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Avid Elixir brakes

31 posts & 26 voices | Started 10 months ago by jaffejoffer | Latest reply from batfink

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jaffejoffer - Member

is it true they are sh!te?

my rear brake was feeling a bit squishy so I nipped in my LBS to get it bled.

think he might have been in a bad mood, "oh lucky me, avid f*ckin elixirs, what a surprise" i do know him so he was just cursing at a stranger but he vehemently detests these brakes. "put together with plastic a paper f'kin mache... etc"

is this a reasonable assessment? must say up until now the performance has been tremendous for me.

was planning to get kitted out with Hope stuff eventually anyway as im quite local to the factory. but do you reckon its worth upgrading sooner rather than waiting for them to fail?

Posted 10 months ago #
stumpy01 - Member

They can be a bit tempremental, but they work well. Mine for some reason need bleeding quite often - they don't like being put upside down so I suspect there is some air trapped somewhere.
They are better than the Juicy's that went before them!

If I upgrade I will probably try Shimano next (or maybe Magura).

Posted 10 months ago #
M6TTF - Member

I've switched both bikes to them - bloody love them. Mega powerful, easy to bleed with the proper kit, no problems at all in 2 years apart from snapping a lever in a crash

Posted 10 months ago #
mk1fan - Member

Nowt wrong with them as far as I'm concerned.

People may prefer brakes that feel differently but that's personal taste.

I've not had any issues with bleeding Avid brakes - a bit faffy - but nothing complicated.

Posted 10 months ago #
jaffejoffer - Member

hmmm, they dont like being upside down? that could be my trouble then, its upside before and after virtually every ride!

Posted 10 months ago #
rp16v - Member

i bloody love them iv had mine sins they were first released and only bled them a couple of times and still feel superb in any condition iv they break i will be replacing with the same.

Posted 10 months ago #
HarveyStedham - Member

Everyone has their own personal opinions on brakes (as with all parts!). I personally have never had any real issues with mine. I love the amount of power and modulation they have. I only run 160 rotors front and rear and still plenty of power especially when warmed up (sinterered pads - will be using kevlar soon which should be better from cold).

They do however as someone mentioned, need regular bleeding to be at their best! Might be worth investing in the bleed kit then you can do it yourself in future.

Posted 10 months ago #
avdave2 - Member

I have them but as they are my first hydraulic disk brakes I have nothing to compare them to. I find no problem in stopping but on light braking they do feel like they pulse on and off, like abs. The rotors don't appear to be warped so I don't know if they need bleeding or if it's just a characteristic/fault of them.

Posted 10 months ago #
mansonsoul - Member

I'm a shop mechanic and I hate avid brakes. I know quite a few others who also hate them. This is not a coincidence.

Posted 10 months ago #
doug_basqueMTB.com - Member

They're fiddly and hard to bleed. Once they 'settled in'(it took about 6 months and several bleeds) they worked really well. I haven't had to bleed them for about 8 months and they're standing up great. I hated the codes, the juicy's I used were crap too but the Elixirs seem good. Mine are upside down a lot too but no issues there. I don't love them but I don't hate them either.

Posted 10 months ago #
agentdagnamit - Member

Good "Love / Hate" thread...

I've just switched from Juicy's to Elixirs on Ms AD's bike and they seem pretty good. Certainly worked well in the Lakes last week, on some of the big descents. Agree that bleeding is a pain compared with Hope or Shimano, but at least the pads look easier to change with the new top loading system.

Bite point adjust is a nice extra, and levers available in white too.

Posted 10 months ago #
COZZY - Member

I have a set and they are superb - I can stop on a sixpence with them

Posted 10 months ago #
chalkntrees - Member

I find them a little fickle. Bleeding has helped and was pretty easy to sort out but when they eventually give up the ghost I wouldn't buy another set.

Posted 10 months ago #
robsoctane - Member

my secons bike has BB7's on & they are better that the Elixir I've tried. Don't need to bleed them much either...

Posted 10 months ago #
daveb - Member

I have them on all but one of my bikes and think they are really good. I have the Mag, CR and basic Elixir and think they are all better than the previous Juicy (I thought the 5 was a completely crap brake, 7s were ok). I have run XT and Hope in the past and much prefer the Elixirs.

All personal taste I guess and I also think that they perhaps need to be bled a bit more than they should but its a pretty easy process.

Posted 10 months ago #
herusix - Member

I can't understand why Avids need to be bled so frequently ,that would say to me that there is something fundamentally wrong with the design?

I have Shimano's and have only bled them when switching to some Goodridge hoses and more recently when totally replacing the fluid,this is in about 4/5 years of owning them.

If you were having to bleed motorcycle or car brakes every few months then I think it would raise some serious issues with the manufacturer.

Posted 10 months ago #
mansonsoul - Member

Yeah, I have serious issues to raise with the manufacturer. Avid, your brakes are annoying. Cease and desist immediately.

Posted 10 months ago #
13thfloormonk - Member

If you were having to bleed motorcycle or car brakes every few months then I think it would raise some serious issues with the manufacturer.

This seems to be becoming the norm for high end MTB kit though, just look at suspension forks *nervously glances at new Rebas which haven't been serviced in 5 weeks...*

For what its worth my Elixirs felt great but seemed to suffer from heat build up a little. I think this is my technique though as all my brakes tend to have suffered from this, which is why I'm now running BB7s

Posted 10 months ago #
chiefgrooveguru - Member

Had mine for two years and they're on their second frame. Done nothing in that time except change the pads. Sometimes they squeal but I take that as a reminder to brake less!

Posted 10 months ago #
M6TTF - Member

I can't understand why Avids need to be bled so frequently ,that would say to me that there is something fundamentally wrong with the design?

They don't - only bled mine when I cut down the brake line - and then once a year to refresh the fluid.

Posted 10 months ago #
coatesy - Member

Could almost have been me talking in the original post, but i'd have also mentioned that once they'd been through the very time consuming set-up process(time is tight,and time is money when working in a shop, and every set needs to be properly aligned/bled/pistons free'd up before they leave my workshop), they work very well, and are usually trouble free apart from routine maintainence needs.

Posted 10 months ago #
jaffejoffer - Member

piece of sh!t brake failed again, this time while flying down a descent at Lee Quarry! why is it the more you spend on a bike the more fkin trouble you have with them!? grrr

Posted 10 months ago #
akira - Member

Never had an issue with them, two pairs of fives and pair of CRs currently in the household. Alps, Wales, Scotland and general riding and they haven't needed a bleed or skipped a beat yet. Also I like the way they feel.

Posted 10 months ago #
captain_bastard - Member

i have a set (came with bike) - they suffer the Avid turkey warble, to the point where i'd consider them un-useable

I have read many posts relating to this issue, and the many, many suggestions to fix, but life's to short so i'll swap them with something, anything, else (always had good experiences with Shimano and Magura)

Posted 10 months ago #
nobtwidler - Member

Love them and in two years they have needed bleeding once.

Posted 10 months ago #
avdave2 - Member

I have Elixir's which stop me with no problems and rarely squeal but when applied lightly it does feel like the ABS has kicked in as they pulse. they've done this from new so I think contamination of the pads or warping of the rotor is unlikely and they don't feel spongy so I'm not sure why they do it. it's the first time I've had hydraulic discs so I've nothing to compare them with.

Posted 10 months ago #
jfletch - Member

Do other brakes just set them selves up?

The only discs I've ever had been Elixirs (had Vs before) but setting them up and even bleeding them is a piece of piss. What is so much easier with other brakes?

Posted 10 months ago #
wl - Member

I like my 5s. Cheap, powerful, great lever feel, and they didn't melt in Verbier where more expensive brakes often fail miserably.

Posted 10 months ago #
toys19 - Member

I have two sets, both on 160 discs, they are flippin ace. Avid bleeding is easy..

Posted 10 months ago #
fbk - Member

Got them on several bikes (XC & DH). Yes they can be a little temperamental and a there's a knack to bleeding them but, once done properly, they're spot on.

Posted 10 months ago #
batfink - Member

I've had a pair of CRs fitted to my new bike as a custom option from the manufacturer. It came with Formula Rx's as standard (which are supposed to be better brakes, according to the reviews), but I hated how they felt when I test rode it.

No doubt some people think the Rx's are the finest brakes in the world (my mate being one of them), but I guess it just comes down to personal preference.

I bought the bleed kit after reading threads like this..... and am itching to use it, but so far the brakes feel perfect.

Posted 10 months ago #

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