As mentioned on a previous thread I have bought a set of these. I ride a Norco threshold A3 which came with Hayes CX comp mechanical brakes. The bike itself has been a revelation and I’ve really gotten into cx, with the odd race and long off road rides, even though I wasn’t too fussed when I bought it and was following Mrs Kilo’s lead into cx. Having quickly changed the stock wheels the only other area of mild disapointment on what is a budget cx bike were the brakes. When working well they are ok but they seem to need regular adjustment and loose bite quite regularly. Give that it is a budget bike it was never going to make sense up dating to full hydros so the alternative seemed to be TRP HY/RD, however people seem to have mixed views on how well these run, so I was never 100% keen on these. Then I saw the Juin Tech R1s mentioned, there doesn’t seem to be many reviews on them but after more faffage with mechanical brakes I decided to buy a set.
Having ordered them online they turned up within a couple of days. In the nice green box you get the two calipers, a pair of 160mm discs, pair of adapter mounts and the mounting bolts for everything. The calipers take a shimano pad and come with pads fitted.

This evening was the first time I’ve had a chance to fit one and stuck the front on. Fitting was easy enough, the instructions such as they are make sense and allowing for fitting a new inner cable it only took about twenty minutes to get them on the bike. The mounting posts were not needed and neither were the mounting bolts which were too long. The calipers do not seem to run particuarly close to the spokes which I believe TRP’s can do and look ok as well;

No had a chance to test it yet but just applying it in the garden nd it seemed to be a bit sharper than the Hayes, hopefuly I’ll get the rear fitted tomorrow and use them at the weekend.

So at the end of last week it ws time to fit the rear brake, before doing so I weighed it and then took a photo of it on the scale as this seems to be a STW thing to do;

Again the caliper went on easily and all was good to go

This weekend ws the first chance to use the bike being down in Somerset. Saturday was ok conditions on various trails around Ham Hill with mud in places and today was much muddier. Straight away the brakes felt stronger, they set up with much less lever travel and locking up the rear wheel was easily achievable. The brakes felt much better. Out on the trails and they remained strong throughout the two days. They were much more capable than the old Hayes’ brakes and so far I’m very happy with them. Obviously it’s fairly early days but so far so good, Mrs Kilo has said she wants a set of the red version

any updates on this yet?

As requested quick update, still working fine, no issues. Used them for training runs, longish (40 mile) cx rides, in rain and mud. Had to adjust them for pad wear for the first time this weekend which involved turning the adjuster wheel which is just below the bare cable in the picture of the rear brake above so fairly easy, but I believe Trp Hy/Rd adjust themselves so a minus point there.
Unfortunately I’m in no position to answer if they are better than Trp Hy/Rd stopping wise and I’m fairly sure a full hydro system would be much much better but overall I’m happy with them. As an upgrade for £150; they stop well in the mud and have involved a lot less faffage than mechanical discs so money well spent imho. The mrs has some on her bike now but wasn’t brave enough to go for the bright red ones.

Deserves a bump.

Good work mate 🙂

Based on your review i bought some , I went with the red ones 😎 – great brakes a big upgrade from the TRP Spyre brakes i previously had. Brakes ome a lot stronger than the spyre

Interesting to hear the comparison – how are they for free stroke before biting? I like my brakes set up with little clearance but not rubbing…

There’s not a great deal of clear stroke, i sent the seller an email asking about the pistons as they stick out by a few mm even before you connect the cables up – but have been told thats the way they sit.

So you need to make sure your rotors are pretty true (The ones provided were dead true) – And I’ve got mine set up with no rotor rub at all

I managed to get it spot on using some thin bits of cardboard stuffed up between the rotor and pad’s with brake on while i tightened each bolt a little at a time, as on my frame the caliper wanted to pull over to one side as i tightened the bolts.

“Brakes ome a lot stronger” – should have read “Brakes are a lot stronger”

I have a set fitted to a Salsa Fargo. i find the front break a bit ‘soft’ and not as grippy or effective as the rear brake. Have adjusted but doesn’t seem to make a difference. Not sure what could be the issue? all advice / ideas welcome .. as I’m a newbie to disc brakes. Thanks

Guessing it may need a bleed?

So they’re a closed system then, wonder how well they’d cope on the road, seeing as C2’s could expand tot he point of locking up I’m imagining a road bike will be worse? On the other hand, there’s a lot more metal in there than the old Hope calipers by the looks of it which might keep them cool.

I’ve been pondering a set as nothing in budget comes with full hydro brakes, so if these were adequate then at least I could upgrade to R685’s later and transfer the 5800 or whatever onto my road bike and upgrade that to 11s.

Apologies to dig this up, but I’m looking at a pair of these for a disc road build. In terms of functionality, simplicity to install/adjust, weight and cost they seem to be pretty much the best thing out there.

How are these holding up after several months of use?

Any idea how to bleed these?

The instructions say

“Compatible with Shimano mineral oil and disc pads

Bleeding oil by two sides of m5 socket set screw (one side in and one side out). USE SHIMANO bleed block to adjust correct distance of pistons (10-10.3mm).
Then tighten the M5 socket set screw by 2.5 – 3 NM.”

One of the socket set screws is by the actuating arm but at 90 degrees to it the other is on the end of the reseveoir by the J of Juin.

Hope this helps.

Re previous post they’ve been fine, well worth the money. Only just changed the pads in the front set

I just picked up a set from the maufacturer at a fair, so bargain price of 80 quid for the set.

Just one feels a bit softer

£80 for a set!? hot diggidy damn…

I want to finish building up my winter bike asap and didn’t have the £150 for the set available so I folded and got a pair of ‘BB7 road_S’ for £50, they generally get a fairly good write up and they’re black! I can always upgrade in the future. Although by the time I’ve got rotors I’ve nearly spend £80… I’d have been able to afford a set if I could have found them for that little!

Did you definitely get the cable-hydros? and not the full hydraulic ones, which are a lot cheaper.

Cable hydro R1s

GG/Juin Tech were looking for regional distributors at the bike fair here, asked if they were selling them, and they happily did,

Their sales page on their facebook has them for around 100GBP, may be able to import them directly and hope customs doesn’t care.

These brakes are also sold by Acor and tend to be cheaper, koo bikes have them for £93 a pair!

Acor Disk Brakes, £93

Will be looking to put them on my CX bike when funds alow.

Thanks for the heads-up Bigmantrials, just ordered a set from Koo bikes with £5 voucher for newsletter signup… Birthday present sorted 🙂

Ah, I wish I’d known about that a couple of weeks ago, ah well! Can always upgrade later. Let us know how you get on with them.

Is anyone using these with 5700 or 6700 shimano levers? How are you getting on with them?

After my TRP Spyres died after a muddy cx race I decided to give these a try.

The Spyres have been okay but the internals are very exposed and struggle in muddy conditions. It eventually leads to them becoming stiff. You can strip and clean them but mine have got progressively worse.

I notice the newer Spyres have a bit more mud protection but these are cheaper and lighter. No brainer really. Did think about the Shimano hydros but they would have been £100 more.

I got the Acor version for £99 posted on eBay. They are a grey colour so maybe not as nice looking as the black or red but £50 extra for a colour isn’t worth it for a cx/winter bike.

They came in a similar box and had the rotors, bolts and the calipers. The discs are basic but do the job. The build quality of the calipers looks good.

Fitting was really straight forward. Just a case of winding the pad adjustment to its slackest position. Fit caliper to frame, thread the brake cable, centre the caliper and set your desired lever pull.

A previous review I had read raised a concern about pad clearance but there is a good mil or so. The ability to adjust the pad bite point is straight forward.

Only had one wet road ride but initial impressions are good. Good power and modulation and able to lock the back wheel easily. The bite at the rear wasn’t quite as sharp but they probably just need a bit more bedding in.

A week of commuting and an anticipated very muddy cx race on Sunday should put them through their paces this week.

Regards

I’ve run the Acor version of these on my hack/gravel/mooching about bike for around a month now, with Tiagra 10spd sti.
They are definately more powerful than the bb5 on my wife’s bike, and feel a bit ‘nicer’ too to someone more used to mtb hydraulics.
Definately streets ahead of the cantis on my old bike!

Let us know how you get on spangelsaregreat – i’m thinking of getting these for my Croix de Fer to replace the BB7s.

My Acor versions of these have been great too for the last few months. Biggest hills i’ve tried them on are the Surrey Hills, but i’ve yet to get any brake fade or lever pump or anything like that despite trying my best by dragging them down some hills.

Hi,

Well my use of the Acors was a bit short lived.

They bedded in well and were providing excellent stopping power for the first week. However, I rode them on a cx ride and then rode a race the following day. Before the race started I noticed the rear brake lever started to develop play in it. When I stopped to check it out I found that the calliper pistons were sticking on. I was eventually able to free them by pushing the pads back but it didn’t last.

The front seemed fine so I returned the calliper for replacement thinking it was a one off. However, a week later the front went the same way. I decided to cut my losses and return them for refund and managed to get a set of Shimano RS685s for £250.

Fitted them this week but still to ride them but they pass the garage track stand test with flying colours. They came completely disassembled so had to put the whole thing together and fill and bleed the cables. It was by far the easiest hydraulic disc set up I have ever done. Was a bit concerned about some reports of excessive lever throw but these have the perfect feel.

Hopefully they will live up to all the positive reviews when ridden tomorrow.

The Acors turned out to be a bit of a disappointment as when working they were excellent. Probably just unlucky getting dud set as others don’t seem to have had any problems. If you are sticking with cables they do seem a good buy.

Regards

Used mine last week in FOD area and had no issues, including descending Symonds Yat and similar hills in the area.

Finally got round to fitting my set a week ago, had one ride on them so far and was impressed despite them being brand new and not really bedded in. Always suffered with a bit of strange vibration & noise on the previous Avids, that is completely gone now (despite still using the Avid rotors). Time will tell if they prove durable, but first impressions are certainly good!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Warehouse-Clearance-Sale-2015-Acor-Hydraulic-Disc-Brake-Set-Silver-/151910717626?hash=item235e9598ba:g:7u8AAOSwHQ9WaChP

£71 for the Acor version at the moment. Tempted to upgrade my BB7s at that price.

EDIT- looks like they went about 10 minutes after I posted this :-/

New listing:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Warehouse-Clearance-Sale-2015-Acor-Hydraulic-Disc-Brake-Set-Silver-/151911521228?

Bargain at that price!

Only just found this thread due to another manufacturer announcing an identical brake:
http://grit.cx/news/2016/10/new-disc-brake-from-yokozuna-usa

Anyone with any updates?

Shame that it didn’t work out for your spangelsaregreat.

Main reason I’m looking is because I still like my cross-top levers, so until hope launch their hydro ones there aren’t many options.

Don’t use the bike much nowadays, upgraded to full hydros on a new bike, but the join tech brakes are still working fine

Double post

I’ve been using the Acor version for a good while now – having replaced some TRP Spyres that I thought were superb themselves; I just wanted a little more power when braking from the hoods. The Acor brakes have that, though there’s perhaps not quite so much feel as the Spyres. They’re reliable, a doddle to set up and easy to live with. So saying – I’ll be treating the Tripster over the next few months with an upgrade to shimano full hydraulic / 11 speed, which I’m looking forward to.

Had my Acor for about 10 months now. They are a little wooden feeling with my old style Tiagra levers, felt better when I tried them with new 105 though.
Had a slightly sticking piston in front one at end of winter/spring but I gave it a clean & a wipe with a drop of brake fluid on the seal and it has been fine since so I think it was a road salt/gunk issue.
Uberbike pads seem to be fine in them, quieter than the stock ones in the wet.

I’ve got the acor ones… They’ve been great – far better than spyres. More feel than hope v twin.

They’re a great simple design. Ok, not as good as a fully sealed hydraulic system, but I find them more robust than mechanical discs in wet and mud as I find mechanical systems fill their guys with crap and stop working effeectively.

Great review of the Juin tech over on ukcyclocross

Thanks guys. Sticky pistons is the only fault I’ve read about, and if it can be fixed with a clean, then that’s all good.
£109 seems the cheapest price at the moment – good value at that?

Cheers

I’m 10 months in, using my ACOR brand calipers, been great so far, no issues. Still crave full hydraulics, but these are pretty much the best setup I’ve found if you need/want to retain cable actuation.