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I've got some Avid Elixir 5's that I've had on the bike for a couple of years. Whilst not terrible, they have always required regular adjustments and are rarely running without a little rub somewhere or other. That said, I've never had to bleed them and they've always stopped me just fine.
I'm thinking of switching over to Shimano after so many posts on here saying that they are hassle free and rarely need adjustment, if ever.
So why are Shimano brakes more user friendly than Avid? How do they differ technically? Is it as simple as a wider gap between pad and disk? Are there other hassle free brands I should be looking at?
Better made, better design. Simple. Most Avids are fine, but back to back in a workshop, give me Shimano any day. Just throw them at the bike and they're set up. And I've done more sets of brakes than most people I think. 🙂
I've done 3 sets of Avids in the last week or so and one of them was an absolute BITCH to set up, whilst the other two were merely a right faff.
I've got Shimano and Magura to do this week. Bliss! 🙂
i have elixir 7's on mine, and changed pads twice in the past 6 months and required a bleed, not good, had magura brakes for 4 years and didn't need a bleed, plus only went through 1 set of pads in that time, seemed to run for bloody ages! plus they felt so much better.
My elixirs don't rub, I find setting them up fine. However due to the needlessly complicated bleeding system, they need bleeding far too much IMO.