-Two piece master cylinder allows lever to be remonved without removing shifters and grips
-Sintered metallic all-weather pad compound
-V6 Rotor
-Black Kevlar hose
-Open back caliper for easier adjustment and cooler running system
Submitted by
westeast
a Cross Country Rider
from San Diego, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: December 1, 2010
Strengths: modulation and reliability. Only rarely do I get any brake squeal.
Weaknesses: this is being picky, but it took me a while to figure the set up with my sram x9 shifters. I imagine with the newer x9's and the sliding post mount this would not be an issue. I eventually found a good fit for it all so really not an issue.
Bottom Line:
It's been 6 years, maybe 4 sets of pads, and I'm only now considering rebuilding and bleeding the brakes or possibly just purchasing some new ones. The avids look cool, but after reading about all the noise issues I'm leaning towards sticking with my hayes mags. They just work.
Similar Products Used: v-brakes, original shimano disc brakes.
Bike Setup: Santa Cruz Heckler
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
imabiker
a Cross Country Rider
from South Africa
Date Reviewed: June 15, 2009
Strengths: Still working even though second-hand. Very sensitive, and easy to bleed.
Weaknesses: It is very different to v-brakes, but im geting used to it.
Bottom Line:
These are really decant brakes. We have found a few tricks as with how to bleed them, and they are all on my blog, http://meandmymtb.blogspot.com/. I would buy these brakes new, I just don't know how easy parts are to get.
Strengths: Very durable, held up on crashes, stopping was consistent, bled and fluid was still clean
Bottom Line:
Hayes brakes are a good bang for your buck. They are simple to repair, replace pads and find parts for. They last along time and are hard to get rid of. They are like Chevys, you can find rebuild parts almost any where and aren't super expensive. Like everything else product knowlege is key to peak performance. I chose Hayes becasue of there reliabilty, not to mention my hfx 9s are still working good with many miles and no rebuilds yet. Bleed them, change the pads according to riding conditions and you will have a good experience this product.
Bike Setup: Intense spider xvp, spinergy, bontrager
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
dave
a Weekend Warrior
from south bend in
Date Reviewed: July 30, 2007
Strengths: I have the 8"/6" set up and it stops a 38 lb bike great. nosewheelies at speed are no problem. and it stops better than any other disc brake single piston type set up around. dependable and easy to set up a bit of a chore to bleed. quality feel throughout these will make you hit the trail a little faster with your new stopping ability
Weaknesses: a bit bulky looking for my tastes. other than that i think they ARE superior to every comparable brake system.
Bottom Line:
if you are willing to commit to hyd disc brakes, the bleeding and such and are not going 40-60 mph downhill buy these. I am pleased and if they broke id replace them with the same,but those hopes look soooo goodI dont know.....
Submitted by
bennie
a Cross Country Rider
from oregon
Date Reviewed: May 20, 2007
Strengths: slowing down. rear seems to be fine
Weaknesses: have had them "go out" once in the front, the front rubs with rotor, has been fixed. stoping power is not impressive. Skweaks in front often.
Bottom Line:
do not expect these to be miricle disc brakes, im not impressed with these, and have used many others. make sure you have the sintered brake pads, the semis are too soft.
Submitted by
mgersib
a Cross Country Rider
from lincoln, ne
Date Reviewed: February 25, 2007
Strengths: decent power
Weaknesses: lack of modulation; terrible to bleed when the need arises, and it does frequently.
Bottom Line:
these brakes have ok power, but compared to current class-leading products like the avid juicy and shimano xtr disc brakes, they lack modulation and feel, and the sequence to bleed the brakes just about requires three hands, and can turn out to be a nighmare with dot brake fluid everywhere.
in fact, i wasn't really swayed to do an online review of these brakes until the nightmare bleed session i'm in the middle of right now. hayes' "bleed kit" is a big POS. i wrenched at a shop for 7 years, and have bled many disc brakes (both motorcycle and bicycle), and these are by far the worst brakes to bleed ever. ity's virtually impossible to get all the air out of the system. you should see how much dot fluid is on the floor of my bike room right now!!
i can honestly say that it'll be a long, long time before i again spend money on a hayes brake product. they basically suck compared to just about everything else out there in 2007.
Similar Products Used: shimano xtr, avid bb7, avid juicy 7
Bike Setup: 2006 salsa dos niner; they were on a kona before that
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Pasi
a Cross Country Rider
from Espoo, Finland
Date Reviewed: January 27, 2007
Strengths: Good stopping power with V7/V8 rotors. Very reliable and easy to service.
Weaknesses: Lacks modulation. Tends to rub the rotor, lack of caliper adjustability.
Bottom Line:
These brakes tends to give an on/off feel, i.e. lack modulation, general XC/trail riding. However, for freeride or downhill riding the stopping power is great. They have held up to many seasons of heavy use.
Strengths: great power, modulation, this are my first hydraulics and work way better than mechanical disc brakes
Weaknesses: when I handed them to my LBS to get them installed on my bike, they noticed that the bleed screws were missing(BSC sent them right away) so it took like a week to get those screews to me. away from that, the brakes dont have any.
Bottom Line:
I only had riden them in a few rides, but they had worked perfectly, best modulation and power.
Strengths: My Bonz one finger brake triggers fit on them, they are easy to work on, they work well
Weaknesses: the screws that connect the master cylinder to the levers tend to loosen over time
Bottom Line:
I absolutely LOVE my Bonz one finger brake triggers. These seem to be the only brakes they make them for. Hayes brakes can be kind of a pain if you have no clue how to take care of your disc brakes. Keep the rotors clean, replace the pads every now and then, no problems. I have two bikes with HFX9s and this bike with Mags. If you VERY CAREFULLY put A LITTLE BIT of loctite on the threads of the screws that connect the levers to the master cylinders they should stop migrating. If you are a retard (like me) and you get loctite on the outside of piece that passes through the lever (the one that the screw passes through) you will be very, very unhappy.
I am looking at purchasing a new set of Hayes Disc brakes for my XC bike.
I am choosing between
(1) Hayes HFX Mag XC 6"
(2) Hayes '05' HFX9 Carbon 6"
(3) Hayes '05' HFX9 XC 6"
Read More »
Hey guys, I have older model (around 2000-ish) HFX Mag brakes on the rear of my bike. I'm thinkin of getting a new HFX Mag XC to put on the front. I run my rear brake lever on Read More »
What are the differences in these variations of the HFX 9 brake line?
I have seen...
Hayes HFX 9 HD Disc
Hayes HFX 9 XC Disc
Hayes HFX Mag Disc
The XC offers V6 or V8 r Read More »
