so im digging out my hardtail agin which has been stored for a year..looking to upgrade the brakes completely without breaking the bank…any recomendations..not realy looked into different brakes before now…
at the moment on the bike i have Avid BB-5 mechanical disc brake …those horrid lollipop style pads…hate these brakes….!!!!
everything else on my specialized myka elite was upgraded last year…i even put on beefier front forks rockshox race…
wanting to do alot more ‘hardtail training’ in the next few months but desperate to change my brakes, cos they are so rubbish… 😉

When I bought my last brakes, all the magazines were raving about Formula Oros, so I bought some. That was 2 years ago, and apart from changing pads I’ve not had to do anything to them. They stop, the modulation is pretty good, and they’re low maintenance. Makes them perfect in my book! 🙂

The downside is that everyone else must think so, as you never see them for sale on the classifieds. 🙁

Oros are the perfect choice just now as the Formula factory store is still knocking out complete kits (inc rotors, hose shortening kits, the whole bojangle) for about what you’d normally expect to pay per end for a brake this good. It’s the older model but still functionally the same, just a slightly different lever.

Really don’t think there’s anything else that competes at the price, unless you want super light.

I prefer my oros to the Jucys and SLX I’ve tried in the past.

Shimano Deore M595s have to to be worth a look. They won a huge disc brake grouptest in this months WMB an apparently beat everything bar Shimano Saints for power. I’ve just changed my LX M585 calipers for M595s and initial impressions are very good. They’re around about £119 a pair from Merlin.

If you want to go cheaper I’ve just bought a set of Shimano BR-M445s for my partner for under £80 (including rotors and IS adapters) from The Woolyhat Shop via Ebay, although I don’t know how they perform.

I’ve been using oros for more years now than any other brake. Very happy with them can be a little fiddle to bleed, but no more than juicys et al.

On One have two of these left:

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/BCAVCOD5/avid-code-5-disc-brake

Front only but a bargain.

Just replaced my Hayes with one of these. It’s light years better in terms of power and feel. Only used it for one ride so can’t comment on durability but performance is ace.