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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 |
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