Submitted by
Kristof Ulburghs
a Weekend Warrior
from Heverlee, Belgium
Date Reviewed: August 22, 2001
Strengths: Ease of setup
Weaknesses: goes Zzzzzing
Bottom Line:
The brake is awesome. I only have one at the front but I am going to put one at the rear as well. Just too good not to buy a second one. Braking power is always there, I have never had to pull it all the way. Modulation is pretty good although, since it is a cable operated system, your hands still have to do the bulk of the modulating. Front wheelies no problem. Only one remark : there was no cable stop ( with the rubber seal ) supplied, so I had to fiddle with '3d party' widgets given to me by the LBS-dude. The issue is between me and the shopkeeper however and it will get resolved, he has been very helpful, he did not get the part himself. I also had to puzzle the mounts together since the Z5 on the Stinky just has two holes to accept an adapter, not international nor postmount brakes. ( It originally features a Formula which was replaced with Avid V's by the LBS at my request ) The highest rating for this one, it is very good.
Similar Products Used: no disc brakes, Avid Arch Rival 40 and Single Digit
Bike Setup: 2000 Kona Stinky, pretty much stock except for the cranks ( Northshore XS ) and pedals ( Easton Cully )
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
ian smith
a Cross Country Rider
from rotorua, new zealand
Date Reviewed: March 6, 2001
Strengths: forward thinking horst deserves more credit. light intelligent design, grt power and lots of feel. no drag. sent back to fatory for rebuild (my fault) excellent service, work fine with no maintenance or cleaning.
Weaknesses: hard to service from nz. mounting a problem
Bottom Line:
hope they dont die as i think they are a grt concept.
Bike Setup: GT LTS bomber Z1 forks homemade adaptor to fit the caliper works fine
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Robert
a Weekend Warrior
from Raleigh, NC
Date Reviewed: September 6, 2000
Strengths: Weight, power, and modulation.
Weaknesses: Non-industry standard rear mount, Slight drag, and overheating.
Bottom Line:
This brake does not get the recognition it deserves. Modulation is great and comparable to Hayes in strenght. The previous review stated that AMP hub was a problem. I'm running a Mavic Crossmax Disc wheelset with a Mavic disc adapter to fit the D1 rotor. Chris King and White Industries also makes hubs and adapters to utilize their hubs. Those of you wanting to run Hayes or other IS brakes on a AMP, contact Jeff @ Adrenaline Bikes. Jeff custom makes an adapter to fit a AMP frame to run other Discs.
Submitted by
Preston Peterson
a Cross Country Rider
from Kirkland WA USA
Date Reviewed: September 5, 2000
Strengths: Excellent modulation, good stopping power, lightweight
Weaknesses: Overheating and general robustness, some drag
Bottom Line:
I ran Amp discs for the last 5 years-I had one of the very first production versions. I never thought the Amps got enough recognition, and now that I have installed the Hayes I still don't. The Hayes don't have more braking power, and they have less modulation especially at lockup. The primary problem with the Amps is that they can/will overheat and pump up the brake lever (requiring you to adjust the reach). They can eventually get into thermal runaway as well, but this is rare. Strangely this seems to usually happen to the rear rather than the front. This can get worse over time if the caliper has been overheated several times. In 5 years I have probably had the calipers rebuilt twice. The control is much better than the Hayes, and they are lighter, plus they are cable actuated. To me they require much less hand effort to get the same braking power as well. In general I liked the feel and power of the Amps much better, but they are not nearly robust either, although they are definitely capable. I have had them on some roaster downhills and they have very rarely let me down, they just required more maintenance. They also have a hair of drag which the Hayes don't have. Also, you must use an Amp front hub which sucks, very poor design on the front hub.
In general, I think these are great brakes but they are now outdated. If only amp had put in a little r&d to make these things just a bit more robust (larger fluid expansion chamber would have help) and more compatible with the new standards.
Submitted by
Andrejs Verlis
a Racer
from Waterloo, Ontario
Date Reviewed: August 10, 2000
Strengths: Lightweight, good stopping power
Weaknesses: Can't find any
Bottom Line:
These are good XC disc brakes if anything... I suppose if you try to use them for downhill they will overheat and work improperly, but then again these are for XC bikes, not DH... I have experienced only predictable, consistent braking power from these brakes and have experienced no difficulties with them... If you don;t like to worry about brake rub or messy looking rims due to brake wear, AND you ride XC, then these are good brakes for you... if you have a fork/frame that will fit them...
Strengths: Good stopping in the dry, rain, or mud. No special: levers, cables, tools, wheel truing, maintenance, or operation, required. Light weight & better than any rim brake. Works good last long time!
Weaknesses: It doesn't make the best downhill brake due to close reservoir fluid expansion when excessively heated. Some heat won't phase it. It needs to be able to fit the new standard Disk Brake Mount found on newer frames and forks.
Bottom Line:
I've been using them for 5 years. Once I thought I had air in the rear brake because it felt spongy at the lever and slow to return. While making adjustments I found the cable kinked causing excessive friction with the housing. Replaced the cable and the rear brake was back to its consistant excellent operating condition.
Great for the Weekend Warrior on up to the Amature Sport X-country racers. Not for the x-treme gravity freak.
I give the brake a VALUE rating of 5 Chilis. I got what I paid for 5 years ago. An excellent working component that is still reliable and hasn't gone out of style.
I give it an OVERALL rating of 4 Chilis. AMP should make an adaptor for compatiblity with the new standard Disk Mount. I want to install them on my next frame & fork what ever that may be.
Similar Products Used: Rim brakes but never tried any other disks yet.
Bike Setup: AMP Research B3/F2/D1-fr&rr/XT/Control Tech
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Timmy
a Cross Country Rider
from Colorado
Date Reviewed: April 4, 2000
Strengths: Very Very Lite! Extremely responsive and so far - low maintenance
Weaknesses: Who is this company and why don't they market their products more? It seems all transactions happen over the Internet for me and I sometimes wonder if the are getting the order correct. So far I have been happy (or lucky).
The pads wore out incredibly fast until I took a diamond file to the cooling slots on the discs and chamfered ALL the edges. (about 60 hours work) The correct use of the strudel is critical and the run of the cable is also. Now I remove the caliper (one screw) weekly and clean/grease the pins (2 mins work), and I can say that these brakes are fantastic. If they came with chamfered discs and factory fitted, they would cost a lot more, but you can do it yourself. Be careful if you take a file to the discs, they will bend/warp if you dont do it on a flat surface. I think the avid levers work very well and provide better feel than the XTR's they replaced.
Strengths: not really any, they took alot of weight outta my wallet though.
Weaknesses: everything. expensive pieces of digestive tract. couldnt be worse. the breaking was good, till they began to lock up on downhills. then sometimes they decided not to work...at all. they were squeaky annoying, and getting in the way.
Bottom Line:
awful. dont waste your time or money on these...they appaer to be good till you see that they are really.....well......sucky. if i had a choice id give these a negative # of stars...but i have to chose one.
Submitted by
Birdman
a cross-country rider
from Princeton, NJ
Date Reviewed: October 8, 1998
Bottom Line:
I've had an AMP B-4 for about 3 years now, with the D-1 brakes and F-4 BLT fork. The brakes work great, with reasonable modulation and great power. I've just replaced the pads and return springs for the first time ($51 direct). The only other problem I had was leaking calipers, which AMP rebuilt free of charge. They are light, powerful brakes that don't fade or wear fast.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Ben B
a cross-country rider
from Minn
Date Reviewed: September 1, 1998
Bottom Line:
I own a AMP B5 with the latest AMP brakes (go figure) fantastic, no fade, no binding, and beautiful... the floating design makes them perfect for removing wheels and for self adjusting...just nice...and these binders really work, in all conditions...The design follows what is used in high-end disc brake systems in automotive applications with the added benifit of a sealed system. The performance of the system is remarkable considering the size and weight plus the rotors are perfectly suited to the task. Some serious thought went into these brakes...nice work
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
haesli.ch
a cross-country rider
from Davos, Switzerland
Date Reviewed: June 3, 1998
Bottom Line:
I had an AMP B4 with those discs and thought they were great. But only for the first 200 miles. Then the trouble started. After just a few long and steep descents there was air in the hydraulic calipers. Braking became very unpredictable. I changed both calipers 4 times (!) then I got rid of the bike. The only answer I got from AMP was: just try to keep'em cooler! That's not cool, that just sucks!
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
James
a cross-country rider
from Maryland
Date Reviewed: February 13, 1998
Bottom Line:
I thought the brake was kick @@$. They also are great in the rain and all conditions for that matter. Only down side is the pad wear and they squeek. I'll never go back to traditional brakes. I don't have much else to say for these brakes, but I would in advise you to get them is you want exelent stopping power.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Scott Russell
a cross-country rider
from Costa Mesa
Date Reviewed: November 4, 1997
Bottom Line:
The best set of brakes I ever had I'll never go back to rim grippers. Only down side is pad wear.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
S. Beaty
a cross-country rider
from NJ
Date Reviewed: November 3, 1997
Bottom Line:
Thought the brake was great! Very consistant feel and awesome in the rain. It's powerful, great modulation, vitually no brake fade even on long downhill runs.
