The Juciy....
series can be a bit confusing, but it's really rather simple. The Juciy Carbon is simply a Juciy 7 with carbon bits to decrease weight. The brakes are suitable for everything from cross country to light down hill use according to Avid. Though the Code and Code 5 are better DH brakes. The Ultimate is different, though still labled a Juciy, and uses a different caliper and master cylinder, and is rated as a cross country brake only by Avid. The main focus of the Juciy 7 and Carbon brakes is an all around brake, the main focus with the Juciy Ultimate is light weight XC/racing brake. So the Ultimate is unsuitable for more agressive forms of riding for the most part. Simply put the Juciy Carbon is a more powerful brake than the Ultimate.
As for rotors, all brakes in the Juciy series can (Carbons and Ultimates included) be run with anything from 160 to 203mm rotors. The Ultimate may be run with a 140mm rear rotor as well. Then again so can the Carbons, but most wouldn't want to unless they're lightweight riders.
The bottom line is, there's no reason that you can't run the 203/185 combo with the Ultimates. The only things you have to consider are the max recommended rotor size for the fork that is speced on the bike, the best source for that info being the fork manufacturer. And then the cleanrance in the rear for a larger rotor. Some XC FS and Hardtail frames don't have enough clerance for a rotor larger than 160mm in the rear.
You won't get as good of performance out of the Ultimate with the larger rotors as you do with the Carbons, but you should see an improvement. As noted larger lever moment, larger friction area, etc, will make for more bite from the Ultimates within the limits of the caliper design.
As a side note: For the best tell on what brakes are the same and witch are different in the Avid line, download the "Spare Parts List". Then compare part numbers for various brakes. It can be a rather laborious exercise, but it gives an excelent picture of the differences between models. Also the explode drawings point up major differences in design as well.
Good Dirt
series can be a bit confusing, but it's really rather simple. The Juciy Carbon is simply a Juciy 7 with carbon bits to decrease weight. The brakes are suitable for everything from cross country to light down hill use according to Avid. Though the Code and Code 5 are better DH brakes. The Ultimate is different, though still labled a Juciy, and uses a different caliper and master cylinder, and is rated as a cross country brake only by Avid. The main focus of the Juciy 7 and Carbon brakes is an all around brake, the main focus with the Juciy Ultimate is light weight XC/racing brake. So the Ultimate is unsuitable for more agressive forms of riding for the most part. Simply put the Juciy Carbon is a more powerful brake than the Ultimate.
As for rotors, all brakes in the Juciy series can (Carbons and Ultimates included) be run with anything from 160 to 203mm rotors. The Ultimate may be run with a 140mm rear rotor as well. Then again so can the Carbons, but most wouldn't want to unless they're lightweight riders.
The bottom line is, there's no reason that you can't run the 203/185 combo with the Ultimates. The only things you have to consider are the max recommended rotor size for the fork that is speced on the bike, the best source for that info being the fork manufacturer. And then the cleanrance in the rear for a larger rotor. Some XC FS and Hardtail frames don't have enough clerance for a rotor larger than 160mm in the rear.
You won't get as good of performance out of the Ultimate with the larger rotors as you do with the Carbons, but you should see an improvement. As noted larger lever moment, larger friction area, etc, will make for more bite from the Ultimates within the limits of the caliper design.
As a side note: For the best tell on what brakes are the same and witch are different in the Avid line, download the "Spare Parts List". Then compare part numbers for various brakes. It can be a rather laborious exercise, but it gives an excelent picture of the differences between models. Also the explode drawings point up major differences in design as well.
Good Dirt
