Submitted by
Tim
a Cross Country Rider
from Sandpoint, ID Date Reviewed: July 16, 2009
Favorite Trail:
Basin
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
Competitive Instinct
Strengths:
Zip.
Weaknesses:
This is the second pair of Avid Code 5's that my shop has attempted to put on a bike that had a defect from the factory. Avid admitted it, but won't compensate my mechanic for all his time trying to get the product to work.
Similar Products Used:
Avid mechanicals.
Bike Setup:
Ellsworth Id. King hubs and headset. Vanilla RLC Pushed. Fox DHX 5.0. Gravity dropper.
Bottom Line:
Would have loved to give fluid brakes a shot, but Avid knowingly stocked my shop's supplier with brakes that had a mechanical defect. The bike never made it off the work stand! Quality knew nothing about the problem, nor did my shop. This is so frustrating! Back to the mechanicals... My shop did not charge for all the headaches.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
ADF
a Cross Country Rider
from South Africa Date Reviewed: March 2, 2009
Favorite Trail:
Knysna Forest
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$300.00
Purchased At:
Chain Reaction cycle
Strengths:
Extremely responsive
Weaknesses:
Not that good looking but who cares about looks when you're going 40mph down a slope.
Similar Products Used:
Hayes Sole, Juicy 3
Bike Setup:
Specialized Rockhopper Comp
Bottom Line:
These brakes are amazing. They don't just slow you down on a steap hill but actually make you stop. I have had trouble getting my Juicy 3's delivering on my expectations and was in two minds whether to go Avid again. It was the ease of set up that made me choose the Code 5 and I am not looking back. This was definitely one of my better cycling purchases.
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Submitted by
cody
a Downhiller
from Abbotsford Date Reviewed: September 29, 2008
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Strengths:
Great no problems whatsoever i would recommend these brakes to anyone. makes juicy 7's look like crap.
Similar Products Used:
juicy 7
Bike Setup:
giant glory DH
Bottom Line:
great
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Submitted by
Deano the Machino
a Weekend Warrior
from The land down under Date Reviewed: August 13, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Daisy Hill Forest
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$230.00
Purchased At:
The Bike Shed Mortda
Strengths:
Solid as a rock,super powerful,excellent feel,kinda cool lookin in that mossy green colour,rotors look mad as,pad changing is simple
Weaknesses:
can be a bee-arch to bleed,sometimes maybe a little too strong (control ya fingers peeps!)
Similar Products Used:
Hayes Sole (like comparing a corolla to a lambo btw)
Bike Setup:
Basically stock 07 GT I-Drive 7 2.0
Bottom Line:
The bottom line is these brakes are the best friend a speed freak has and if you're looking to stick to a budget and want hardcore braking power,then you'll buy these...its that simple. The ONLY thing that i think the Codes would have over these is their pad contact adjust on the lever. Chances are but you'll need to shorten the cable if you buy the rear end but hey,it's all good :) Over all i am extremely impressed with these brakes,they perform better than i expected and i strongly recommend downhillers and such to grab a set if your old ones are shot,you'll see what im talking about here.....
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Submitted by
BikingDaddy
a Cross Country Rider
from Haarlem Date Reviewed: August 7, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$350.00
Purchased At:
bikeparts-online
Strengths:
Great stopping power and looking good.Easy to install and even with the 3-way allignment no problem for a noob-mechanic.
Weaknesses:
none so far
Similar Products Used:
Pro-max 2 piston, formula oro K18
Bike Setup:
Gt I-drive with a Manitou Black Platinum And Bontrager select Disc wheels.
Bottom Line:
Great stopping power as well on the road,with 50+KpH,as on the tracks.Went to the Belgian Ardennen last weekend and on the gravel the gave me enough convidence to brake even at high speeds.I love the progressive way they brake.Rating is in comparrisson of the other brakes i've used.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
jrayf57
a Downhiller
from brea ca Date Reviewed: August 5, 2008
Favorite Trail:
gooseberry mesa utah
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$400.00
Purchased At:
jenson usa
Strengths:
If you have had problems with stopping your problems are over. The brakes have great modulation and will stop you on a dime.
Weaknesses:
none
Similar Products Used:
hazes
hayes 9
Bike Setup:
2003 santa cruz bullet shimano components, dt swiss wheel set
Bottom Line:
An employee at Jenson has been trying to get me to change for a long time. The hayes brakes wouldn't stop me on a steep downhill, I'm a 270 pound bear on a bike. I broke four frames before changing over to a santa cruz. If I had changed brakes before Mammoth last month my ribs wouldn't hurt so much, one more endo in a long line of them.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
fyrfytr310
a Cross Country Rider
from Hamilton, OH, USA Date Reviewed: August 4, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Mitchell Memorial Forest
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$225.00
Purchased At:
Ebay
Strengths:
Great modulation and unbelievable stopping power
Weaknesses:
The factory bleed is a little iffy so I would recommend bleeding on arrival. Although you might end up doint this anywho if you adjust the banjo.
Similar Products Used:
Juicy 3's
Bike Setup:
Felt Q-620, dart 3, x7's, kenda nevegal, code 5's, thudbuster, truvativ team riser bar and stem
Bottom Line:
I purchased a set from ebay and got them on my bike and the front worked beautifully out of the box. When I put the rear on and gave it the first squeeze to align the caliper, a seal gave way in the lever assemby and I had to warranty it out back to SRAM but that was a relatively painless process. Once the new rear came in, roughly a week later, I slapped it on and WOW! Once these brakes are working in tandem there is nothing that can stop them (except themselves). I ride XC, in your faces nay sayers, and I have never had a more comforting feeling when trying to slow or stop in a technical or emergency situation than when I rode with these brakes. I would tell anyone to use these and live happy!
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Submitted by
JM
a Weekend Warrior
from Manila, Philippines Date Reviewed: July 17, 2008
Favorite Trail:
La Mesa Trails
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$250.00
Strengths:
Gives you the stopping power you need in tricky situations
These brakes are hard as Rock! Stopping power is awesome. Will definitely recommend to an All mountain / DH / Freeride setup. If you have an XC, forget it and use an XT.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Hugh Fatass
a Weekend Warrior
from Berkeley, CA Date Reviewed: July 4, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Trail of Tears
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$320.00
Purchased At:
Price Point
Strengths:
Great stopping power and god feel. Very reasonable price. Adjustment is simple.
Weaknesses:
None that I've found.
Similar Products Used:
Fred Flintstone method.
Bike Setup:
Huffy hardtail with chrome rims, banana seat, and tassles on the handlebars.
Bottom Line:
Nice brakes at a great price. Hard to find this kind of stopping power at this price and with my significant gravitational pull, I definitely need it.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
bigkat273
a Weekend Warrior
from erie, pa, usa Date Reviewed: May 18, 2008
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$140.00
Purchased At:
Masherz
Strengths:
Great stopping power and smooth modulation. Price/Performance
Weaknesses:
Don't like the feel of the juicy style lever when compared to the regular Codes. Factory bleed was awful.
Similar Products Used:
Demoed: Code, and Stroker Trails
Bike Setup:
Kona Coiler: SRAM, RF, Azonic, Kenda, Fox
Bottom Line:
For the money these brakes rock. The levers are so-so but not enough to have me spend the extra $50/wheel on the codes.
I would definitely get the bleed kit when purchasing these as I was not too impressed with the bleed from Avid.
Great for dh/fr on a budget.
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Submitted by
yegappan
a Racer
from st johns newfoundland Date Reviewed: May 3, 2008
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$400.00
Strengths:
not too expensive,great modulation,pads bed easily,lots of power,feel great
Weaknesses:
factory bleeds are crap,no pad contact adjust
Similar Products Used:
hayes 9,juicy 7
Bike Setup:
macked 2006 norco atomik
Bottom Line:
when i got these brakes the first thing i thought was wow! these feel just like my juicy 7s, only more powerful with better modulation,the pads wear in very easily,the brakes feel amazing, the lack of the pad contact knob isnt a big issue, personally i would not get the regular codes for it, they feel like they lock up much easier,instead i'd switch the juicy 5 master cylinders for juicy 7s
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Tom
a Downhiller
from Corvallis, OR Date Reviewed: February 22, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Blackrock
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$120.00
Purchased At:
Full Cycles
Strengths:
Holy crap these things will slow you down!!!
Weaknesses:
A bit tricky to set up if you dont know what your doing, plus the line was way to long and I had cut it down
Similar Products Used:
Hayes HFX9, Avid Juicy
Bike Setup:
Yeti ASX, 888RC, DHX 5, you know how it goes
Bottom Line:
This brake will probably give you more stopping power per dollar then anything else out there. My front Code can send me over the handlebars even when I am sitting back as far as I can go. Sure theyre not a Hope Mono 6 or whatever, but they still have a lot of power. Plus the feel of the lever is so nice...
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Vineet Sharma
a Downhiller
from Chandigarh - UT - India Date Reviewed: December 7, 2007
Favorite Trail:
Kasauli DH trail
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$320.00
Purchased At:
Jenson USA
Strengths:
Very Smooth, Nice stopping power, 4 piston disc brake at a very awesome price not to mention that its Avid.
Weaknesses:
Nothing much, could have made the levers little diff..not like Juicy's
Similar Products Used:
Hayes HFX-9
Bike Setup:
Dual Sus frame with Marzocchi 66VF-2, Manitou 6 Way. Mavic Deetraks, Sram X.0
Bottom Line:
A very reasonable price brakes with awesome power. wont let you down. And gives you more confident...and you can go more fast downhill.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Ethan
a Racer
from New Zealand Date Reviewed: October 16, 2007
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$600.00
Purchased At:
The bike barn
Strengths:
super power ful. has a beautif solid feel to them. cheaper and lighter than the origonal codes. great looking rotors. silent and bed in very quickley. Easily serviced
Weaknesses:
none at all
Similar Products Used:
Hayes sole, Hayes nine DH, Shimano deore, shimano saint, Avid juicy fives, hope M4 monos and whole range of mechanicals
Bike Setup:
Jamis Daka XLT 3.0 13",sram stuff, rock shox lyrics, funn wheel set, Truvativ Hollzfella, MRP, 5th element rear shock. 4X set up
Bottom Line:
This is an amazing break it is nothing like iv ever tride. it has no draw backs and every time i use it, it just seems to get beter and beter. its al ready saved me from some prety hairy situations where other breakes wouldnt. so if you want a supuerb braek that is power ful and have excelent modulation these the code fives are the ones.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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