I'm looking to get some brakes for my new bike build and saw a set of these for a good price on Merlin – with 160mm rotors. What are people's experiences of them in terms of stopping power, ease of service etc? I currently have mono minis on my other bike, and have used minis before that. How would the Juicy 3s compare to them?

They won't be fit and forget like your minis but should have similar power with slightly better modulation. I'm not a fan of the crazy spherical washers for setting up the callipers.. either they work first time or you sometimes have to "coax" them with a gentle rub of a hammer.

I run 3's and 7's on my rigs. I have no complaints re performance. I run 180mm up front for a bit xtra beef. Bleeding is a dark art, get the latest juicy bleed kit and follow instructions to the letter, if you need to shorten hoses etc.

i've got some juicy 3's and some 7's. the 3's are very good power wise. however, they do have a lot of lever throw before they bite, so the lever is near the bar. the juicy 7's have adjustment for this so it's not a problem.

for the price (74.95) for the pair they are great value!

FWIW I've never had that much trouble with the spherical washers – after initial adjustment and first use, the caliper sometimes needs re-seating, and I find I need to re-do it every month or so – they seem to twist out of alignment with time. i'd still highly reccomend them though! It's so easy to set them up.

I've had the 7's for 18 months i think and havn't had to bleed them.

Blatent plug – Would you like to buy my Juicy 3 SLs?
They have a metal lever rather than the plasic one on normal 3s (I believe) They came on my Pitch and are very good brakes, but I've got some Magura Louises sitting in a drawer that I'd rather use 🙂

203mm front, 185mm rear, nice long hoses in VGC. Front and rear, ready to fit, £75 posted.

Email in profile if you're interested.
🙂

PP – that's the price new of these ones from Merlin 🙂

Thanks for all the replies – sounds like they're good, but need a bit more regular fettling than Hopes.
The standard ones have plastic levers? Hmm – not a great fan of that. Any issues with them snapping etc?

I have the same 3 SLs as PP – they're pretty decent at stopping my 16st bulk, but they seem to need bleeding often to avoid having quite a lot of lever travel before they bite.

I have a set on my Rockhopper and have found them fine. I also run them with 203mm & 185mm as i find 160's never give me enough stopping power.

If you were going to run bigger rotors then the avid ones are pretty pricy so the 2nd hand offer above is not actually too bad as the rotors would cost around £60 new for both.

I've had to bleed mine more than my other brakes but it's fairly easy to do (especially when your mate always does it for you while you just sit there and watch!).

Metal brake levers on the ones I've just got. And a wee screw which I assume is for adjusting the reach although I haven't checked..

The reach adjust screw on mine is sort of inside the lever – but it moves the whole lever as well as just the bite point. So if you want to move the bite point out you sometimes have to have the lever further out than you would want it.

The bite point is unaffected by the grub screw, it just positions the lever at rest on mine.
The 7s allow this ajustment.

Does anyone know a way to change the bite point by over filling or such like?

I was thinking of putting a washer on the pushrod on the inboard side of the circlip to stop the rod retracting so far from the poston.

PP – that's the price new of these ones from Merlin

Err, no it's not. J3s are £100 a pair, with inferior spec and smaller rotors….

🙂

My J3s were great when they worked. I got rid of them due to issues with sticky pistons and the spherical washers corroding which meant I had to align them manually.

Could just have been mine though.

PP – sorry, I was refering to the price new of the juicy 3s that I'd seen at Merlin and mentioned in my original post – these ones – Merlin deal – rather than yours specifically – obviously these ones have smaller rotors, and, like you say, plastic levers instead of metal.

I change the bite point on my brakes by

1) Push pistons back
2) Pull lever and make sure BOTH pistons are moving evenly
3) Place wheel/disc into place and make sure it is central (Best time to do any adjustments)
4) Remove wheel
5) Pull lever a few times untill pads are approx width of disc apart.
6) Replace wheel/disc
7) Tape lever to bar overnight.

I think this has the effect of setting the pistons return point closer to the disc than before. (As long as its in correct fluid setup etc beforehand). The reason i go through the process of moving the pistons back etc is that if you do move the pistons closer to the disc, if they are lazy, you are guarenteed brake rub. So its best to make sure they are moving correctly first. Maybe even get them lubed/cleaned first.

Personally I'd spend the extra few quid and get some Magura Julie HPs every time.

They are miles better made than any Avid brakes, and work far more reliably (and you'll make up the extra cost in a few months in reduced pad wear in my experience).

J3s do not have plastic levers.

Or you can buy my lovely juicy 5's with 160mm rotors for £70…