That’s it.. i’ve had enough of my avid exliris. I’ve preserved.. i’ve tired to like them. I’ve had them bled countless times, tried every type of pad and they still play up.

last month I hit the W2 trail, half way round and my rear brake lever goes to the bar and i have no brake. Brilliant! so take it to skyline and they say “don’t tell me, it’s avid right” so they get it sorted by bleeding again and it starts working again.

Rode the quantocks on saturday and all seemed fine again. So i go out for a night ride in bath with a few mates last night, a few miles into the ride and i have no front brake.. Don’t flipping believe this. Rode the rest of the trail with just a rear brake.

So that’s it. the final straw. Gunna hit rosebikes in a minute and order some slx’s. I actually might smash up those god awful avid’s as I don’t want any pain inflicted on anyone else.

Friend has a set of old saints. He hasn’t done anything with them in 3 years. He’s been on the same set of pads for 2 alps trips!!

He said they just work.

What it is it with these avid elixirs? The guys at skyline said 99% of brake problems they get in are avids. Also one of the mobile mechanics in bristol said he gets loads of problems with avids and very rarely shimano.

Are the seals bad at letting crap in? are they a bad design?

sounds like they both needed bleeding? they bled the rear to fix it but not the front, then the front needed doing still?

Sounds more like brake pad “knock off” to me. Look it up…no time to explain 😀

How many times do you need to keep bleeding these damn things? like i said it was working before so wouldn’t give me reason to bleed again.

brake pad knock off?

i had the same problem. I also took them to a bike shop but at ~ £30 for a rebuild I opted to replace (new pad, new disc, new caliper for £60 it didn’t seem worth trying to fix then).

After a while I realised I was replacing them about every 10 months and they were essentially disposable. Then I replaced them with Shimano and now I am happy.

Correct me if im wrong, but if you buy brakes off of Rose Bikes, they will be back to front continental style, ie left lever does front brake?

Avids are on my Canyon they are a great brake when they work,just tried fitting some new pads could not get them in as the piston will not push back enough! going to try and open the bleed hole on my lever to see if loosing a bit of fluid will help!

Rich

Just to really help you, that’s exactly how I feel about my SLXs.

Yes, brakes from Rose are Euro/USA style – right hand is rear. not a hard job to swap over tho…

My Juicy 3s ran for 3 years with only pads replaced. They eventually got eaten by road salt/muck (they were on my commuter). That said, I didn’t really get on with them (stupid pad clips/rubbish pad design/crap finish/stupid tri-align etc).

Now running Deore M596 both ends and they are fantastic! Shimano have definitely got their act together with the new line of brakes. The lever feel is not quite as good as my M4s on my 456, but the power is comparable. Considering the cost difference the M4s are starting to look daft.

Avids are also a pain to bleed, which isn’t as good when they go wrong as often as they do (I think I was lucky).

Can’t help with the Avid’s i’m afraid but I am a big fan of Formula brakes – I run K24 Oro’s on all my bikes (differing rotor size!), which cope admirably with everything from xc racing to the Mega.

They come up cheaply every so often on fleabay etc 🙂

I’m getting that was with my elixir 7s on my mega – I’ve tried to like them, i really have but they’re just driving me nuts.

I’ve got an old set of Deores in the shed that are lurking like the beetle in the top gear african challenge thing…

Just ordered slx brakes from rosebikes (tried to do a cheeky price match with evans but they weren’t having it)

Sounds like they haven’t been bled very well? Or they are faulty.

I’ve got a pair of Elixirs on my Stumpjumper that have been no problem at all.

I recently ditched the Juicys from my Inbred & couldn’t decide between Elixir (so I only need one type of pad for both bikes) or slx/xt. In the end I went for Elixir & they are also fine….probably 6 months old now.

They do seem to be problematic though with lots of unhappy owners. Maybe they suffer quality control issues, so it’s just a lottery whether u get a good pair or not.

Probably a bit late now but I’ve had no end of problems with my new slx brakes and will probably be getting rid soon and going back to avid. Somehow even fiddlier bleed (i am using the epic bleed kit though) and i don’t like where the bite point is, plus the levers look crap. I also have a leaky hose at the lever end of my rear one so i cant even bleed it properly. Also the brand new one cracked at the piston when i pushed them back out (screwdriver between the pads), meaning a warranty replacement was required. Not impressed tbh. Whilst avid seem to need regular bleeding and lubing on the pistons I’ve somehow found em more reliable!

i dont know why anyone would contemplate buying avid brakes…since they’ve been swallowed up by SRAM…they have gone backwards massively.
i’ve been running a hope 6ti and mini8 on my DH bike for 7 years…ive never had anything go wrong with them.
my freeride bike which i sold last year had a hope mini mono and shimano deore set up, again no problems (oh how i miss that bike – damn you wifey for making me sell it!)
my hardtail up until last weekend had been running a hayes 9 and magura julie set up. again no problems apart from the seals finally dying on the julies, so rather than get them repaired it was the perfect opportunity to look for a new back brake…i managed to source a formula extreme fr which seems to do the job, but avid brakes? no thanks, i’d rather not have any brakes on the bike than stick avids on.

Avid are a bit of a faff to bleed, but when done I find they are plenty good enough. Being a mincer I need good brakes .

There do seem to be a lot of Avid haters out there. Just to balance things out a bit, love my avid brakes. Got two sets of Elixir CR and one Juicy 7.

Ok, the Juicys did need bleeding quite a bit and were a faff when it came to pad changing, but the Elixirs have been brilliant.

One thing I did find is that the Juicys don’t like it if you store the bike hung up or upside down. I don’t tend to do that so don’t know if it’s still a problem with the elixir.

I had them on my stumpjumper. Always bleeding and seemed to spend my life trying to get the spacing right without rubbing.

Eventually bit the bullet and took the pistons out. There was a tiny bit of swarf from the piston inside the chamber. Cleaned it out and made a big improvement. Then sold the bike and got a new one with Shimano brakes which have been brilliant.

The only avids I use now are BB7 cable ones. Juicys put me off their hydraulic range for life. That said I have had issues with some shimanos but not nearly as many.

I persevered with Juicy 7’s for a few years, and then just gave up and sold them. Total PITA, lots of maintenance and the ‘tool-free’ design might be fine in a dry environment, but not here.

Although I have a theory that anyone who says Avids are no problem, don’t actually ride much, especially when its wet/muddy etc 🙂

I’ve been Elixir r’s for about 3 years now without even bledding them once! maybe i will the problems will start once they’ve been bled but until now they’ve been faultless (touch wood).

I ride a bit of DH on this bike and i’m a fat knacker so i need decent brakes!!

since they’ve been swallowed up by SRAM…they have gone backwards massively.

SRAM bought them in 2004, the same year the Juicy 7 (their first hydraulic brake) was introduced…

SLX arent with out problems, i got rid of mine as they just did not provide consistent power. It would appear that the hose leaks and covered the pad with oil. So much, that the rear brake ran dry of fluid on 2 occasions. I had a similar issue with a set of deores before that.

Anyone who can recall pre-SRAM Rockshox forks will probably agree that since takeover they’ve been massively improved.

I don’t really get on with Juicys, they’re not terribly well finished and bleeding them is a PITA compared with Hope. They’re often very cheap though.

I’ve had no end of problems with my new slx brakes and will probably be getting rid soon and going back to avid

I’m sorry citizen, you must be imagining things, everyone knows that shimano brakes are “fit and forget”. Please report for re-education immediately.

i like my Avids,not had any problems with them.Try naming them and talking to them in a soothing voice.Mine are called Bert&Ernie.

since they’ve been swallowed up by SRAM…they have gone backwards massively.
SRAM bought them in 2004, the same year the Juicy 7 (their first hydraulic brake) was introduced…

exactly….they should stuck with rim brakes….they were brilliant

Friend has a set of old saints. He hasn’t done anything with them in 3 years. He’s been on the same set of pads for 2 alps trips!!

Hang on he only rides twice a year and weighs about as much as my left testicle.

I agree Avids are a pain to finess get them working though and they are blinding perhaps if you looked after your bike a bit more you would not have this problem? ❓

Here’s a summary of my brake experiences through the shop:

Avids — PITA to change pads as the pistons don’t like being pushed back and often difficult to get sensible lever travel

Hayes — faff to change pads and push pistons back on older brakes

Hope — horrendous pivot wear on older levers

Shimano — very occasional leak issues but nice to work on, rapid pad wear in sloppy conditions with older brakes

Tektro — levers can be easily accident damaged but no other problems

If I was buying brakes for myself they’d be either Shimano or maybe the lightweight offerings from TRP (the posh wing of Tektro).

The only brakes I will have on my bikes are formula… i have heard of a very few compliants regards judder that has been down to the disc but that is it.

Ran old Oros for many years, 6 maybe, never touched them, R1 are great and have never failed and I have RX which also have never failed.

Slowly replacing them all with The One as they are light and powerful, not grabby but excellent modulation.

Avids are bin fodder, period.

Hope look nice…. I have had problems with them in the Alps.

Shimano had a good period of making reliable solid performers but last years range took a step backwards in terms of reliability.

Magura are not a UK brand but I like them.

All my opinions are based on using stuff and or feedback from a large group of riding buddies.

Hope your SLX prove ok…. and enjoy smashing up those Avids!!

The only thing wrong with Formulas is getting them to allow the pistons to move back enough so i don’t get any binding on the brakes at all.

If anyone has any tricks/tips for this on the Formulas i’d appreciate it, would save me spending £300 tomorrow on some HOPE Evo’s LOL.

Exact same problem with my (what were) new Elixer 5’s. They had a bad batch where they’d never hold a decent bleed. i ended up binning them and buying R1’s which are mega.

Don’t get Magura MT8’s either, they’re poop (and stupid money).

He hasn’t done anything with them in 3 years. He’s been on the same set of pads for 2 alps trips!!

Shimano brakes are undoubtedly the best brakes but unless your friend doesn’t touch the brakes I think this may be an embellishment of the truth.

I like my elixir 5’s.

Weeksy which Formula do you have… I haven’t had this problem.

perhaps your set have a touch too much fluid in and that is stopping the pistons going all the way back.

We do have quite a few sets of brakes in this house, most of which are Avids, we have had more problems with the Elixirs than the Juicys, enough to make me think about SLXs but having lots of sets makes switch over a challenge.
But on another note the Juicy 7s on my single speed, my most used bike, have not been touched for 6-7 years and are perfect!

I agree Avids are a pain to finess get them working though and they are blinding perhaps if you looked after your bike a bit more you would not have this problem?

I do.. I take it to people that know what they’re doing 😉

Shimano brakes are undoubtedly the best brakes but unless your friend doesn’t touch the brakes I think this may be an embellishment of the truth.

only very slightly.. but i do know he hasn’t had them bled once and doesn’t change pads. Me on the other hand?!

Even from this thread alone it seems avids get a resounding PITA tag add to that the mechanics i’ve spoken to saying they hate avid’s with avengence and are always in for bleed,seals, rebuilds and shimano is in the minority I feel I don’t want to peserve anymore

I’ll let you know how my slx’s fare

I had a set of Elixir Rs on my bike when I bought it, they were fine to be honest. I’ve since upgraded then to Formula R1s which are fantastic.

Avid’s do seen to have a reputation for being difficult to bleed, funnily enough we’ve never had any problems. Luck of the draw?