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Submitted by
Lonnie Russell
a Weekend Warrior
from Charlotte NC
Date Reviewed: July 14, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | lots of them | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | lbs and e-bay | | Strengths: | using them on rigid specalized bike that sees mild off road and commuting duties, brakes stop well, | | Weaknesses: | SCREAMING - HOWLING noise from both sets of brakes, like stated before, would almost impact tree/car rather than use these screming demons. also stock pads are lke grinding stones on my rims, kool-stops work better,still can not adjust the noise out of these junk brakes. ready to trash can these and chalk up my loss. | | Similar Products Used: | Have some of the straight arm [not paraell push} LX brakes on another bike, they work great - stop as well and best of all NO screaming banshees. btw. I am using them on a Trek tamdem. | | Bike Setup: | old Specalized Rock Combo. with mix of LX and XT drivetrain, Mavic rims and combo tires. | | Bottom Line: | Cannot recommend these brakes - unless you really want to annoy all the other people on the trails and wake EVERYONE up on morning commutes [I leave for work at 05:30 in the morning]. LX brakes work better, stop as well and no noise.If I could understand German I would try the fix listed further down or on another thread. but instead I'll probally just toss these pos brakes in the trash. Giving them the lowest ratings because even thought they stop well I just can't stand to use them. my .02 | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Scott
a Cross Country Rider
from Los Alamos, NM
Date Reviewed: June 9, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | Reverse Traverse | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Strengths: | Parallelogram linkage is great idea in theory and easy to adjust, no lack of stopping power | | Weaknesses: | As seems to be common, the front squealed like crazy, they're not the lightest out there | | Similar Products Used: | Using Tektros now, which are lighter and don't squeal | | Bottom Line: | The front squealed like crazy. It was loud enough that the noise actually hurt. I tried toe in, toe out, new pads, every adjustment I could. Rubbing a bit of WD-40 on the rim make the squeal go away and didn't sacrifice brake power, but only worked for about half an hour. I tried to switch the mounting plates like this website (http://www.nobrakes.de/technik/vbrakesilentsystem.htm) said, but could not get the pin out.
After a week I was fed up and just put some mid-range Tektros on. The squeal immediately disappeared and they stop just as well, plus they're significantly lighter.
The new '08 XT v-brakes do NOT have the parallelogram linkage. I wonder if Shimano listened to our complaints?
2 chilis because they do stop the bike, but at a really high cost. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian
a Cross Country Rider
from Denver CO USA
Date Reviewed: June 6, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | Cap'n Jacks | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$1.00 | | Purchased At: | I forgot | | Strengths: | They work | | Weaknesses: | None | | Similar Products Used: | Yes | | Bike Setup: | Cannondale XS 800 with aluminum fork and Headshok. Mavic Speed City rim. Shimano pads. | | Bottom Line: | I can guarantee that my XT v-brakes are louder than anyones on here! Something about the slop in the cantis coupled with the aluminum fork creates a blood curdling shriek every time the front brake is applied. I've gotta be hitting close to 140 decibles with that bad boy! Oddly, the rear brake is dead silent. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tim
a Racer
from Sydney NSW Australia
Date Reviewed: December 5, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Good stopping power with 2 fingers | | Weaknesses: | Awful sounding. They squeak like mad. I changed pads, adjusted toe-in, nothing could stop the awful sound these brakes made. | | Similar Products Used: | Avid Single Digit 7 | | Bike Setup: | Norco Torrent 1998 XC, Kinesis Maxlight rigid fork, XT/LX drivetrain, 12-27 Ultegra cassette, easton carbon seatpost | | Bottom Line: | These brakes truly suck! I tolerated them too long, the best move I did was get them off my bike and replace with Avids. They were expensive and made so much noise on the front brake. They did have good power though | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
George
a Racer
from Switzerland
Date Reviewed: November 7, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | city racing | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | online | | Strengths: | great breaking power | | Weaknesses: | none | | Similar Products Used: | shimano lx | | Bike Setup: | marzocchi mx comp, mavic xc 717, all xt | | Bottom Line: | the xt breakes have great stopping power with only 2 fingers. i also had the problem with the squeaking. i can tell you all if they squeak they will always do that no matter what you do to them. the only way to shut them up is to switch the paralellogram. for instructions see:http://www.nobrakes.de/technik/vbrakesilentsystem.htm. after i could not stand the noise anymore it did it. i can assure you it works. even when it rains. no sound at all. if you miss it hold the break and push the bike backwards (i sometimes do just to hear it again) BE AWARE THAT YOUR WARRANTY VOIDS AND THAT YOU DO IT ON YOUR OWN RISK! now that did this i am very pleased with my xt's. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
BLOPA
a Weekend Warrior
from BUENOS AIRES
Date Reviewed: August 16, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | local store | | Strengths: | very very power stop!!!!!! | | Weaknesses: | none | | Similar Products Used: | tektro | | Bottom Line: | this is a brake very powerful, much more better than the original bike`s tektro. who needs disc? really.
its a very good option. no surprises. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
matt
a Weekend Warrior
from mississauga
Date Reviewed: May 16, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$20.00 | | Purchased At: | online | | Strengths: | Great stopping power | | Weaknesses: | perhaps in the wet | | Similar Products Used: | Avid V brakes | | Bike Setup: | all XT parts | | Bottom Line: | Light, cheaper now that disks are standard, a good buy and under rated nowadays XT vbrakes stop hard, better then my avid brakes that i had for quite some time. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris
a Cross Country Rider
from Connecticut
Date Reviewed: November 26, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | Nashbar | | Strengths: | Very durable and look good. Good braking power | | Weaknesses: | Squeak!! Somtimes prefer to go into the tree than listen to them squeak to stop. Tried the pad angle adjustment, sanding the pads, cleaning the rims, nothing works. Finally decided to buy new pads and seems to be much better. Did i mention they squeak. | | Similar Products Used: | Cheap stock brakes (didn't squeak and stopped the bike) | | Bike Setup: | XT, LX, Manitou Black Comp Fork | | Bottom Line: | The brakes are good if you can deal with high pitched squeaking everytime you wish to slow down. It lets everyone know where you are... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
JAKE
a Downhiller
from VEGAS
Date Reviewed: November 25, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | THEY WILL STOP YOU! | | Weaknesses: | PADS SUCK! TRIED NEW PADS! CALUPERS SUCK TOO! | | Similar Products Used: | NOTHINGS SIMILAR! | | Bike Setup: | ITs NOT THE ISSUE! MAYBE PROMAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | | Bottom Line: | IN LINE...TOE IN...TOE OUT...$20 FOR KOOL STOPs...3mos OF
FORKING AROUND WITH THIS POS THAT SOUNDED LIKE MY EX-WIFE
WAS WAY BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY! .......CALLED PRICE POINT
AND ORDERED A SET OF AVID SD-7s...$89 FOR BRAKES AND LEVERS.
PUT THE KOOL STOPs ON THE SD-7s...PUT THEM ON THE BIKE...
ADUSTED...TEST RIDE...XTs IN THE TRASH!!! NO MORE MEMORYs
OF MY EX-WIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bill
a Weekend Warrior
from Tokyo, Japan
Date Reviewed: October 19, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | Tamagawa river | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Purchased At: | lbs | | Strengths: | Very strong | | Weaknesses: | Squeal with stock pads | | Bike Setup: | Rigid KHS Montana Crest upgraded to 27-speed with LX and XT components | | Bottom Line: | I am a bit of a clydesdale at 215 lbs (weight lifter) and tend to break a lot of parts. I upgraded hoping to find something that could stop me reliably from high speeds and hold well on steep downhills.
These brakes are very powerful as expected and have great feel. However, with the stock pads and no booster, they squealed like banshees.
I adjusted them as suggested below with limited results. I also tried Koolstop pads and added a Tioga brake booster to the front with some reduction in noise. They still woke the dead on long steep downhills.
Maybe I had more problems due to fork and frame flex. I can see the frame and forks bow (even with brake booster up front) when I squeaze the levers too hard. Yes, I am using V-brake levers.
Recently I upgraded to BBB triple compound veestop pads from Y's Cycle in Tokyo for 525 yen (about $5 and much cheaper than Koolstops) for a complete set (front and rear). Problem solved! The feel is great too.
I recommend these brakes for anyone who needs more power than traditional V-brakes, but does not want to upgrade to discs (my frame does not have bosses). I suggest replacing the pads with BBB's to eliminate the squeal.
I give them 4 flaming chilis for value since I had to buy two sets of pads and a brake booster before the squeal when away. For performance they get 5 big flaming chilis. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ned
a Cross Country Rider
from Cumberland Plateau, TN,USA
Date Reviewed: June 13, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Powerful stops, right now. | | Weaknesses: | I've had none. | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | Klein Pulse hardtail, Manitou SX, USE post, Raceface cranks, XT/Mustang wheelset, SRAM drivetrain, Controltech stem/barends, Richie Racelite bar, Smoke tires- 21 lbs. | | Bottom Line: | No squeal, ever. I've used these brakes for seven years. I have the Shimano carbon brake arch boosters front and rear. Maybe the reason people have the squeal problem is that their brakes are more powerful than their fork is stiff... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris Pollett
a Racer
from London, ON, Canada
Date Reviewed: June 4, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | fanshawe lake | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$150.00 | | Purchased At: | Cyclepath | | Strengths: | Great all around brakes. Easy pad replacement and adjustment | | Weaknesses: | The press fit parts tend to loosen or develop play but its not too bad. | | Similar Products Used: | XTR Canties, Magura Hydrolics | | Bike Setup: | Nuke Proof Frame Full XT, XTR Rear, V brakes and Spin Wheels | | Bottom Line: | Great for the money and as for the squeel, learn to adjust them and set them right and they are never noisy except in wet conditions. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
david
a Cross Country Rider
from Manchester UK
Date Reviewed: May 27, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Chain Reaction Cycles | | Strengths: | Stopping power is very good.
I like the tension adjustment system with the allen key fitting not the screwdriver fitting. | | Weaknesses: | They HOWL on the front. The rear is fine. | | Similar Products Used: | XTR, Avids, + lots of others | | Bike Setup: | Mish mash of mostly lx and XT | | Bottom Line: | For the price this is a reasonable piece of kit. If you are after Vees that will stop the bike they will do this and then some provided you use clean cables every so often and replace the outers to keep the whole lot running nice and smooth.
Be warned unless you are one of gods children the front will make enough noise to wake the dead at a pitch that will make them want to kill you. This happens in all conditions, wet, muddy. Tried everything to make the noise go away from cleaning the rims with nail varnish remover to toeing. Nothing works. The noise vanished when I upgraded to XTR.
If it wasn't for the noise these would get 4 chillis. They are not quite as good as the XTR's but are nonetheless a good piece of gear. Due to the noise I give them a 3. 4 for value because they were so cheap. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
kevin
a Cross Country Rider
from slo ca usa
Date Reviewed: March 5, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$25.00 | | Strengths: | stopping power, adjustability | | Weaknesses: | fing squeal, this bugs the hell out of me especially because i commute, and am always using "light" braking | | Similar Products Used: | generic brand v's, way better | | Bike Setup: | all xt plus some truvativ | | Bottom Line: | look like it is 50/50 on squeel issue, i have tried these w/ old rims, old forks, new forks, new rims, and soon probably some cheep pads, toes out/in and flat, who knows,dont do it!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jim Short
a Weekend Warrior
from Whitby, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: February 11, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | Local Highschool | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$36.00 | | Purchased At: | JensonUSA.com | | Strengths: | They have great power and modulation, way better than any other v's ive tried. They were easy to install. Look good. Power holds up pretty well in wet. Do not need frequent adjustment. | | Weaknesses: | The squeak is terrible, the back is fine, but the front is a huge pain. I had some luck with koolstops brake pads until i got something on the rim. So when i switched them onto my new bike i used the stock pads, and had them toed in by the shop. They were nearly perfectly quite at first but it soon faded. Now they are terribly loud. | | Similar Products Used: | Deore, tektro, and no name OE | | Bike Setup: | 02 Kona stuff, pslyo xc at 3" of travel, answer protaper bars avid speed dial 7 levers xt v's | | Bottom Line: | I got very frustrated with them. After spending hours sanding rims and pads, cleaning with rubbing alcohol, and even having the adjustment at the shop fade back to squeaking, i gave up on them and have bought Avid's mechanical discs to replace them. The back gives me no problems, but the front was too much of a hassel. A great preforming brake with a terrible sound. I use them for street, they have great modulation for nose manuals (if u can stand the sound) and lots of power for rear wheel moves without slipping. They'd be great for anything if you could get them quiet, light enough and powerful just painfully loud! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
J1Soul
a Weekend Warrior
from New York, NY
Date Reviewed: January 11, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | Forest Park | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | Responsive and strong stopping power | | Weaknesses: | Took some time to get them adjusted | | Similar Products Used: | Tektro | | Bike Setup: | Raliegh M60, LX's, Judy XC | | Bottom Line: | These brakes have not given me any problems yet. They have very strong stopping power. People have emphasized that they squeek but I haven't had that problem. In wet conditions the front squeek just a little, but nothing like what others have described. The pads have L and R indicators. I switched them on the front brakes so maybe thats why they don't squeek. It took a while for me to adjust the spaceers and get the angle so they make good contact with the rim. Overall they perform great, I like them a lot | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John
a Weekend Warrior
from La Habra,CA,US
Date Reviewed: October 8, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Strengths: | stopping power is great. | | Weaknesses: | Squeals loudly | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano LX | | Bike Setup: | KHS tandem Alite | | Bottom Line: | Crashed and broke the LX front brake, then replaced it with this "upgraded" Shimano brake. With Kool Stop pads, you can adjust out the squeal for a while with toe-in. The problem really is loose tolerances in the brake parts, plus loose fit over the brake bosses. I am going back to Shimano LX, which has bushings to pivot on rather than relying on the fork maker to make brake bosses to exactly match Shimano's pivot hole. Don't buy this product unless you can check for excessive free play; return it to the dealer if required. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Peter Thuener
a Cross Country Rider
from Saratoga, CA USA
Date Reviewed: September 10, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$7000.00 | | Purchased At: | pacific bicycle | | Strengths: | superior stopping power, nice silver finish, very straightforward setup. I'm unaware of the squeekiness that seems to be associated with it. | | Weaknesses: | none thus far, and i've owned them for two years. | | Similar Products Used: | Deore | | Bike Setup: | XT V-brakes with Avid levers. | | Bottom Line: | like a very reliable BMW, quick, responsive, and pretty. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Michiel Boelens
a Cross Country Rider
from Anloo, The Netherlands
Date Reviewed: August 3, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | Once you pull your brake lever your bike WILL stop. | | Weaknesses: | As said many times before.. it SQUELLS!!!!! It's so bad you don't wan't to use your front brake anymore!! | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano deore v-brakes, Magura HS33 | | Bike Setup: | Cube Acid, LX/XT setup | | Bottom Line: | The brakes work really good but the squelling on the front brake ins't normal. I tried every possible setup but nothing helps.. even tried them with KOOLSTOPS but it just doens't help. I would go for the Magura's (HS33). Much better controle and they brake even better!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tony
a Weekend Warrior
from Earth
Date Reviewed: July 11, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Simple setup | | Weaknesses: | Squeals!!! | | Similar Products Used: | Avid | | Bike Setup: | Yeti ARC, the best hardtail ever made! | | Bottom Line: | Just like everybody here, the front brake squeals like a pig. Nothing helps. It's so loud that I'm actually embarrassed to use the front brake for fear of waking up the neighbors - two states over. And yes I've properly toe'd in the front. Give me the Avids any day! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Nairn Watt
a Cross Country Rider
from Aberdeen, Scotland
Date Reviewed: June 15, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$80.00 | | Purchased At: | Alpine Bikes | | Strengths: | Stopping power and ease of setup. | | Weaknesses: | None so far.
| | Similar Products Used: | Standard fit Promax. | | Bike Setup: | Standard Gary Fisher Tass. | | Bottom Line: | I highly recommend these brakes as an upgrade to any standard fit V-brakes. Ignore all the reviews abput squeal.The new M7650 brakes that I have have no problems. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Catonsville, MD
Date Reviewed: June 13, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Purchased At: | Local bike shop | | Strengths: | Strong, easy to adjust. | | Weaknesses: | Squeal - The squeal from the front brake rattles my teeth. I've woren down my rears because I'm too embassared to ride the front too hard. I have tried every which way of adjusting the pads, but the squeal comes back. | | Similar Products Used: | XT Cantilevers worked great. | | Bike Setup: | Klien Pulse hard tail with full XT. New Mavic rims | | Bottom Line: | I am very disappointed with this situation and will be switching out the fronts. I wish I had known about this problem prior to putting them on. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris
a Cross Country Rider
from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: June 2, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Gatineaus | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | The brakes are better than the stock brakes that came with the bike and the pads last a decent amount of time. | | Weaknesses: | Squeel! Constant need to toe in the pads to avoid squeel. You may think the squeel problem goes away after a toe in, but as soon as there is any moisture, the squeel is back! | | Similar Products Used: | Avid 1.0 | | Bike Setup: | 1999 Klein Attitude Race | | Bottom Line: | I blew the money on these brakes because they were on sale and I thought they would be better than the stock brakes. They are better, performance wise, but the squeel is very frustrating. I am going to replace them with discs. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Erik
a Cross Country Rider
from Seattle, WA
Date Reviewed: March 16, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Capitol State Forest | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$38.00 | | Purchased At: | JensonUSA | | Strengths: | Excellent stopping power, fine tuning, reliability. | | Weaknesses: | Front brake. S-U-C-K-S | | Similar Products Used: | Avid Arch Rival | | Bike Setup: | Schwinn hardtail, SID fork, XT drivetrain and rear brake, Avid arch rival front. | | Bottom Line: | I would rather not have a front brake than have to use the XT front V. My friend convinced me that they had fixed the squeal but they have not. I finally replaced mine with an Avid arch rival, which is so much nicer, I wish I would've bought two of those first. They are even easier to set up and keep tuned. Now whenever I ride with my friend it feels like the horrendous squeal is chasing me. Do not buy this product for your front wheel, I don't care what anyone says about toe-in, toe-out, new pads, brake boosters, blah blah, read the reviews about one out of six people (maybe) are happy with them. Save yourself the trouble | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeremy Arnold
a Cross Country Rider
from Asheville,NC
Date Reviewed: March 11, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Pisgah National Forest | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | Back Country Outdoors | | Strengths: | Very strong | | Weaknesses: | front brake goes against the physics ingrained in all mountain bikers. Toe in to the front is what we are taught but this brake needs to be toed toward the rear. | | Similar Products Used: | Avid single digit, Shimano Deore | | Bike Setup: | Raliegh team race, Marzocchi MX PRO w/ ETA, Mavic F519 rims, full XT, Race Face Evolve Crank, Club Roost Risers, Cane Creek seatpost | | Bottom Line: | This is a great v brake system once you have it set up correctly. Throw away the Shimano pads and put some kool stops in them.
A note on setting up. I squared the pads on the rear brake to the rim and after several attempts and finally 6 months later a tip from a friend who has a set toe the front brake to the rear. Have the rear of the front brake pads touch first. I used a dime to accomplish the toe in. I've never had a peek out of them since I've done this. My fustrations are over!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Francisco
a Cross Country Rider
from El Paso
Date Reviewed: February 9, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | If all your components are Shimano XT, it will match. | | Weaknesses: | XT brakes are trash. Even LX is better. They have squeaked since day one and no matter what the guys from the LBS did or what pads they put on them, they still squeak! | | Similar Products Used: | Avid 1.0 and my new Avid Ti's (sweet!!!) | | Bike Setup: | YETI AS-R, all XT (now I got Avid Ti's), 517's, Thompson post and stem, etc. | | Bottom Line: | XT brakes suck! They squeak when new, and they will always. All XT's squeak. I would give them zero chili's but the lowest is one. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
David Waters
a Cross Country Rider
from UK
Date Reviewed: February 9, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Scarfeld Pike | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$70.00 | | Purchased At: | www.wiggle.co.uk | | Strengths: | Very good braking power. I like the parallel linkage, keeps the blocks square to the rim.I got a very good price | | Weaknesses: | Fiddly to set up. Front brake squeals when light pressure is applied. | | Similar Products Used: | stx-rc, LX, various stock components. | | Bike Setup: | 7spd setup. Saracen alu frame. Xt calipers front and rear. lx levers. stx-rc shifter pods, lx cranks/bb. xt front mech, xt rear mech. | | Bottom Line: | This review is for the 2004 shimano deore xt brake calipers ONLY.
I paid £50UK (so my estimeated price in $ is likely to be very wayward) I think that for the part this is a very good price. I found these brakes a little fiddly to set up, especially getting the front toed in correctly. I think this is possibly the reason for the squealing when light pressure is applied. TThese brakes are very very powerful. Well worth the £50 that I paid for front and rear calipers.
Would buy again. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
SugarAddict
a Cross Country Rider
from Norway
Date Reviewed: January 13, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | These are the new 760 series XT Vee-Brakes. They Light(er) then before and WAY better. No squeal, no noise, no annoying sqeal (did I mention this?). They have awsome modulation and have a similar feel to them as disc brakes. They have an awsome stopping power.....period. | | Weaknesses: | Not that bling-bling but who whant's to be a bike-ho? I have no idea on how long the pads hold out, but my guess is that they have some new ones compared to last year because I can't get them to squeal no matter how hard I try. | | Similar Products Used: | Promax (Prohoax???) that came stock on bike and MachineTech CnC'ed cantis. | | Bottom Line: | They rock......but they are shimano. Guess Shimano have some "image issues" to work with in 2004..... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ANte
a Weekend Warrior
from Peirrefonds Quebec Canada
Date Reviewed: October 26, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | i prefer urban assault | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Purchased At: | paul cycle and sport (on lakeshore) | | Strengths: | Strong braking ability. Very predictable. Durable. | | Weaknesses: | Noisy when new (first week or so) | | Similar Products Used: | other lower class shimano brakes. | | Bike Setup: | Devinci Vandal S.E. Manitou SX 100mm travel. With Sun Ringle Big Mammoth rims. | | Bottom Line: | These brakes are incredible V's. At first the noise was annoying but it goes away. I've had disc's before that couldn't compare to these on reliability, strength and overall value. I recommend these to anyone who doesn't have the compatibility or the funds for good disc brakes. 5 Flamin' Chilli's all the way ! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Peter Gelme
a Cross Country Rider
from New South Wales, Australia
Date Reviewed: October 16, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Purchased At: | Jenson USA | | Strengths: | Strong smooth braking | | Weaknesses: | Noisy as hell | | Bike Setup: | Iron Horse upgraded with XT/LX parts etc etc | | Bottom Line: | Very powerful brake, great wet/dry weather stopping....IF...you change the pads. From the moment I put them on my bike they were noisy, not just a slight squeel, but enough to wake a whole neighbourhood, when I go for my morning training rides, the other issue is the shimano pads pick up every pebble, or grain of sand, which gives you that lovely grinding sound when braking, topped off with the squeeling, it makes for and damn annoying ride. Put kool stop cartridges in, and squeeling stopped. If I didn't have to change the pads to get them right, they would be a great brake setup. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ron Shufflebarger
a Cross Country Rider
from Winfield, Kansas U.S.A.
Date Reviewed: October 6, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Kaw eagle trail | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Several differant places | | Strengths: | Ease of set up..........that's it | | Weaknesses: | Loose, squeals(wet or dry), and really doesn't have progression in stopping power | | Similar Products Used: | Avid's V's, tri-aligns, shorty's, etc. | | Bike Setup: | Mtn. Bike is Litespeed Obed w/Noleen Elite, xt components, bontrager Wheelset, flite saddle and "NOW" has Avid 7 Ti's, also had v's on my Blueridge and wife's bike, same story changed them all to Avids!!!!! | | Bottom Line: | After a couple of years and having 3 different sets on 3 different bikes. They have all started squealing. Change pads, change toes in, reverse brakes, rub down and clean rims, etc., etc., blah, blah. Have used xt for years and been very satisfied until I ran into their v-brakes. Went to Avids and pure pleasure, no problems, good progression, actually easier to set up, and seems to be holding their set, with "NO" squealing(hardly any in wet). Which wouldn't/couldn't have been said for the xt's. Get Avids and save a lot of trouble--even if the xt's are on sale | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Frenky
a Weekend Warrior
from Zagreb, Croatia
Date Reviewed: September 30, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | Gama, Slovenia | | Strengths: | Good stoping power in dry | | Weaknesses: | Squealing when wet, too heavy | | Similar Products Used: | LX V-brakes, Avid SD 7 | | Bike Setup: | Wheeler Eagle 40, Deore/XT, Avid SD7 brakes/levers, Manitou Axel Elite fork | | Bottom Line: | I`m very sorry I haven`t read the reviews before buying this brakes because I would`ve saved myself some money. In dry conditions these brakes preform pretty well, although not quite as expected from the Shimano XT line (and 60$ price tag). When the going gets wet.. the squeal is terrible, makes you want to cry in frustration, and what`s worst it can`t be fixed. If you drive your bike only in dry weather and can find a good bargain price buy this brakes, otherwise stay away. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
jo mamma
a Weekend Warrior
from kirkland, wa
Date Reviewed: September 9, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | the dirty trail | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Purchased At: | performance | | Strengths: | they make you stop | | Weaknesses: | hard to get adjustment right, pads eat a$$ | | Similar Products Used: | tektro (crap) | | Bike Setup: | rockhopper, various goodies | | Bottom Line: | these brakes work really well when set up correctly, shimano pads suck really bad, replaced with koolstops and squealin quit in the back, added brake booster to calm fork flex and fronts stopped squealin as well. just be patient when setting up and they will work great. 4 turds for value since they are cheaper than discs, 3 overall since it cost an extra $30 to make them quiet | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave
a Cross Country Rider
from Awendaw
Date Reviewed: September 9, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$120.00 | | Purchased At: | PerformanceBike | | Strengths: | Haven't figured out what I would rate as a strength. | | Weaknesses: | Like most everyone else - the squeeling. | | Similar Products Used: | ProMax V-Brake | | Bike Setup: | Fisher Tassajara - stock except for the brakes. | | Bottom Line: | I messed with these brakes for hours before trying the "nickel" toe-in trick suggested by another reviewer. Using the nickel and dropping the brake pad to where it touches the innermost part of the rim (spoke side) seemed to do the trick. You also need to be very sure that the brakes pull exactly even on both the left and right sides. Doing all of this has seemed to eliminate the squeeling.
The problem is going to be in a couple of weeks when the brakes begin to wear with the toe-in. I'm sure the squeel will reappear. I guess when that happens I'll brake the lock on the liquor cabinet.
Shimano you are better than this. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ralph
a Cross Country Rider
from estonia, tallinn
Date Reviewed: July 24, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | any trail i havent ridden yet | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | friend | | Strengths: | Nice look, i have these older ones.Good stopping power. No squeking so far. i have blue ritchey pads. | | Weaknesses: | none so far | | Similar Products Used: | shimano promax | | Bike Setup: | Marin hawk hill frame 2002 XT, XTR, LX and other crap... | | Bottom Line: | these brakes rock, i reccommend to buy these, well worth the money. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Serle
a Cross Country Rider
from South Wales
Date Reviewed: July 23, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Cwmcarn and Sirhowy valley | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | Came with bike | | Strengths: | If you like trik looking bits these do it | | Weaknesses: | In the dry they work well, although not as good as my LX's on previous bike.
As soon as the front brakes get the slightest bit of moisture on them they SQUEAL like nothing I have ever heard. Saves me having to buy a bell for the pedestrians though.
I tried toe-in, changing pads, cleaning rims etc etc - all with absolutely no effect. | | Similar Products Used: | LX, Avid 7's | | Bike Setup: | Used to be all XT until yesterday when I found a wrongly priced complete set of Avid 7's for £30! So I bought a couple of sets for mates before the shop realised their mistake:) | | Bottom Line: | I will never consider shimano rim brakes ever again. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jose Chavarria
a
from SJO
Date Reviewed: July 22, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$80.00 | | Purchased At: | Guilly's | | Strengths: | Good braking power, pedestrians and car drivers, well, even truks drivers will know you 're comming! | | Weaknesses: | I can't handle the squealing anymore, it's the most anoying product I've bought ever, I've also changed my rims and there is no f... way the it stops! | | Similar Products Used: | Avid | | Bike Setup: | Trek 4900, everything has been replaced but the frame | | Bottom Line: | I suppose I have no choice but buy new brakes, maybe XTR will do it without that amazing amount of noise! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
dude duder
a Cross Country Rider
from brisbane
Date Reviewed: July 20, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | chocolate budda | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$15.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | awesome braking power, i can do a nose manual with these babies now | | Weaknesses: | some squealing while braking hard with wet rims, no worse than promax vbrakes i used to have | | Similar Products Used: | promax v brakes, shimano cheapie vbrakes | | Bike Setup: | mongoose wing comp, xt mechs, standard shimano shifters/brake levers | | Bottom Line: | these brakes are awesome. They enable you to stop better when wet than standard vbrakes, are on par with cable discs, and from comparison with a mates magura julie hydros, not far off hydro discs also. I am running kool stops on the back and aztec fibromax red pads on the front, with a slight toe in on the front, and they perform faultlessly. I have run it through a few creek crossings, but other than the standard vbrake squeal until they dry on the next downhill, they perform very well when wet, much better than standard vbrakes. I suspect most people having most dramas with these havent set up the gaps/ distances/ pad adjustments specified in the shimano maintenance manual. go to shimano.com and download it, set the brakes up like i have here and you should be laughing, (and doing nose manuals!) | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Shawn
a Cross Country Rider
from Virginia Beach, VA. USA
Date Reviewed: July 10, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Chiva Falls, Tucson, AZ. | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Strong braking. | | Weaknesses: | Squealing that makes you want to crash rather than stop yourself while having to hear it. | | Bike Setup: | Proflex 5000, XTR, XT, Marzocchi, Mavic, Kore, Chris King | | Bottom Line: | First of all, I know the idea is that these brakes keep the pad parallel with the rim surface. I'm not sure why this makes a difference. Doesn't it only matter that the pad is parallel when its contacting the rim surface? I think its more a gimmic than anything else. But regardless, I don't have a problem with the braking power these brakes provide. Very strong stops without much effort. It's the squeal these things make while doing it that's killing me.
I work on my own bike 99% of the time. These brakes made me break down and bring it to a bike shop to have them set up. New pads, new wheels, pro setup... made no difference. Front set squeeled as soon as I picked it up, and back set was quiet for about 20 minutes, then back to that same squeal. And man, it's not a quiet squeal either. You could almost compare it to one of those air horns they use at football games.
Also, and less importantly, these things are coated with some kind of clear coating, which have yellowed and is now flaking off. Doesn't affect their performance, but it looks nasty.
I've been very happy with everything else I own by Shimano, but these things you need to avoid. I think I paid around $60 for these things, which ain't all that cheap. I'd keep them if it weren't for the sound they make, but when you don't want to use the brakes because of noise, its time for a new set.
I am buying Avid Single Digit Ti brakes today. If any of you who are already deaf want a set of brakes cheap, mine will be on EBay tonight. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Shawn
a Cross Country Rider
from Virginia Beach, VA. USA
Date Reviewed: July 10, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Chiva Falls, Tucson, AZ. | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Strong braking. | | Weaknesses: | Squealing that makes you want to crash rather than stop yourself while having to hear it. | | Bike Setup: | Proflex 5000, XTR, XT, Marzocchi, Mavic, Kore, Chris King | | Bottom Line: | First of all, I know the idea is that these brakes keep the pad parallel with the rim surface. I'm not sure why this makes a difference. Doesn't it only matter that the pad is parallel when its contacting the rim surface? I think its more a gimmic than anything else. But regardless, I don't have a problem with the braking power these brakes provide. Very strong stops without much effort. It's the squeal these things make while doing it that's killing me.
I work on my own bike 99% of the time. These brakes made me break down and bring it to a bike shop to have them set up. New pads, new wheels, pro setup... made no difference. Front set squeeled as soon as I picked it up, and back set was quiet for about 20 minutes, then back to that same squeal. And man, it's not a quiet squeal either. You could almost compare it to one of those air horns they use at football games.
Also, and less importantly, these things are coated with some kind of clear coating, which have yellowed and is now flaking off. Doesn't affect their performance, but it looks nasty.
I've been very happy with everything else I own by Shimano, but these things you need to avoid. I think I paid around $60 for these things, which ain't all that cheap. I'd keep them if it weren't for the sound they make, but when you don't want to use the brakes because of noise, its time for a new set.
I am buying Avid Single Digit Ti brakes today. If any of you who are already deaf want a set of brakes cheap, mine will be on EBay tonight. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
K!ll*Joy*One
a Cross Country Rider
from Los Feliz, California
Date Reviewed: June 2, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$28.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo,,,$28 each | | Strengths: | Shimano XT v-brakes are very easy to adjust, their side tension adjustments use a 2mm hex head screw instead of a phillips head= easy...nice detail, and have incredible linear force | | Weaknesses: | Shimano provides very disturbing brake pads for these v-brakes. They deteriorated noticeably on my first ride with these pads on the lower Merrill-Echo Mountain-Sunset Ridge single track loop...gouges where a surprise on my rear brakes. These pads were loud, maybe its the material they use? I dont know why a company like Shimano cant dedicate some R&D on some decent "Shimano" pads. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano LX v-brakes | | Bike Setup: | frame: Access XCL 2003 Redux (Black Dupli-Color Touch up & my grafix)
derailleurs: XT RD-M750SGS & XT FD-M750
cranks: LX M572 & ES51 Octalink BB
pedals: Time ATAC Alum
front suspension: 2001 Manitou SX-R
brakes: XT M750 v-brake/w KoolStop pads & rear A.C. brake booster/w (Racebolts.com) Titanium bolts
headset: WTF Grease Guard
stem: RaceFace Prodigy
bars: RaceFace riser AirAlloy
computer: Cateye Mity 3
levers: MachineTec sexy ZeroFlex
shifter: 1998 SRAM Attack 8 speed baby
grips: Yeti Hardcore
cables: Avid Flak Jacket brakes & derailleurs(red!aghh)
saddle: WTB SST-2k Ti
seatpost: Thomson Elite 27.2mm
wheelset: Mavic 517 & XT M750 HuBs
tires: IRC XC Mythos 2.1
cassette: XT M737 8-speed
skewers: old Specialized rear Ti & front steel
| | Bottom Line: | The problem that most peolple seem to be having with this v-brake is the noise. I solved my problem with a simple solution: Koolstop V-brake pad inserts, AC brake booster and some adjustment savvy. The Koolstops are key and the toe-in should be directed more towards the opposite end of the "angle tip" of the pad. Once the pad's "angle tip" and opposite end meets the sidewall evenly then your adjustment is 98% complete. Now adjust the tension screws to have the pads symetrically even distance from the rim's sidewall surface and you are done! It worked for me and I am now a happy rider with some silently nice stopping potential. I give 5 enchiladas for value ($28 a v-brake) and 4 enchiladas because they were close...but not close enough with their substandard "Piccolo Pete" brake pads! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
K!ll*Joy*One
a Cross Country Rider
from Los Feliz, California
Date Reviewed: June 2, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$28.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo,,,$28 each | | Strengths: | Shimano XT v-brakes are very easy to adjust, their side tension adjustments use a 2mm hex head screw instead of a phillips head= easy...nice detail, and have incredible linear force | | Weaknesses: | Shimano provides very disturbing brake pads for these v-brakes. They deteriorated noticeably on my first ride with these pads on the lower Merrill-Echo Mountain-Sunset Ridge single track loop...gouges where a surprise on my rear brakes. These pads were loud, maybe its the material they use? I dont know why a company like Shimano cant dedicate some R&D on some decent "Shimano" pads. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano LX v-brakes | | Bike Setup: | frame: Access XCL 2003 Redux (Black Dupli-Color Touch up & my grafix)
derailleurs: XT RD-M750SGS & XT FD-M750
cranks: LX M572 & ES51 Octalink BB
pedals: Time ATAC Alum
front suspension: 2001 Manitou SX-R
brakes: XT M750 v-brake/w KoolStop pads & rear A.C. brake booster/w (Racebolts.com) Titanium bolts
headset: WTF Grease Guard
stem: RaceFace Prodigy
bars: RaceFace riser AirAlloy
computer: Cateye Mity 3
levers: MachineTec sexy ZeroFlex
shifter: 1998 SRAM Attack 8 speed baby
grips: Yeti Hardcore
cables: Avid Flak Jacket brakes & derailleurs(red!aghh)
saddle: WTB SST-2k Ti
seatpost: Thomson Elite 27.2mm
wheelset: Mavic 517 & XT M750 HuBs
tires: IRC XC Mythos 2.1
cassette: XT M737 8-speed
skewers: old Specialized rear Ti & front steel
| | Bottom Line: | The problem that most peolple seem to be having with this v-brake is the noise. I solved my problem with a simple solution: Koolstop V-brake pad inserts, AC brake booster and some adjustment savvy. The Koolstops are key and the toe-in should be directed more towards the opposite end of the "angle tip" of the pad. Once the pad's "angle tip" and opposite end meets the sidewall evenly then your adjustment is 98% complete. Now adjust the tension screws to have the pads symetrically even distance from the rim's sidewall surface and you are done! It worked for me and I am now a happy rider with some silently nice stopping potential. I give 5 enchiladas for value ($28 a v-brake) and 4 enchiladas because they were close...but not close enough with their substandard "Piccolo Pete" brake pads! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kimo
a Weekend Warrior
from Honolulu
Date Reviewed: May 29, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | To work and back | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$64.00 | | Purchased At: | BikeFactory in Honolulu | | Strengths: | Trick looking. Solid caliper arms. | | Weaknesses: | Just like "Richard's" review below my front brakes squeal like crazy. Back are okay....go figure. | | Similar Products Used: | Avid single digit | | Bike Setup: | GT XCR-4000 | | Bottom Line: | I'm not a total believer in these "parallel-push" brakes. Sure, it sounds good in theory but my old Avids performed just like these and with NO SQUEAL! The only reason I continue to use these is because I wasted my hard, earned bucks on this set up. If I can get rid of the squealing I'd rate these "5" but with the squeal I'll give it a "3". | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Richard
a Racer
from Mainz (Germany)
Date Reviewed: May 23, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$58.00 | | Purchased At: | www.bicycles.de | | Strengths: | None really, for me the cheap deore v-brake actually works much better | | Weaknesses: | Squeeel! Couldn't make them quiet. Switched back to my old deores (these are quiet) because I felt embarressed when using these brakes. Also asked at a local bikeshop and they told me it's a known problem with these brakes. Shimano also admits to this in their online faq. They say: certain combinations of rim and fork will produce squeel. But they don't specify what rims and forks exactly. The solution they offer is to use some special sort of brakepads which they also sell. I prefer to use my old brakes which were always quiet no matter what pads I used.
The rear brake works fine by the way, go figure... | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano deore v-brakes | | Bottom Line: | waste of money for me as I am not using these brakes anymore. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kevin T
a Cross Country Rider
from Dallas, TX
Date Reviewed: May 21, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$56.00 | | Purchased At: | supergo.com | | Strengths: | Look nice, feel nice, stop on a dime with pretty good modulation for v-brakes (when used with the xt levers) | | Weaknesses: | Hrmm...instructions could have mentioned what the adjusting blocks in the levers are for. They went so far as to put warning tags on the front lever and caliper to be familiar with the braking after removing them before riding...you would think at least a mention in the docs would be appropriate. =) | | Similar Products Used: | ProMax stock shiznit. | | Bike Setup: | 2001 Trek 4500 - 2003 XT mega 9 crankset, BB, derailleurs shifter/brake levers and rear cassette, XTR narrow chain, Selle Italia Prolink Gel saddle. | | Bottom Line: | As others mention, if they aren't setup right, they WILL squeal. Here's how I adjusted mine, took all of about a minute per pad:
1) Loosen the pad retaining nut just enough so the pad can move, but not "flop around".
2) Line the bottom edge of the braking surface of the pad as close to the inner edge of the rim braking surface as possible (with the pad in line and not going past the braking surface)
3) Put a nickel between the back of the pad and the rim and squeeze the brake lever.
4) Tighten the pad retaining nut.
5) Adjust tension screws to even out the pad to rim clearance on both sides.
5) Ride..if it squeaks, go back to 1.
If you can't or aren't willing to adjust parts on your bike then find a good wrench and have them done right. These are a great deal and well worth the money.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
henry
a Cross Country Rider
from london
Date Reviewed: May 19, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | hamsterly | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$28.00 | | Purchased At: | Halfords | | Strengths: | Good brake, stops well on decent rims. | | Weaknesses: | Fragile, lots of parts to go wrong | | Similar Products Used: | Avids / Hope mini | | Bike Setup: | Garyfisher hardtail XT gear | | Bottom Line: | These brakes work well, but there are too many parts to go wrong. The little pin on the back of the parallel linkage brako, rendering the pair useless. Have switched to discs. They cost more, but are infinitly better. Would get a decent score, but as fragile parts canot be replaced seem pretty will have to give 2 chills.... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ryan
a Racer
from Duluth, MN, USA
Date Reviewed: May 13, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | Positive feel at the lever
Improved stopping power over Avids | | Weaknesses: | Squealing!!!
| | Similar Products Used: | Avid | | Bike Setup: | Kline, XT/XTR
Manitou fork/Kinesis rigid fork for most riding | | Bottom Line: | Yes, they squeal. Adjust the toe, clean the rims, change the pads (XTR), etc. More squeal. Try this. Change the fork. With my suspension fork the front brake squeals uncontrollably, installed my rigid fork with the same pads, rims, toe in, etc. no squeal. Don't tell me it's a set up problem. Bottom line. They will likely squeal and there is nothing you can do about it. Keep shopping. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jan van Tonder
a Racer
from Vienna
Date Reviewed: April 14, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$80.00 | | Strengths: | Easy installation and adjustment | | Weaknesses: | SSSQQQQQQUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEAAAAAALLLLSSSSS like hell on the front wheel. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano LX | | Bottom Line: | I'm sure these brakes are durable and high quality and all, but I've tried every trick in the book. The front brakes squeal like hell. Unless you want to kill old ladies, you can't realy apply force on the front brakes. Rear brakes are fine. Anyhow, I'm buying other brakes. Most probably SRAM 9.0. My expierence with LX brakes was faaar better.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Cookie
a Cross Country Rider
from Cambridge,Ontario,Canada
Date Reviewed: March 8, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | R.B.G.Ham Town | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Duke's On Qween, T.O. | | Strengths: | Their strength is their strength. Somehow they're magically cheap! They can be set quite tight which I love. I always say I like my brakes to be "Bam Bam Bam" Ya dig? No-Gush. | | Weaknesses: | They're an eye-sore. Big, thick, silver blah. It gets a little tight room-wise when adjusting. | | Similar Products Used: | Dia-compe V's., Worked well until they actually fell to pieces. They became quite loose and wobbly near the end. | | Bike Setup: | '98 Rockhopper overhauled top to bottom for beefitude. Manitous, Tru-Vativ Hussefelt, tough wheels, tough everything. | | Bottom Line: | These are unreal brakes! (Now I started with the rear U-brake caliper under and behind the bottom bracket of my Ritchey so braking is a whole new world these days.) I can stop on a Canadian dime, and front wheel hop it a few times for good measure.(No, not really) They're just darn good brakes. I'm amazed by so many complaints about squealing. Toe-'em in people or get someone who knows, an easy set up, and good as any disc I've ever ridden. Now those SQUEAL!
X.C., Hucking, Trials, Shore, U-name-it. Don't drop with them, don't pro-downhill it'll just go all wrong I'm sure, use yer noodle.
Here's a tip- I found with my wider Sunn rims the arms really stuck out, so I switched the pad washers around so the thickest one was closest to the nut rather than to the rim. Bingo, no more heel unpleasantness. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Cookie
a Cross Country Rider
from Cambridge,Ontario,Canada
Date Reviewed: March 8, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | R.B.G.Ham Town | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Duke's On Qween, T.O. | | Strengths: | Their strength is their strength. Somehow they're magically cheap! They can be set quite tight which I love. I always say I like my brakes to be "Bam Bam Bam" Ya dig? No-Gush. | | Weaknesses: | They're an eye-sore. Big, thick, silver blah. It gets a little tight room-wise when adjusting. | | Similar Products Used: | Dia-compe V's., Worked well until they actually fell to pieces. They became quite loose and wobbly near the end. | | Bike Setup: | '98 Rockhopper overhauled top to bottom for beefitude. Manitous, Tru-Vativ Hussefelt, tough wheels, tough everything. | | Bottom Line: | These are unreal brakes! (Now I started with the rear U-brake caliper under and behind the bottom bracket of my Ritchey so braking is a whole new world these days.) I can stop on a Canadian dime, and front wheel hop it a few times for good measure.(No, not really) They're just darn good brakes. I'm amazed by so many complaints about squealing. Toe-'em in people or get someone who knows, an easy set up, and good as any disc I've ever ridden. Now those SQUEAL!
X.C., Hucking, Trials, Shore, U-name-it. Don't drop with them, don't pro-downhill it'll just go all wrong I'm sure, use yer noodle.
Here's a tip- I found with my wider Sunn rims the arms really stuck out, so I switched the pad washers around so the thickest one was closest to the nut rather than to the rim. Bingo, no more heel unpleasantness. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Warren Steele
a Cross Country Rider
from Durban, RSA
Date Reviewed: March 5, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Stopping power
Good looks | | Weaknesses: | Unbelievable squealing from front brake | | Similar Products Used: | Avid SD 5 | | Bottom Line: | Back brake works fine with no problems. The squeeling from the front brake is something else. I have tried every trick in the book to stop it but no joy. What is the story? | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
berryboy
a Weekend Warrior
from Aptos
Date Reviewed: February 8, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Wilder | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | mail order xt build kit | | Strengths: | Nice finish; levers. | | Weaknesses: | Just about everything else - poor stock pads, linkage slop, rear frame flex, LOUD front squeeeeeeeeeel that never went away. | | Similar Products Used: | LX, Avid SD7 (now happily using) | | Bike Setup: | Old Rockhopper A1FS, Judy XC, Rebuilt with XT kit, 517s | | Bottom Line: | Should have read the reviews first. On first (road) shake down ride, noticed grinding sound from rear pads. Tiny rocks were now grinding into my new rims. On a very steep downhill section (35mph) the front howled loud enough to wake the dead. People ran into their front yards to see what the commotion was about. Just me and my new XT V-brakes. KoolStop pads, lots of adjustment fiddling, and visits to 2 different LBS could not stop the howling madness. Switched fronts with the wife's bike and now she had the demon squeal. Finally replaced them with Avid Single Digits and my buddies will let me ride with them again. Blessed silence. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Raymond
a Cross Country Rider
from Dallas, TX
Date Reviewed: February 5, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Lake Grapevine North Shore | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$80.00 | | Purchased At: | Performance | | Strengths: | Braking Power (will flex an aluminum frame), looks. | | Weaknesses: | Terrible squeaking! Pads wear quickly. | | Similar Products Used: | Tektro V-Brakes, Avid Single Digit 7's. | | Bike Setup: | 2001 Giant Iguana with XT drivetrain | | Bottom Line: | These brakes were a big disappointment. The pads provided with the brakes were poor to say the least, and I was on to Avid rim wrangler replacements after 2 months of riding 4 times a week. The design of the calipers is such that you get plenty of braking power, but your frame will flex all day, resulting in a sloppy feeling on your back brake caliper. I had to purchase a salsa arch to stiffen things up (an additional $30). Finally, from the day I put them on to the day I replaced them with Single Digit 7's, these brakes SQUEAKED UNMERCIFULLY! I reccomend Avid's products over these. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Yen
a Cross Country Rider
from Yorba linda, CA
Date Reviewed: January 3, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | Local bike shop | | Strengths: | A lot better than my old cantilevers brakes. Great stopping power with little effort. | | Weaknesses: | when wet the brakes do start sqealing, but once it drys up so does the noise | | Bottom Line: | My front fork started to bottom out so i got a knew one and decided to change my brakes while i was at it. After the shop put it on and i took my bike for a spin. wow, it was such a big difference compared to my old xt cantilever brakes. its been great on the trails too, because of the response and ease on my fingers i been able to become a lot more aggressive. i haven't experienced any of the sqealing that everyone complains about, unless its wet. but thats not a problem since i live in southern california. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tom
a
from Budford
Date Reviewed: December 15, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Downhill | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Purchased At: | Wiggle | | Strengths: | I paid £60, i had LX's before these and these brakes have wicked modulation, and extreme power. They are also very adjustable (when you get a tiny allen key that is) They are very light, and DON'T SQEAL! | | Weaknesses: | P.T.O | | Similar Products Used: | LX's, Hope mini(im sure), Hs33(which suck) | | Bike Setup: | GT Zaskar race, Rock shox psylo (with lock out), full xtr conponents (apart from brakes of course) | | Bottom Line: | These brakes honestly do rule! If you don't buy them well thats your problemo. Go on buy em now from www.wiggle.co.uk
(plese note the last person to review these brakes called them bananas? chilis....!) | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
EJ
a Weekend Warrior
from So. Cal.
Date Reviewed: December 14, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Whatever I am riding on | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$120.00 | | Purchased At: | WheelWorld | | Strengths: | Fit and finish. Stopping power. Product integration. These brakes were part of a package, including brakes, and combo shifter/brake levers. | | Weaknesses: | Front brakes squealed at first. Once adjusted, however, they work just fine | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano STX cantis and Cannondale OEM brakes (Tektro ?) | | Bike Setup: | C-Dale F400 with full XT drive, RaceFace Next crankcase. Shimano 959 pedals, Mavic X517 wheels on LX axles and Maxxis Mobster tires. | | Bottom Line: | Like everyone, I too expereinced that initial, horrible brake squeal. Then I adjusted the brakes and now they are as silent as an Enron auditor. The whole package, for $120.00 ia a real bargain. I like the fit and finish on Shimano products. I give these brakes, shifters and levers 5 full flaming fried bananas. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Shaun
a Weekend Warrior
from Davis, CA
Date Reviewed: December 9, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Stagecoach Tunnel Trail | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | pricepoint.com | | Strengths: | Fairly inexpensive. | | Weaknesses: | I'm a 200 lb feller and these do not stop me for crap. My wrists, fingers, and forarms are plum tuckered after every single ride.
Maybe I need to sack up and quit holding my brakes too much, you say?
No, you shut up if you said that, cause if they worked in the first place I would not have to hold on to the lever as long. Plus I like to enjoy my ride and own ten fingers by the end of it.
Maybe I should have them tuned by a professional, you say?
No. I don't want to. | | Bike Setup: | All kinds of neat stuff. XTR everything 'cept for these pieces of CRAP. | | Bottom Line: | Crappy ! ABSOLUTE CRAP !!!!! I'm gonna get some Koolstop pads at www.jensonusa.com until I can afford some Hope Mini's.
Nyah ! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Philo
a Cross Country Rider
from Florida
Date Reviewed: November 28, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | The faster, the better | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | RJ bike | | Strengths: | Looks nice. | | Weaknesses: | That terrible noise of ........SQUEALING. Not stiff, very soft. | | Similar Products Used: | Ritchey Pro, Avid SD 5. | | Bike Setup: | Mavic rims. | | Bottom Line: | I was very happy when I bought these because of the "parallel push" system. The first reaction was: "Oh my god, what the f*ck is this???" I like very stiff brakes, so I was disappointed. These are very soft. But that`s not as terrible as the noise, as the squeel.... Ooh, the humanity. I recommend it only to deaf people.
P.S. : it brakes fine. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mattis Nilsson
a Cross Country Rider
from Karlshamn, Sweden
Date Reviewed: November 2, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$57.00 | | Purchased At: | Cykelcity | | Strengths: | Very powerful brake! Looks nice. | | Weaknesses: | Squeels badly if you don't adjust it properly and a little bit expensive, nothing else | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano LX, old cantis(they suck bad) | | Bike Setup: | Monoc, full XT, Psylo XC. | | Bottom Line: | These brakes are a little bit tricky to adjust, the pads needs to hit the rim perfect. Otherwise you'll be riding with earprotection not to hurt your ears from the squeel...
But once properly installed you have trusty quiet brakes.
I read all these reviews before I bougth them, it seemed strange to me that so many had problems with these brakes so I just had to try them myself. First the front squeeled so bad that I regreted that I bougth them, but after a few minutes of adjustment it's totaly quiet.
They look nice too. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tom
a Cross Country Rider
from Newport Beach, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: October 20, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Better than old cantilevers, weight | | Weaknesses: | Squeel, not enough stopping power | | Bike Setup: | GT XCR LE | | Bottom Line: | I've "cleaned" the rims, scuffed the pads, adjusted the toe, replaced the cables and housing, but I'm still not happy with these. I'm 5'10" 185lbs and do mostly XC riding. I've almost gotten into trouble more times than I feel comfortable with because I couldn't slow down. The rear would be locking and the front would be squeeling, but I wasn't slowing down. I didn't try different pads. I heard that the Ritchey's are stickier. I'm switching to disc.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
witch doctor
a Weekend Warrior
from bloomington il
Date Reviewed: September 27, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | came with bike | | Strengths: | looks cool | | Weaknesses: | set up is weak, squeal like a pig. | | Similar Products Used: | lx, xtr | | Bike Setup: | voodoo canzo ti, full xt (xtr brake up front now) | | Bottom Line: | wasnt impressed at all with the front xt v brake, the rear was and still is fine. it came on the bike and wasnt working as well as the lx i had before this so i fiddled with it till i was tired of it and ended up switching to xtr. all is good now. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
kin-soon
a Weekend Warrior
from Singapore
Date Reviewed: September 23, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Soon Watt | | Strengths: | Reasonable price. Stops well, good modulation. | | Weaknesses: | Squeals! Especially front brake. But with some tweaking, it is fairly quiet now. Adjust the pads such that they are parallel to the rim surface and get them as close as possible to the spoke side edge of the rim. That worked for me and I think someone posted it in an earlier review. Once set up correctly, they work rather well and are good value for money. | | Bike Setup: | Pricipia MAC SL, XT, mavic, Easton. | | Bottom Line: | Work well at stopping, but prone to squeal. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Derrick Seys
a Cross Country Rider
from Birmingham, AL
Date Reviewed: September 9, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | DPSeys@aol.com | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | Bob's Bikes | | Strengths: | Reasonalbly priced and removeable pads area real plus. | | Weaknesses: | Weak arms and squeal | | Similar Products Used: | Cantis, LX, Paul Compononets | | Bike Setup: | Litespeed Tsali, XT, Race Face, Time pedals, Cane Creek, Hutchinson on Mavic 517 with XTR hubs, and Paul Brakes for the last year. | | Bottom Line: | These came with my new ride in 2000 and faired pretty well. I never liked the feel of Shimano's parallel pull (feel too soft on hard braking with full lever modulation). I had attributed that to frame flex and considered an arch. Spent too much on the Ti frame to take that away. Broke the rear brake in a crash and robbed the old LX from my hardtail (without parallel pull). Immediatley knew the XT linkage was the culprit. Considered XTR, but wanted the simplicity of Paul Components or Cane Creeks Direct Curve. Splurged the $100 for one set of Pauls and used the Shimano cartridges from the old brakes. I never really liked the wear the Kool Stops had on my wheels, and they are standard equip with Paul Brakes. The Kool Stops stopped some of the XT squeal on the front wheel. The Paul's are definitely worth the price. Much Much Much less arm flex. See my review of Paul brakes after one year of no maintenance. I have waited this long to reveiw the XT's to give the Paul's a fair shake. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
pooter
a Cross Country Rider
from anchorage
Date Reviewed: September 7, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | Looks cool | | Weaknesses: | same as all the others: front brake squeal | | Similar Products Used: | avid arch rival 50; xtr | | Bike Setup: | sweet custom job | | Bottom Line: | I had my bike shop look at and re-adjust the brakes, but they kept squealing. I also tried everything I could think of - toe-in, toe-out, different pads, dual pads, old worn pads, sanded pads, scoured rims, a magic spell, lots of cuss words - all to no avail. These pieces of crap squeal when dry, and they squeal so bad in the wet that I can feel the whole front end shake!
I even swapped brakes with my other bike. The squealing stopped with the other brakes on this bike, but it followed the XTs onto the other bike (front only).
I traded them in for XTRs and now all is well. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ivar
a Weekend Warrior
from Umeå, Sweden
Date Reviewed: September 4, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | Local store | | Strengths: | Good, pretty well controlled brake power. | | Weaknesses: | SQUEEEEL!!!
Expensive | | Similar Products Used: | Tektro... | | Bike Setup: | Univega alpina 540. | | Bottom Line: | I really liked the parallel brake system. Easy to adjust the pads, and once in place, they stay there. Good brake power, even with my LX levers.
One MAJOR problem... They never stop squeeling. Never. Tried sanding my rim, sanding the pads, new shimano pads, new Aztec pads. Finally I bought a new front wheel, LX hub, DT spokes and a FIR rim. No change. The tech's at the store couldn't fix the adjustment either.
The rear brake is not squeeling, and works a lot better.
There could be a problem that my fork and frame is pretty soft. But that _should_ not be a problem.
Will shift to Avid Arch Rival.
Plus for good stopping power and minus for price and endless squeel. Do not buy these brakes! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tricky Dicky
a Cross Country Rider
from Ghent, Belgium
Date Reviewed: September 3, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | Good stopping power, works very regularly. | | Weaknesses: | In Belgium they are squealing as well as in the US it seems, BUT the squealing stopped as soon as I mounted Koolstop pads (I use Mavic Crossrocs tubeless). With the Shimano brake pads, 1 trip in the mud and the pads were gone. The Koolstops last much longer and give more braking power in wet conditions. | | Similar Products Used: | Cantilever brakes (not worth a penny), Tektro V-brakes (VERY poor stuff) | | Bike Setup: | Cannondale CAD2 with XT | | Bottom Line: | These are excellent brakes as long as you mount other brake pads (Koolstop is good with Mavic rims, I heard this from several other bikers). Compared to the Tektro V-brakes I had before, they are 10 times better : you won't have cramps in your fingers if the brakes are set up right. Off course disc brakes have even more power, but who needs more power (at least not in Belgium, where the downhills aren't that long)? In the mud, you'll lose the maximum power quite easily, this is the only real disadvantage compared to disc brakes. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mark
a Cross Country Rider
from Eugene, OR
Date Reviewed: August 21, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Moon Point | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$120.00 | | Purchased At: | Collins | | Strengths: | They stop okay when its dry. :( | | Weaknesses: | SQUEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
See Below.
| | Similar Products Used: | Avid Mechanical Disk...Awesome
Avid SD5...Way better than XT.
Avid SD Ultimate...Heaven, I'm in Heaven.
Power Tool V-Brakes (KHS brand) Even these are better than the XT V's. | | Bike Setup: | '97 Stumpy, Zocchi Z2 Atom Bomb, XT shifters/levers, XT f/r derail, LX Hollowtech 9spd, Bontrager RE1 pedals, Avid Mechanical Disk front, Avid SD5 back, Sunn Singletrack Disk w/ XT hub front, Sunn RhynoLite w/ XT hub/cassette, Easton Race Lite Bar, Stock Stem & Headset (waiting for my Chris King), Bontrager Race Saddle, Cane Creek Thudbuster, | | Bottom Line: | #1. From day one the front brake squealed like a stuck pig. Tried multiple pads, multiple rims, multiple settings (my own, or several local shops). Nothing worked they squealed here in the wet Northwest, they squealed in bone dry Moab.
#2. Overly complicated for the stopping power. Avids are far simpler and have better modulation and stopping power.
#3. Crap in the wet. Be it light mist, pouring rain, mud puddle, creek crossing. Nothing like sounding like a herd of squealing pigs, AND not being able to stop.
As to those who THINK they are experts and know how to set up the brakes just right. I'm sure that I and all the others complaining of the Ned Beatty imitation are completly wrong. We and all of our lbs mechanics are suffering from some form of mass hysteria. Or... maybe you just got lucky and found one of the very few sets that function properly.
AVOID THESE THINGS. Buy Avids you'll be much happier. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jin Man
a Weekend Warrior
from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Date Reviewed: August 9, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | All Mexico | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Break as a disk brake, easy to install and getting it fit.
Good power modulation and great braking power. | | Weaknesses: | None at all, except the weight against the Avids brakes. Any way I liked the parallel system. | | Similar Products Used: | A lots of pads and disk brakes. | | Bike Setup: | Trek 6700, all XT. | | Bottom Line: | What is a squeal?
I don't know why people cry about squealing, if there's a problem you should fix it, right?
I don't deny that at first use it squealed, but with just a simple fitting it fixed and no noise again except the wind that blow over head. I think every biker should know more about mechanical knowledge of their own bike.
Any way, these are really good brakes at good price and confident for any kind of terrain. I never had braking problem with them as others that I've tried before, like a cheap shimano or avid models. And if pads are replaced for ceramic, wow! that's a great breaking power that if you don't handle carefully you will fly over the handlebar. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
nick slim
a Weekend Warrior
from cheltenham, glos
Date Reviewed: July 30, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | cwmcarn, wales | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | merlin cycles | | Strengths: | good stopping power, over the last brakes I had wow great stopping power. | | Weaknesses: | as before squeal, squeal, squeal (on the front only) | | Similar Products Used: | every bike Ive ridden had brakes | | Bike Setup: | Trek vrx, psylos. | | Bottom Line: | The rear is good, good enough to remain on the bike, the front had to be changed for hope discs, the squeal was shocking. Before I went with the disc option I tried swopping wheels, pads, putting the brakes on different bike same problem. A friend of mine who used to have his own bike shop said as soon as I got them, he siad "they'll squeal xt's always have done", and he was right. If I still had them on the front from reading the other reviews I think I could fix it but why?? you shouldnt have to any way discs what else is there to say. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mark Verbeek
a Cross Country Rider
from Bracebridge
Date Reviewed: July 19, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Radical Hardwood Hills | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | Muskoka Bicycle Pro Shop | | Strengths: | Powerfull, Great Modulation | | Weaknesses: | None!!!! | | Similar Products Used: | LX, Avid Single Digit | | Bike Setup: | Rocky Mountain Vertex - stock - Race Face, XT/XTR, Bomber Z2 | | Bottom Line: | What Squeal? I think some people should learn to set up their brakes!
I went from hydro disk brakes to XT vee brakes when I bought a new bike. I was pleasantly suprised. In the dry, the XT's were just as powerfull. In the wet, the disk's were more powerful, but not enough to make up for the weight penalty. No matter how muddy it gets, I could lock up my brakes with a one finger pull if I wanted to.
These are fantastic brakes that I would recomend to any cross country rider! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John
a Racer
from Denver
Date Reviewed: July 16, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | m-w | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | everything possible | | Weaknesses: | weight | | Similar Products Used: | avid sd5 | | Bottom Line: | yes, mine also squeelED, yes, it stoppED after a while, i had no prob with them squeeling anyway but whatever these are great brakes for any situation, i might upgrade to xtr's to save weight but these have treated me very well! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Luke
a
from Canada
Date Reviewed: July 3, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Trails at Canada Olympic park | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$64.00 | | Purchased At: | lbs | | Strengths: | Awesome stopping power- way better than my old tektro's!!! great modulation, no squeak! | | Weaknesses: | none at all | | Similar Products Used: | tektro alloy V's, shimano deore hydraulic disk- both much worse | | Bike Setup: | Schwinn with deore xt all around, Bomber mxc | | Bottom Line: | Incredibe brake set! All you people that say that they squeal are full of sh!t!! Get them installed by a pro! no problems
five chili's all around for these great brakes. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ron
a Weekend Warrior
from Burnaby,B.C., Canada
Date Reviewed: June 23, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$65.00 | | Purchased At: | Sports Junkies | | Strengths: | Strong braking power,good feel. | | Weaknesses: | None | | Similar Products Used: | Cheapy V-brakes | | Bike Setup: | '00 Norco hardtail,Deore drive train,Titec cockpit,Bomber Z4 alloy fork,Sun Ryno Lite rims with WTB Moto Raptor 2.4 tires. | | Bottom Line: | The stock pads that the brakes came with,suck! I replaced them with the Kool-stop pads,and had no squeal or any problems since. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tim
a Cross Country Rider
from uk
Date Reviewed: June 10, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$20.00 | | Strengths: | bike flipping stoppage capacity, excellent feel. | | Weaknesses: | A little squeal, but just down to poor quality bike parts | | Similar Products Used: | All manner of v's, canti's, calipers (i'm a roadie really) | | Bike Setup: | Carrera Kraken frame. XT drivetrain easton ea70 bars rockshox judy xc forks etc. | | Bottom Line: | Well, the bottom line is that they stop. With regard to squeal - for those of you that are interested, check the width and quality of the hub and the rim. The hub that was first used in conjunction with these brakes was not wide enough to snugly fit the dropouts on my forx- therefore there was lateral wheel movement, which caused the squeal. As soon as i was able to, I changed the hub and... no squeal!!! amazing! Who should buy this? these were a bargain buy for me (check that price - that was for a pair, and the levers!) Those who are starved of disc mounts on their frame and forx should buy a pair. and those who are starved of disc mounts on their frame should only buy the rear kit. Overall these are great, reliable brakes (I know some of the penalties of having rubbish brakes, i've felt them) but if you cannot stand the squeal on the front brake, and aren't prepared to do something about it- forget it. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Derik Meinkoehn
a Weekend Warrior
from Hamburg
Date Reviewed: May 14, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | single trail | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$65.00 | | Purchased At: | online | | Strengths: | brakes | | Weaknesses: | sqeals like a pig | | Similar Products Used: | coda, old XTs (dont squal), LX, Deore, Dia Compe | | Bike Setup: | Yekyll, mostly XT | | Bottom Line: | A little supplement to my review:
To get rid of the sqealing, Shimano Germany (Paul Lange) recomends a few things, YOU BETTER NOT TRY!
1. Drawing some lines on the rim with a pencil, helps, but You loose a little braking power when it is dry. But as soon as it gets wet, there is no braking power. I mean You cant stop for a long, long distance! no wonder graphite (as in the pencil) is used as a lubricant, too.
2. Adjusting the pads toe out. Yes, heel in, not the usualy recomended toe in. Doing this is verry dangerous! Hard breaking, e.g. during a downhill can force the pads to rotate!
So, still one flame, because of the sqeal … | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Derik
a Weekend Warrior
from Hamburg
Date Reviewed: May 12, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | single trail | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$65.00 | | Purchased At: | online | | Strengths: | stops | | Weaknesses: | squal, sqeal, sqeal | | Similar Products Used: | coda, lx, xt 86, deore | | Bike Setup: | cannondale jekyll, mostly xt | | Bottom Line: | These brakes squeal like crazy. Yes, they stop, but the sqealing is awesome. I tried 4 differnt pads and a lot of different adjusting and even a booster. Drawing some lines with a pencil on the rim helps, but You loose breaking power. And when the rim gets wet the squaling is back.
I changed the breakes back to coda and mounted the Xts on my old hardtail. On the hardtail they seem to be quiet …
I give only the lowest rating, because I thing in times, where man think abaut flying to mars, it must be possible to build high-tech brakes that stop your bike quiet. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Eric
a Cross Country Rider
from Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: May 7, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | The Beer Run | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$85.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | -Loads of power
-Excellent lever feel (paired w/ Avid SD 1.9 levers)
| | Weaknesses: | -Squeal
-Stock pads sucked
| | Similar Products Used: | Avid Single Didget 2.0, many Tektros | | Bike Setup: | '99 Mantra Comp, LX/XT/XTR, Fox, Manitou | | Bottom Line: | These brakes have awsome power but it comes at the cost of very loud squealing. The squeal is annoying but its a worthy tradeoff for the power. Also, the stock Shimano pads can ruin your rims. They dug into my rims and scraped metal out and it was on the pad, ouch. I replaced them with Kool Stops and they work great, even made the brakes a little quieter. Would reccomend these brakes to anyone who wants disc power but rim brakes, as long as you cna put up with squeal. Would be 5 flamin turds but they squeal so 4. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
dean
a Cross Country Rider
from philly
Date Reviewed: April 30, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Strengths: | None | | Weaknesses: | Shimano should be ashamed of themselves. These brakes squeel so bad that they are unrideable. No amount of tuning can fix them. Plus, who wants toe-in/tune brakes before every ride? Shimano should upgrade every person who was suckered into buying these brakes or had them come stock. These brakes stink and should not be considered for any reason! Buy Avids! | | Similar Products Used: | Avid single digit 7 | | Bike Setup: | Dean Ti w/ Rock Shox Sid, Race Face controls, Avid brakes and Shimano componentry | | Bottom Line: | These brakes stink and should not be considered for any reason! Buy Avids! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dean
a Cross Country Rider
from Reading,PA
Date Reviewed: April 18, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Strengths: | They work great. | | Weaknesses: | A little noisy. | | Similar Products Used: | Cheap V-Brakes | | Bike Setup: | 99 Haro Escape, Judy Race fork, LX Crank, XT brakes, XT derailleurs, LX Shifters, Thompson Elite seatpost, Specialized BG PRO TI seat, Specialized Kevlar tires, Ritchey WCS pedals. | | Bottom Line: | Deal with the noise, these brakes work great. A lighter, cheaper alternative to discs. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bike Rider
a Cross Country Rider
from UP, MI USA
Date Reviewed: April 12, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | All | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Purchased At: | came with bike from bike store | | Strengths: | Powerful, easy to adjust, easy to service | | Weaknesses: | Same as all other rim brakes, eventually they wear through your rims and don't work that great when wet or dirty. | | Similar Products Used: | LX cantis, Campy Chorus (yes, I know that's a road brake for most people), Avid mech discs | | Bike Setup: | This one has mostly xt (1998? 99?), Marin Firetrail | | Bottom Line: | They STOP NOW! These things blow the old cantilever systems (if you can remember them) completely out of the water. They stop NOW, are easy to service and adjust, and require very little tuning. Excellent design, but limited by the inherent problems of grabbing a dirty wheel by the sides and squeezing it.
If you have the old-style cantis, you will be completely thrilled (and probably end up over the handlebars the first time you brake hard) by switching to these.
Regarding squeeling: If you adjust them properly, they don't squeel. It's very easy, simply loosen the pad screws, hold two THIN washers against the rim where the back edge of the pads will hit the rim (you could also do 1 at a time) and squeeze the brake lever. Now line up the pads to be parallel with the edge of the rim, and move them down as close as possible to the inside (spoke side) edge of the rim. Tighten the pads FIRMLY and you're done. It takes less time to do it than to explain it. Remember, adjust the cable play to get the pads as close as possible, without touching, to the rim.
Regarding shi+mano pads collecting dirt which destroys rims, yes it's true. Regarding replacing them with cool-stop scraper pads, DON'T DO IT--you'll end up moving the pads out so far from the rim that you have to bottom-out your brake levers before the pads start to slow you down. Just replace the shi+mano pads with Ritchey or regular cool-stops.
They react MUCH faster than my AVID discs when the rims are dry or not very muddy, so it's a toss-up compared to discs. Of course if you bang your rim and get it out of whack or, worse, get a bump in it, then any rim brake will instantly become either useless or dysfunctional, so over the long-term, discs are better. Campy Chorus works even better than these, but you can't use them on most mountain bikes :-(
Bottom line, great brakes, but not as good as discs long-term. Value rating based on the fact that they came with the bike. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jon
a Cross Country Rider
from Bath, England
Date Reviewed: March 24, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Coed-y-Brenin, Wales | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | More powerful compared to my old LX (non-parallel) Vs. | | Weaknesses: | Feel is a bit soft (possibly due to frame flex - although I do run a booster on the rear) and it's all too easy to lock up a wheel.
This only a minor quibble compared to THE INCESSANT SQUEAL OF THE FRONT BRAKE!. From the very first outing the front has made a ridiculous noise like nothing I've experienced before - even in thick mud which usually scrubs the rims and quickly beds in new pads. I've tried the usual fixes - even fitting a front booster but with no effect.
I was dubious about buying these because of their complicated linkage, and it seems to me that it's this linkage that makes these brakes susceptible to resonating on the front. Annoyingly the whole brake system will affect this, so its an easy get out for Shimano to say there's nothing wrong with the brakes it's just my particular set-up (I wouldn't expect them to admit to a fundamental design weakness unless it affected everybody anyway). | | Similar Products Used: | LX (non-parallel)
Alivio (centre-pull) | | Bike Setup: | A comprehensibly upgraded '94 M-Trax Ti-1000 (like you care!) | | Bottom Line: | These brakes are not worthy of the XT badge!. Avoid parallel linkage or get some ear plugs :-). For the first time ever I am going to downgrade my bike, and fit Deore Vs. £50 a set for constant grief = 1 chili value, plus 1 overall as the rear works ok. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Matt Hancock
a Cross Country Rider
from New Zealand
Date Reviewed: February 10, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | all o f them | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Bonthrone Bikes, UK | | Strengths: | It looks good, very stiff and well made. | | Weaknesses: | This brake squeals like a pig and theres nothing you can do to stop it. Say goodbye to your riding buddies...
I've had mechanics from all over the world try to 'quieten them down' with no sucess. | | Similar Products Used: | XTR V-brake, LX V-brake, Older model XT V-brake. | | Bike Setup: | GT Zaskar LE, Manitou Mars
| | Bottom Line: | Quote from Shimano "This is a known problem with some combinations of forks/wheels and the BRM750 brake. The brake is basically too stiff for the lightweight components." It took me 6 months to get a straight answer (and replacement brakes) from Shimano.
Perhaps they work with flexible frames, heavy wheels and forks?
Buy XTR or Avids. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bobvilasrevenge
a
from Bolton
Date Reviewed: February 5, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Purchased At: | bike shop | | Strengths: | Very Powerful, very consistent braking with aperfect feel. | | Weaknesses: | Need to replace parts to make them work! | | Similar Products Used: | Crappy generic Brakes and old Shimano cantis | | Bottom Line: | Here's the deal. These brakes work excellent, their feel power and consistency are flawless due to the design. Unfortunatley, this braking bliss was not achieved out of the box. The brakes worked fine out of the shop but when I got home after a 1 mile ride on the road, I noticed the pads caught a bunch of dirt and started to destroy the rim. Sh!t. That sucked. So I replaced the pads with Kool-Stops and wow, a huge performance increase. The design of the pad removes mud from the rims. But since I had to unhook the quick-release the brakes were knocked out of alignment. Sh!t again. I spent hours adjusting them to finally be rewarded with the pads just barely missing the rim with an almost non-existing space. The levers were really loose but at least they worked. I finally went to home depot, bought 4 millimeter set screws and now I have the extra adjustment needed. They work unbelievably great!!! The only grief I have of them now is that the design of them makes the frame flex a ton, but that doesn't really affect their performance. I don't think I would have bought these brakes if I had to go through this much trouble. But they work great...now. Two chilis for value because I had to buy all that stuff I shouldn't have had to and 5 chilis overall because these brakes work great! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bobvilasrevenge
a
from Bolton
Date Reviewed: February 5, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Purchased At: | bike shop | | Strengths: | Very Powerful, very consistent braking with aperfect feel. | | Weaknesses: | Need to replace parts to make them work! | | Similar Products Used: | Crappy generic Brakes and old Shimano cantis | | Bottom Line: | Here's the deal. These brakes work excellent, their feel power and consistency are flawless due to the design. Unfortunatley, this braking bliss was not achieved out of the box. The brakes worked fine out of the shop but when I got home after a 1 mile ride on the road, I noticed the pads caught a bunch of dirt and started to destroy the rim. Sh!t. That sucked. So I replaced the pads with Kool-Stops and wow, a huge performance increase. The design of the pad removes mud from the rims. But since I had to unhook the quick-release the brakes were knocked out of alignment. Sh!t again. I spent hours adjusting them to finally be rewarded with the pads just barely missing the rim with an almost non-existing space. The levers were really loose but at least they worked. I finally went to home depot, bought 4 millimeter set screws and now I have the extra adjustment needed. They work unbelievably great!!! The only grief I have of them now is that the design of them makes the frame flex a ton, but that doesn't really affect their performance. I don't think I would have bought these brakes if I had to go through this much trouble. But they work great...now. Two chilis for value because I had to buy all that stuff I shouldn't have had to and 5 chilis overall because these brakes work great! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Alex
a Cross Country Rider
from South Glastonbury, CT
Date Reviewed: January 29, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Red trail in meshomasic state forest | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$37.00 | | Purchased At: | Pig Iron Bicycle Works | | Strengths: | Strong, controlled braking. | | Weaknesses: | Takes a while to set up so there is no squeak. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano M420 V-Brake, Generic alloy brakes | | Bike Setup: | '02 Trek 6700 w/ XT brakes | | Bottom Line: | Great caliper with lots of power. A bit expensive, but thats what you pay for Shimano. When I first got them they squealed like a wild banshee. But after a while of adjustment, they squeak no more with very good braking. Value rating is 4 flamin' chilis because they were expensive. Plus I needed a brake booster for the rear brake. Overall rating is also 4 Chilis because of the setup time. Buy these if your looking for a strong brake and you don't mind to spend some time performing some good old bike love. Not for the guy who never takes care of his bike. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jerry
a Cross Country Rider
from Dunedin New Zealand
Date Reviewed: January 22, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | Friend | | Strengths: | stoping power | | Weaknesses: | squeal | | Similar Products Used: | Tektro | | Bike Setup: | Giant 2002 Inguna,RST omega tl,Deore group | | Bottom Line: | I want to go back my orginal v brake Tektro . It's not as powerful as xt but at least no squeal !!!! It almost damaged my rear rim. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
danny keller
a Cross Country Rider
from edmonton, alberta, canada
Date Reviewed: January 1, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | xc | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | online | | Strengths: | looks decent, powerful system | | Weaknesses: | the front brake squeals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
really embarrasing when pulling up to a crosswalk when people are around | | Similar Products Used: | cheap v's that came stock on my bike | | Bike Setup: | trek 830, i dumped enough money into it to make it weigh 27 lbs. | | Bottom Line: | i nearly went insane trying to set up the front brakes. toe in the pads? sand pads, file the pads, sanding the rim, buying a new rim, buying new pads, buying new pads again. i have tried everything to get these front brakes to stop squealing!!!!!! every bike shop around my side of town has looked at this problem, and none of the mechanics could figure it out.
too much downtime for my bike: i am fed up with this b.s. and am mounting an avid cps disc brake to my 2001 judy xc. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian Bader
a Cross Country Rider
from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: November 30, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$37.00 | | Purchased At: | Bayview Cycle | | Strengths: | They stop very quickly. I can flip over the front if i try | | Weaknesses: | They make a very loud squeak at first but after about 50 full stops the pads stopped squeaking. Also, my lx levers dont get as much power as my friends xt levers do. | | Similar Products Used: | xtr, lx vbrake | | Bike Setup: | xtr rear, lx front, xt brakes, lx levers, lx shifters | | Bottom Line: | These are a very good brake if you are prepared for LOUD SQUEAKING AT FIRST If you want full advantage of power, buy XT, XTR, of SRAM 9.0 levers. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
astro
a Weekend Warrior
from UK
Date Reviewed: November 29, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Parallelogram is good for narrow rims, power is good with clean pads. | | Weaknesses: | Not as powerful as discs. | | Similar Products Used: | Avid SD, Deore mech disc, normal cantilevers with scott pads. | | Bike Setup: | GT LTS (95), Judy XL (Englund). | | Bottom Line: | Mine have never squeaked! I'm a bit of a stickler for correct bike setup and I can't abide noisy stuff! I must just have the knack! I've just passed these brakes on to my 10 year old daughter's bike because I've fitted Deore mech discs. She uses a pair of Mavic/Bontrager MA40-MB rims that were built 10 years ago and still going strong and true! The parallelogram design helps to clear the tyre sidewall due to it bulging out too far over the 18mm rims. They stop better than most other v-brakes but not as well as discs, especially in the wet (which is all the time in UK!) | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Sebastien
a Racer
from St-Jean, Quebec, Canada
Date Reviewed: November 27, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Montreal's olympic park | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Purchased At: | Sport max | | Strengths: | Stopping power!!! No tar needed. Good modulation even if I don't need much of it(trials) cheap compared to HS-33, looks good | | Weaknesses: | The plastic cap that covers the lower pivot isn't long enough, exposing the spings and pivot point to the elements, this doesn't bother me much since I ride trials so my bike does not see much mud, but it's still cheap for such a brake to have a default like this, The LX don't have that problem.
LOUD!! they owl like a wolf even when dry and they sounds like a whole pack of wolfs when wet. | | Similar Products Used: | cheap V's, HS-33, avids | | Bike Setup: | 2000 Trek 7000 converted for trials | | Bottom Line: | Great brakes, they do their job very well, though XC riders are annoyed by any little things that isn't right on their bike so they would probably dislike these brakes because of the plastic cover and the sound, but for us trials and/or urban riders, they are great brakes!
5 for overall because they do an incredible job
4 for value because at this price shimano could have put a plastic cover that actually do his job. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Sebastien
a Racer
from St-Jean, Quebec, Canada
Date Reviewed: November 27, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Montreal's olympic park | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Purchased At: | Sport max | | Strengths: | Stopping power!!! No tar needed. Good modulation even if I don't need much of it(trials) cheap compared to HS-33, looks good | | Weaknesses: | The plastic cap that covers the lower pivot isn't long enough, exposing the spings and pivot point to the elements, this doesn't bother me much since I ride trials so my bike does not see much mud, but it's still cheap for such a brake to have a default like this, The LX don't have that problem.
LOUD!! they owl like a wolf even when dry and they sounds like a whole pack of wolfs when wet. | | Similar Products Used: | cheap V's, HS-33, avids | | Bike Setup: | 2000 Trek 7000 converted for trials | | Bottom Line: | Great brakes, they do their job very well, though XC riders are annoyed by any little things that isn't right on their bike so they would probably dislike these brakes because of the plastic cover and the sound, but for us trials and/or urban riders, they are great brakes!
5 for overall because they do an incredible job
4 for value because at this price shimano could have put a plastic cover that actually do his job. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bag
a Cross Country Rider
from Ottawa, Canada
Date Reviewed: November 25, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$35.00 | | Purchased At: | used from a friend | | Strengths: | -they stop the bike
-easy enough to set up | | Weaknesses: | -not as direct feel as LX V-brakes; sloppy feel
-they rattle like crazy.
-don't 'stop-on-a-dime' as well as the LX V-brakes that came with the bike | | Similar Products Used: | LX, regular cantilevers, Formula disc | | Bike Setup: | K2 Proflex 4000 with Bomber Z1 Dropoff forks, sunrims, XT everything (except LX crank and Bottom Bracket). | | Bottom Line: | -They stop well enough, but since they are worn out, they are sloppy and they rattle like crazy over any bump. I still prefer my LX V-brakes.
-With Kool-stop yellow pads they are almost as good as disc brakes (in dry conditions). | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jared Hartman
a Cross Country Rider
from Sarasota, FL, USA
Date Reviewed: November 1, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$104.00 | | Purchased At: | pricepoint | | Strengths: | Solid feel | | Weaknesses: | takes some time to set up properly | | Similar Products Used: | regular(non-parallel push) shimano v | | Bike Setup: | cannondale hardtail, super fatty, crossroc wheelset, lx front, xtr rear, the rest stock | | Bottom Line: | Works very well once set up properly. There is no sign of any squeal. Powerful brakeset and decent levers. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris
a Cross Country Rider
from Columbia,MD,USA
Date Reviewed: October 12, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Greenville,NC and Roanoke,VA | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$35.00 | | Purchased At: | performance bikes | | Strengths: | feels nice...under the lever | | Weaknesses: | mad noise!!! You cant get these things to stop squealing in a reasonable ammount of time and effort | | Similar Products Used: | Avid and gernic brakes | | Bike Setup: | Trek 4900 | | Bottom Line: | DO NOT BUY THESE...the parallel push technology looks cool and is promising...but the fact is the FRONT brakes squeal very loudly...can be heard at 1/4 mile....I have been able to stop the noise ...after sanding the rim pads...brake booster...tow in.....my advise BUY SOME AVIDS LIKE ME! I was so happy when I put on the avids....took less than 15min....took my bike out front and slammed on the front brakes...stoped on a dime...locked up the front wheel...no noise at all..... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Sean
a Weekend Warrior
from Beaverton, OR
Date Reviewed: October 10, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | cambria | | Strengths: | look beefy it's that's what you're into
good stopping power | | Weaknesses: | squeel like a banshee | | Similar Products Used: | avid SD-7 (my savior) | | Bike Setup: | good quality stuff, as little shimano as possible | | Bottom Line: | be afraid, be very afraid
from the get go, they squeel like a five year old girl, nothing will resolve this
they are powerful brakes and have good stopping power but the squeel is just unacceptable so i wouldn't recommend them to anyone | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Frank
a Racer
from grand rapids, mi, us
Date Reviewed: October 1, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | Jenson | | Strengths: | great stopping power, good looks, light weight | | Weaknesses: | at first the front brake squealed like a woman, but then i fixed mine 9see bottom line) | | Similar Products Used: | Avid SD 3, 7, 20, Arch Rival 50 (current) | | Bike Setup: | Trek 8500: XT /XTR grouping, race face cranks, bar, speedplay pedals (shibby), duke sl | | Bottom Line: | these brakes, yes, both of them, will work if you put the toe of the front pads so it touches the rim just before the rear of the pad. this worked for me and did not compromise the stopping power. try it for yourself. personally, i like avid brakes in general, but shimano did a good job with these brakes and a performance oriented XC rider/racer should not hesitate to buy them. do not spend the money if you are just getting into biking and youre rich. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian Morrison
a Cross Country Rider
from Fairfax, VA, USA
Date Reviewed: August 31, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$140.00 | | Purchased At: | Performance | | Strengths: | Only use them if they are free! | | Weaknesses: | Everything | | Similar Products Used: | AVID Arch Rival 50 | | Bike Setup: | Giant ATX 890 | | Bottom Line: | These brakes suck!!! I tried everything from toe angles, cleaning and sanding the rims, filing the pads and changing to different pads. Nothing will get rid of the evil noise. Solution buy something different (AVID Arch Rival 50's). These brakes belong in the trash with all the other
Shima-no products. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Soth
a Cross Country Rider
from East Bay, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: August 28, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Strong rim brakes, if slightly grabby. Easy set up, pad change, maintenance. | | Weaknesses: | Unbelievable ear piercing HOWL cannot be exorcised. | | Similar Products Used: | cheaper avids, way cheaper generic stuff that seems just as strong and doesn't howl. | | Bottom Line: | These brakes are great, but for the deafening howl from the front. If conditions are dry, you might get lucky and enjoy a few quiet rides. Slip through a little puddle, and suddenly your friends will look around asking, "Where's that train coming from?" Truly, an unbelievably harsh noise.
Toe in? Toe out? Clean rims? Sand the rims? File the pads? Change pads? Shimano pads? Ritchey pads? The shrieking demons that possess these brakes are unfazed. There is no escaping their evil fury. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Edward
a Cross Country Rider
from Washington
Date Reviewed: August 14, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | LaVogues - Hoquiam - The Best LBS | | Strengths: | Rear Brake is excellent but only 1/2 the story. | | Weaknesses: | Front Brake Squeals in ALL conditions and fail when wet or muddy. Isn't this an MTB brake? | | Similar Products Used: | LX - Not the best but never failed and were deadly silent. | | Bike Setup: | Trek Aluminum Y Frame, Full XT headset to bottom bracket, Mavic 517s, 2001 Marzocchi X-Fly 100, Boulton Jack Rabbit rear tiangle and a Stratus XC Pro... | | Bottom Line: | After looking to upgrade my $1,100.00 Trek Y Frame, which came with LX and Bontrager goodies in 1998, I noted that $1,800.00 bikes were now equipped with LX or less. My local mechanic and I decided to fully rebuild the frame I already had and loved, the money saved would pay for the X-Fly, Stratos Pro and Jack Rabbit swing arm. I bit the bullet and forked over $2000.00 and produced the world’s most expensive aluminum Y Frame. Everything turned out to be a sweet riding plush wet dream – until it was time to stop. The howl of the front brakes cannot be described. It is simply unacceptable in any brake at any price. I gave it 50 miles to break in, had it professionally adjusted 3 times to no avail – the squealing, howling pig MF’n brakes never improved. Finally, this last weekend, they did stop squealing. Just get them wet and muddy and head down a fairly mild single track… you won’t be able to stop or even modulate your decent but at least the noise will stop and, what the hell – you still have two feet and a decent rear brake!
The result: I just ordered an Avid Mechanical Disk and new XT Hub to be built with Rhyno Lites of course this must be hand built and will cost me another $250.00!!! A Shimano XT Brake should be better – it is only one step down from their best and yet a worse performer than LX. What pisses you off is not the money – it is the time lost when I could be riding!
If I could take these Flamin' Turds and drop them on Shimano's doorstep I would.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Richardson Kevin
a Weekend Warrior
from Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Date Reviewed: August 14, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Any | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$85.00 | | Purchased At: | eBay (Unopened Product) | | Strengths: | Great stopping power, nice looking, nice feeling on the levers | | Weaknesses: | Squeal like a pig getting ass-raped IF NOT ADJUSTED PROPERLY | | Similar Products Used: | Normal cantilevers | | Bike Setup: | Kona Lavadome w/ XT drivetrain | | Bottom Line: | Every other review complains about the squeal of these breaks. I can agree to some extent. When I first put them on the bike, I literally had an ear-ache and I was quite embarrased they were so damn loud. It was just the front break. HOWEVER, I took them to a good mechanic, came back an hour later, and the squeal was GONE. Same pads, no toe-in, toe-out, or any crap like that. 2 of my friends had the same problem and they got theirs fixed completely as well. If everything is set up properly these breaks STOP you FAST and they DON'T squeal. I'll probably end up getting Koolstop pads anyway since the stock ones are supposed to eat rims. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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