I’ve booked my flight to Geneva in June to do the Tour de Mount Blanc. I’ve fitted a shorter stem to the bike, bought some stout SPD boots and new rubber for the trip, and blown the dust off my bivi bag. Now I’ve done all that I’m worrying that the Juicy Threes on my FS’er are not up to the descents and I’ll be coming home in an air ambulance. I had the same paranoia with the Magura Julies on my HT in the Picos de Europa last year but they worked OK and the trip went without major incident.

However, I reckon that the Juicys are a bit more leaky than the Julies, and therefore not as reliable. Plus I’ve heard terrible tales of sudden, bowel purging brake fade with the Avids. I was wondering whether a set of mechanical BB7s might be the answer. I could then use the current Avid rotors on my wheels and my stock of spare pads would be compatable with the BB7s. Does anyone have any experince with the BB7s on long Alpine descents?

Or maybe I should just swap the Julies and Juicys around between the bikes? Hmmm, I hadn’t thought of that one when I started drafting this long-winded request for advice.

Anyway, any advice gladly received.

Cheers, Rich.

Juicy’s are great brakes, just make sure you have bled them properly before you go so they have fresh fluid in them and you will be fine.

Can I have your OnOne if it all goes wrong for you ?

Can I have your OnOne if it all goes wrong for you ?

Yes, but you’ll probably need a 14inch frame 😉

fresh brake fluid before you go

Yes, but you’ll probably need a 14inch frame

No, yours will be fine, I need new drainpipes for the conservatory 😀

juicys are by no means the worst culprits for brake fade but if you insist on dragging your brakes simply pull over to let them cool down every so often.

No, yours will be fine, I need new drainpipes for the conservatory

LOL @ trailmonkey.

How big are you rotors? I bet if you bled the brakes with nice new dot 5.1 and have big rotors they would be fine (based on zero experience of the alps ;))

Avid Juicys? – you’ll clearly die.

A guy I know cooked a set of J3’s last year in the Alps 160mm discs+16 stone=laxative! He ended up having to buy some Mono M4’s with 200mm discs only to find the rear disc fouled the chainstay so had to buy another disc & adapter!

Simple, dont drag your brakes. No need to drag unless you are a scaredy cat.

What does dragging your brakes mean exactly? Just having them on most of the time?

How tough are your new stout SPD’s?? If the Avids do give up half way down use the sole of your SPD on the rear wheel like we did as kids when we had NO brakes 😉

If trailmonkey’s got dibbs on your On-one can I have your bivi bag then ?

PS Are you doing the Devon Dirt on Sunday 19th??

If trailmonkey’s got dibbs on your On-one can I have your bivi bag then ?

Yes, but the French/Swiss/Italian emergency services will probably use it as an ad-hoc body bag. I suggest that you contact them directly in the event of my demise 😉

Are you doing the Devon Dirt on Sunday 19th??

If the weather’s good then I’m doing a bivvy ride on Dartmoor that weekend with Shinythings and the Clevedon Crew. If the weather’s crap then I expect I’ll be lining up next to you on the Devon Dirt start line.
.
http://www.devondirt.co.uk

Cool, maybe see you on the 19th at the start line with your poncho on 🙂

These are what you need 😉
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=34531

i’ll swap you for some hfx 9’s and a big front rotor?

I’ve used Juicy 5’s in the Alps before w/o any issues and I’m a bit of a brake-dragger (especially the rear)

I have fitted 203 Hope floating rotors though which will obviously help.

I have also used Hope Enduro 4’s with no end of trouble, despite frequent bleeding (every day I was there). Juicy’s were much better.

Used older J5’s (so the same as Juicy3s for multiple Apline/Canadian trips. Absolutely flawless, even when riding super long steep tech trails that have the brakes on for 30mins solid.

As above, fresh fuid before you go, big rotors (more surface area for cooling) and you’ll be fine.

I boiled a Mini rear (165) in the alps without dragging at all, with 5.1, but then I weigh fair bit and was doing 1800m>valley floor as fast as I could. No experience with juicys but everyone else I went with was fine on 165s of various makes and types, some even dragging them. Just depends how fast you ride, how much you weigh and whether you’ll be descending from 2700m to the valley bottom in one go or in stages.

Or alternativley ou could buy some Shimano brakes and avoid all this stress in the first place.

Shimano never boil :fact:.

The boys at Trailaddiction use Shimano all season, what more do you need to know?

No experience of Avids.

But with Hope Mono M4s, the first time in big mountains with 180mm disk front, 160mm rear, sintered pads, lots of break fade. Possibly being the 1st time I was dragging the brakes.

On trips since, +20mm front and rear in disk size and organic pads (take spares as they may wear quickly in wet, some say have them bedded in before going, but i’ve never bothered) and a freshly bled brakes before going, the theory being there’s less moisture in your brake fluid. Got bad fade once on stupidly straight steep long bit, out of 4 weeks riding.

Thing is Hopes are notorious for fading, 1st time I went to the alps everyone with Hope’s was suffering (and the guides mentioned this was the norm), thats why Hope recommend floating rotors, organic pads and goodridge hoses for Alps riding.

or the other option just get some Shimano/Avids and they work out of the box with normal hoses, sintered pads and standard rotors.

I have had fade once on some Shimano XTR M965 front brakes 180mm with SSC Pads.

I was coming off from Crug Mawr (550m) to Llanbedr.

On rigid forks.

All 14st of me.

And no rear brake (was waiting on a new rotor, so went for a ride without)

I thought they did rather well considering 🙂

Went to the Alps one year and everybody using Hopes in our group had issues of some sort. I had massive brake fade approaching a switchback with a sheer drop the other side, scary as hell. 😯

Last time out there i was on basic shimano Deore brakes, ‘dragged’ them all week, not a problem.

All three sets of juicys on downhill bikes belonging to me and my mates in the alps last year were pants. All three riders have now switched to Shimano. Fact. I would not recommend Juicys for sustained use, or use at all for that matter.

Personally I prefer the feel of hopes to any other brake, I’d just trade up for a DH4x185 on the rear if I were going again – never had my front one one fade despite having blue’d the rotor on it twice 🙂

I had Hope M4s in the Sierra Nevada last year and was the only one of the group who didn’t have issues with brakes. That said the guide had no probs on his Shimanos and his experience was that everything else was a bit poo