I seem to hear nothing but negative comments about Avid Brakes. They seem to be a good weight and powerful enough for XC. Is it that people have trouble setting them up and maintaining them properly?

they work well initially, but I have yet to have had more than 9 months out of any rear avid before having to bin it, that includes one juicy 3, 2 elixir R and an elixir CR. I’m off to shimano, I cant afford to spend £10 per month on brakes

want to buy some CR SL? rear is a bit spongy…..

I’m on my second set of Elixir CRs… one set bought from Merlin, were completely fautless. Liked them so much that I ordered them on my new bike – also completely faultless for the past year. I just like how they feel – the modulation seems really good.

The only thing that I’ve found of note is that you have to make sure the pistons are pushed all the way back in when you change the pads, but that’s about it.

Bit of a potch to bleed,but once you sorted out how to bleed properly, they’re good as.

and i always defend them. they’re great, using the same R set for 3 years now, never changed anything but pads and rotors. do need bleeding about twice a year, maybe more, and you have to learn how to do that right.. but they work so well i wouldn’t want anything else. i ride a lot too btw.
you probably hear a lot of negatives because so many new bikes come with them!

edit: and i also bought a 2nd set for a new bike. open any issue of Dirt, almost every bike in last few years has Elixirs on it..

i had 2 sets of elixir R. they are light, have good power. a pain to bleed. i used them for a week but no matter how good i set them up i couldnt stop them from sounding like a turkey when braking, only the rear on both sets. if you google you will find alot of people have this issue. i sold both sets, now have shimano deore m525 and hope tech x2 which are both very good, i do prefer the cheap deore to the expensive hopes

Had a piston cease in the rear Juicy 5’s i used to have, despite it being repeatedly stripped, cleaned and lubed…
At that point I said ‘no more avid’ – but, budget was tight and Elixir CR’s were available for silly money (could be a reason for that…..) and they looked good…. (i know, i know……)
Already had to have the rear in bits, new piston, seal etc….
Working fine now, for how long…..

Bleeding is said to be a bit of a PITA, guess it could be but then, I’ve never bled another make of brake….

Setup – dunno why folk say it’s a faff – I just slacken the bolts, spin the wheel, apply brake, keep tight hold of brake lever, nip up bolts, spin wheels to test… nip bolts up tight….

edit –

i do prefer the cheap deore to the expensive hopes

I’ve just picked up the Mrs’ bike from a mate – one the basis of a 1/4 mile road ride home (not an exhaustive test, I know) the Magura Julie’s on her on one (circa 4 years old) felt bl**dy good…. made me think about future ‘upgrades’, that’s for sure….

Juicys were fine while they worked, but once they’d had a bit of outside ‘use’ became a total PITA to maintain.

Not sure about Elixiers.

I find avids a pain to adjust so there is no rubbing. But once set up they’re great if looked after. Bleeding is easy if you dont use the avid bleed kit. Pad changing is easy. But i still prefer Hayes stroker trail.

Never had problems with Avids, Juicy 3s, 5s and Elixir Rs and CRs over the years.

I’ve had two sets of Juicy 7’s (ran these for about 3 years).

I now have Elixir 5’s on my FS, Elixir R’s on my HT & Elixir R/CR Combo on my freeride bike. I’ve been running the ones on my FS & HT for about 2 years, the others since the start of this year.

Performance wise I haven’t had any issues in that time – all I’ve done is the occasional bleed & replace the pads.

I have used both the Juicys & Elixirs for riding in Europe (Northern Italy, Les Gets, Morzine, Chamonix, Southern Spain & Verbier)

Pad fitting on Elixirs is much better than Juicys & the bleeding is a bit more complicated than other brakes, but it’s fine if you take your time.

I’ve had a few people tell me about issues they’ve had, but my experience has been issue free.

My XXs were utter toss for the £600 price tag! Even after bleeding repeatedly, including by Fishers. They were fully rebuilt twice, they’d work perfectly, then just stop suddenly! The paint flaked off them. I really have nothing good to say about them!

The 2012 brakes address nearly all of the above issue’s, pre 2012 had a design flaw on the lever which made it pretty much impossible to bleed all the air out of them.

I’ve got a set of 2012 XX – have had them for months no problems to report. Just this weekend actually i trimmed the hose on them and didn’t need to bleed either of them.

I’d say shimano etc are more numpty friendly.

I had some Elixer 5’s. Wouldnt hesitate to buy them again. My NEW bIKE HAS XT brakes which are not worth the additional money if i was buying again today.

Elixir5s on two of my bikes, BB7s on another. I find them easy to set up and like the feel. (No squealing here) I’ve never bled any other brakes but find the Avids straight forward enough. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy Elixirs again and the BB7s are the best mechanical disc out there IMO.

When my elixir 5’s work – they are fine. Good stopping power and modulation. Fairly easy to bleed with kit. But…….. The bladders are made from Gorgonzola and split real easily. Had my front go 3 months into warranty (with bike), rear started to go last year and again replaced. And now the brand new warranty replacement on rear has yet again split and oil is weeping out of reach adjust.

Got fed up with them and replaced with shimano xt’s. Power wise they are a bit better but nothing major. As I said, perfectly happy with the performance of avids but in my experience they are not very reliable. Would I ever buy another avid brake???? – NO.

I’ve used Hope E4s for 8 years which were pretty much problem free until the last few months and have just gone to these. They work well but have just found out that turning the bike upside down affects them as there is always as air trapped inside the lever so I now have spongy levers. That’s probably my only gripe

yep, here’s all the problems with Elixirs (?)

1) pad clearance – noise/grit/sensitive to bent rotors
1b) changing pad thickness means changing lever pull drastically (non contact adjustable models)
2) difficult to bleed/need regular bleeding
3) after inverting bike, need to pump a few times to firm up
4) some report long term reliability issues, but most don’t, hard to say how this compares to other brands..

and the good things

1) powerful (one finger lockup for most users if set up right)
2) well modulated (possibly too much modulation/squish for some).
3) reliable within any particular ride – predictable, consistent.
4) quite cheap on sale
5) some report reliability issues, but most don’t, hard to say how this compares to other brands..
6) pad and rotor life seems better than other brands (?)

etc..

hopefully definitive so you can link to this every time this q comes up eh 😉

Running Juicy 5s on the P7 and have been problem free for near 6 years or so. Granted I’ve never attempted to bleed them myself…

Want to buy my avid elixir cr mags? Please buy them! Please!