Submitted by
Tom Basic
a Weekend Warrior
from Atlanta, GA
Date Reviewed: June 12, 2007
Strengths: Clean, cartridge pads are neat.
Weaknesses: They are actually not that strong.
Bottom Line:
I am only writing this review because:
1. Sram 9.0 brakes are listed in the Hall of Fame, and it just isn't so... 2. My no-name v's worked WAY better than them. Why, you may ask?
IT'S SIMPLE: It took me a long time to find out why my no-names whupped the Srams, but when I found it, the answer was stupefyingly simple. The power of your v's is determined by the length of the brake arms. Duh! The longer the arms are the more power you get. My no-names had arms that were about 10 mm longer than the 9.0's, and the power was significantly better. In fact, my 9.0's probably had the shortest arms out of all the v's I've owned. Makes for great modulation, but the power sucks. So, I'm going to give the Srams a bad rating, because they do NOT belong in the Hall of Fame. It is precisely because they are listed in the Hall of Fame that I went out and bought them with high expectation, only to find that they were inferior to my no-names. So there.
Strengths: Great stopping power. Good modulation. Easy to adjust and maintain. Much simpler mechanism than the "parallel movement" Same price, more or less, as XTs (around $70 per pair)
Weaknesses: Adjustment screw stripped fairly early. No need to upgrade to discs.
Bottom Line:
If you can still find these brakes, GET THEM! As of this writing, Speedgoat is still listing them as available.
I got tired of my XTs waking the dead and the unneccesary complication of "parallel engagement". I read the reviews here and bought a pair.
At first, I was disappointed because they look like any OEM, cheapy linear-pull brakes. If I wanted that, I would have stuck with the Tektros or the Deores. However, I was soon very impressed with them.
They have tremendous braking power. It helps that I have ceramic rims. But even when I was using them on normal rims, they were still superior brakes.
I even liked the noodle. When I re-cabled to Nokons, the noodle was no longer compatible. Last night, after a couple of years collecting dust in my cellar, I tried the noodle on my old XTs. The red bit broke. I don't know if that's because of sloppy construction or because of the variation in temperature over a couple of years. But, any noodle will do.
After a few months of use, I noticed that I had to keep adjusting one pair because they were rubbing on one side. I would adjust the pin at night after my commute. I had to do this every night. I didn't think this should be happening... a screw can only go in so much, right? Not if it's stripped. It keeps slipping back out. Once I got my head around the fact that I can get by with only the other adjusting screw, life got better.
Since then, I haven't thought about my brakes. You really don't want to be thinking about your brakes speeding down a long hill at 50kmh/30mph, do you? I think I may have to change the brake shoes, but that's about as far as I have to worry about these brakes.
Buy them! Be safe. Stop your bike when you want or need to. It doesn't matter if you're a commuter, a racer or even a downhiller. These are excellent rim brakes.
Strengths: - great modulation - lighter than LX or XT - good pads - very reasonably priced
Weaknesses: - don't look as cool as Shimano brakes or Avid Arch Rivals, but who cares
Bottom Line:
I got these to replace the Dia-Compes that came with my bike, and was immediately impressed. Not only is there much more power, the modulation is also much improved.
I'm using my old levers and cables, which has been fine. I also didn't bother with their plastic noodle and stuck with my old ones, so I can't comment on that.
My one disappointment was that when I installed them, the pin that goes into your fork to guide the angle of the spring broke. I managed to get them aligned properly after that, though it was a big pain. Anyway, these brakes have been positive in every other way so they get five chilis.
Submitted by
Witold Wilk
a Cross Country Rider
from Tychy, Poland
Date Reviewed: January 18, 2004
Strengths: - modulation
I am able to control the stopping power they apply, so that I get 100% effectiveness. (with the same levers I had with my tektros, that worked in a binary (brake/not_brake) mode.
- strenght
its easy to perform an OTB, but You can easily feel the moment when the rear is getting airborne.
- durability
3000km on the original pads. the brakes themselves are in excellent condition.
- easy to maintain
I've set them 3000km ago, the maintance I've done was to shorten the line from the lever (the pads are almost dead :^) ).
- original kool stop pads work excellent on dry conditions. wet (semi-winter) conditions - excuisite (they quickly get the water off the rim, and brake... but do it in a modulated way, so You are able to keep the wheel from skidding on slippery surfaces).
Weaknesses: none at the time... well... they tend to bend the pivots in my fork... :^)
Bottom Line:
I've learnt the hard way the need for a RELIABLE and EFFECTIVE front brake (my tektro unbuckled during a 65km/h downhill 1.75" slick, asphalt road). do not make my mistake, and invest. after 3000km I've done maintance to these brakes I've done after every 100km on my tektros. the SRAM 9.0 just keeps on going, and going. built to last. just like the energizer bunny (or was it the duracell bunny? :^) ). either way - You can buy low end tektro's, and say "hey I saved money", or buy sram 9.0 and say "hey, I saved my life". brakes are important - You can have a lower-class crank, but a lower-class brake might cost You life. so just buy SRAM 9.0, and brake safely :^)
Similar Products Used: Avid, Shimano, Tektro, Etc...
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Loehr Young
a Cross Country Rider
from Athens, GA. USA
Date Reviewed: June 17, 2003
Strengths: The right color, easy to set up, work like a champ.
Weaknesses: None so far.
Bottom Line:
These brakes are simple to install/setup, are a color that will match anything, and they work every bit as good as any other v-brake I have tried. Not to mention they are inexpensive. I have been running SRAM shifters basically forever and every SRAM part I have tried so far has been been great so when I built my new bike last month I went with all SRAM components, X.O set up, brakes/levers, cassette, chain, really everything they offer. so far all works awesome! SRAM rocks!
Similar Products Used: XTR V brakes, XT V brakes, Avid Mag.
Bike Setup: GT I-Drive, All SRAM, Psylo sl, X-Max Wheels.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Doug Croxford
a Weekend Warrior
from Cleveland, Ohio USA
Date Reviewed: May 7, 2003
Strengths: They STOP. They look cool. The brakecrawler thing really works. Very easy to set up. Retarded easy pad changes- Kool-stop cartridge pad system. Best bang for the buck I've found.
Weaknesses: None so far- they're even the right color...
Bottom Line:
I bought Avid SD7 levers at the same time- they're a beautiful combination. They're incredibly strong- they flex my Manitou fork when I set the pull rate all the way up on the levers. They never ever make noise- not wet, not dry. All in all very comforting when you're riding down the street and some stupid b!!c# on her cell phone isn't paying attention... I would absolutely, positively buy them again for my next bike.
Weaknesses: pad surface area seems small, couldn't rotate it out of the way to easily remove front wheel (not necessarily the brakes fault)
Bottom Line:
This is an excellent brake. It is light and provided extremely powerful stopping. I haven't tried the XTR so I don't know better/worse. If it is better, it's not by much. This was a '98 model. They've changed a bit but I would buy this brake again. I was not using the 9.0 lever. I was using the REAL levers.
Strengths: Light, great stopping power, easy to adjust and maintain, cheap price
Weaknesses: None so far
Bottom Line:
Great pair of brakes. Have used mine for over a year and they have worked flawslessly. Just bought another pair for my wife's Voodoo Bokor. Very easy to adjust and maintain. Using them with Koolstop pad and have had no squeling and the stopping power is great
Similar Products Used: Avid, Tektro, Shimano Lx and XT
Bike Setup: RM Vertex with a few upgrades
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
J.D
a Cross Country Rider
from australia
Date Reviewed: May 29, 2002
Strengths: Light,strong,excellent feel,quiet
Weaknesses: none yet
Bottom Line:
I had these brakes on an earlier bike before changing to discs.My bike went on a diet and these were my first choice-Nice soft feel but loads of power.You cant go wrong
Submitted by
Giantxc
a Cross Country Rider
from Washington, DC
Date Reviewed: May 27, 2002
Strengths: Inexpensive, light, brakes well
Weaknesses: THE NOODLE! Good concept, horrible function
Bottom Line:
I had tons of trouble with these levers for the first 4 months I had them. They required frequent adjustment and nearly always felt squishy. After trying nearly everything (including 3 different sets of levers including SRAM 9.0's) I replaced the stock noodles with extra Avid noodles I had in my parts bin and all my problems disappeared. Now these brakes work well and have's required any adjustment in nearly two months. The Avid SD's on my geared bike have a bit more power, but they cost significantly more.
If your on a budget, go for the Sram 9.0's, just lose the stock noodles
