd, Russia

Date Reviewed: August 2, 2007

Strengths:    Good looking, comfortable

Weaknesses:    Aluminium levers

Bottom Line:   
Black coating from levers rub away, and my fingers become black because of aluminium.
Backlash on one side more than other

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Duration Product Used:   6 months

Purchased At:   With bike

Similar Products Used:   Acera

Bike Setup:   Avid BB5
Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Ben a Weekend Warrior from concord, ma, usa

Date Reviewed: July 27, 2007

Strengths:    hardly any resistance on a previouly very resistant setup , looks great on my bike

Weaknesses:    none

Bottom Line:   
these levers greatly improoved my riding ability because now i can brake with one finger and stop fine (as long as the brakes work well) the levers are the perfect distance from the handle bar. Braking takes much less effort now and you should seriosly consider them if you are planning on purchasing any noew levers.

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   great glen

Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month

Price Paid:    $13.00

Purchased At:   jensonusa

Bike Setup:   k2 attack 1.0. not much is stock any more. i got the levers with an answer handle bar. they look good together.
Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:4
Submitted by Doug a Cross Country Rider from Wilmington, DE

Date Reviewed: February 3, 2007

Strengths:    Very light, Very Cheap, Pretty simple

Weaknesses:    Simple and not much customability, Levers bend fairly easy

Bottom Line:   
What you get considering what you pay for these are decent levers. I've fallen pretty hard with the bike pretty often (i tell myself its to stay humble) and can remember a couple times it went down on the side that bent. Take my advice with a grain of salt considering I fell on that side but my levers have definitely bent. They kind of slightly curled like a loose soft taco but are still fully functionally but probably weakened. They make a little noise on washboard bumps and roots but I've found this to a lesser degree with my new levers. I like the "stance" on them and since they fit pretty well out of the gate I did not need much adjustability from them. I'm rating these based on what you would expect for such cheap ($) levers and I think they are very good.

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Favorite Trail:   Double Horseshoe

Duration Product Used:   6 months

Purchased At:   Came with bike Fisher Bike

Similar Products Used:   Cane Creek DC, Cheap Shimano

Bike Setup:   Fisher Rig, Eggbeaters, New Levers pretty stock otherwise
Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Saber Haghvirdy a Downhiller from Iran / Tehran

Date Reviewed: September 10, 2006

Strengths:    Works great with the BB7’s andhas no power loss due to its stiff non flex material .generates much power out of your finger. Easy to install line in it. Completely agronomical .Light weight.

Weaknesses:    Watch out for crashes and don’t tighten the bar bolt very much. Give the lever some play room around the bar to prevent lever breaks on crashes.
As it has a non-flex material it will brake with low forces easily broke one and know many friends who did same.


Bottom Line:   
Use them with the BB7’s or any other brake and see improvements they will generate you extra power out of your fingers.
You wouldn’t need more than one finger on them .
And if you want to set them up with BB7’s and 8” rotors be careful when touching them!!

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Favorite Trail:   Shafaq 3

Duration Product Used:   3 months

Price Paid:    $25.00

Purchased At:   From friend

Similar Products Used:   Promax X3 / Tektro

Bike Setup:   kona Stinky 06
Overall Rating:1
Value Rating:2
Submitted by Mike Griffin a Cross Country Rider from London

Date Reviewed: September 4, 2006

Strengths:    Very light and simple.

Weaknesses:    Brittle. Snaps very easily.

Bottom Line:   
Lever breaks too easily. It depends what sort of riding you're going to be doing. If you want to go on the rough stuff, these levers are just too brittle. I had to retire from a 100km MTB enduro after a small and normally harmless slip caused the bike to fall lightly against a rock: the lever snapped and it was game over. I need components that will last to the end of the race, and these levers weren't up to it. MTB components need to be robust enough to withstand a few knocks and it's obvious from the reviews below that these levers aren't.

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Favorite Trail:   Brecon Beacons

Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month

Purchased At:   Came with bike

Similar Products Used:   Shimano Deore LX, Shimano Nexave

Bike Setup:   Dahon Zero-G (hardtail) with various upgrades.
Overall Rating:3
Value Rating:3
Submitted by Todd a Cross Country Rider from Garner, NC

Date Reviewed: August 30, 2006

Strengths:    Inexpensive

Weaknesses:    Crappy power generation.

Bottom Line:   
The levers just didn't have a good feel and don't generate the power the old Speed Dial levers do.

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Duration Product Used:   3 months

Purchased At:   stock OE

Similar Products Used:   Avid Speed Dial 1.9 & titanium, shimano.

Bike Setup:   Stumpy FSR
Overall Rating:2
Value Rating:1
Submitted by sean mankiw a Cross Country Rider from vernon

Date Reviewed: January 15, 2006

Strengths:    nothing

Weaknesses:    broke after two months of use. my bike fell on a boardwalk and it broke so it wasnt seriously thrown.

Bottom Line:   
great for a city rider even thoe i dont know why they would want disks. but any who they are cheeply made. when they came on my bike i had to chip some paint off because even my mechanic wasnt sure if they were aluminum cause they almost look plastic. i guess that when this company makes them the little tiwanees kids take them out of the fire and cool them to quickley because they are brittle.

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Favorite Trail:   my back yard

Duration Product Used:   6 months

Bike Setup:   2005 giant iguana
Overall Rating:3
Value Rating:4
Submitted by Justin from Mill Valley, CA

Date Reviewed: January 2, 2006

Strengths:    Looks cool

Weaknesses:    I fell and i was off the bike and my lever hit a rock and it snapped

Bottom Line:   
They are very cheap and they look cool. After one of mine snapped i just bought another because they are cheap.

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Bike Setup:   Hardrock w/ sweet stuff
Reviews 1 - 15 (21 Reviews Total) | Next 15

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