SRAM or Hayes, help me decide!

There wasn’t a UK distributor for a while after Hotlines stopped, but Hayes Europe have been very helpful for me when I needed fittings.

Ison Distribution have taken over distribution in the UK, and to be fair, already seem to be keeping good stock of spare parts… They are one of the better distributors in the trade in my experience too, certainly a lot better than the previous distributor was at looking after spare parts and warranty for their brands than the previous distributor ever was!

I swapped from XT to Code Silver and think they’re incredible. Don’t understand the SRAM hate.

Lever feel is so much better. Much better bite point than the XT. Then the added modulation.

Good bleed, and use the R3Pro caliper alignment tool and get the pistons advancing equally.

Spencer from freehub magazine, says they are even better than RSC and a big difference. But if he didn’t like RSC but does the Stealth it must say something.

I won’t really comment on Hayes, but I wouldn’t buy them after seeing the review by Dale. Had enough of Shimano because of their weepy pistons. Along with the mismatched finish, and the caliper halves not lining up right.

Enduro magazine recently did a new brake group test with all the technical stats, well worth a look.

They’ve done a few of these grouptests now and I do find the lab results interesting. Codes consistently perform comparatively poorly, generating a lot of heat and applying a lot of pressure for a resulting braking torque well behind most others on test. It would be easy to think Codes are a match for most other 4 piston brakes on the market, and Mavens must be on a whole new level. Well, that’s not what lab results indicate. Obviously lab results don’t tell the whole story, but interesting anyway.

I’d already read the enduro mag group review but as is always the issue with these things is that it’s not a ‘six month long group review’. Also if I was any of the contenders I’m sure I would be contacted to say ‘we’re doing a group review send us your brakes’, I’d certainly check very thoroughly as to what I was sending. I didn’t study the stats too much because I take more stock from the feel of real people, the machines are supposed to push them to their absolute limit which at 63kgs won’t be me!

I cant imagine anyone has seen it all…. when he starts doing ratings…..

Haha.

I happened to watch it the other day before this thread, and yes – I tuned out and switched it off about 2/3rds the way through.

Tough one.

The Codes are decent I think. I ran the RSC’s for years without any complaints, in the end they went the same way as yours, constant maintenance required. If you like them, then another set will serve you well.

I got a set of Hope V4 in Jan to try, and love them, then another set last month for my other bike. I prefer them to the Codes – more power and modulation. The main annoyance is that they do feel better at the lever with the ridiculous vented rotors, which is more money/weight. Also you’ll need new mounts because the V4 caliper is about the same size as my cat. Bleeding is messier than Codes, but not horrendous. The lever shape and feel is quite different to the Codes, which may or may not be for you, and irritatingly there’s only one way to find out!

My very limited experience with the Hayes (bouncing round on someone else’s bike in a car park) is that they feel a little closer to Codes than Hopes in terms of lever shape and modulation too. They felt nice and I’m sure I’d get on with them if they’re reliable.

Lots of good options really on the plus side.

I used to have Code RSC’s, liked them although always had a bit of pad drag. Now got Hayes, they’re like the RSC’s but more of everything. Including pad drag, squealing and maintenance. Great when they’re not making odd noises. Just like the RSC’s were.

 Don’t understand the SRAM hate.

Because, BITD Avid (before they got a name change*) had just as many QC issues that Hayes did, and that shit puts folks off for life when it comes to stuff like brakes. Plus there’s always feel and lever shape preferences and what have you. I was prepared not to like them as well, but (to my surprise) both my current bikes have SRAM brakes. I think these days, apart from the well known Shimano fading issue, whatever you choose is probably going to be OK.

*SRAM don’t normally change the names of brands they acquire – see Rock Shox, Truativ, Zipp, Hammerhead more recently, and yet they did with Avid for mountain bike brakes…You’ve got to wonder why.

Got Dominion A4 on a bike and like the brakes but for sure spare pads, hoses and fittings are a little more trouble to find.

Shimano hoses fit.

Just been looking on the Hayes site, might be worth getting in touch with them as they say:

Nothing says consistency like a Lifetime Leakproof Warranty and Hayes are proud to offer one as a testament to their confidence in such a well-engineered product.

Thank you. I did try that route but the NZ agent wanted me to send the whole brake to be inspected and they admitted they didn’t actually have the seal kit in stock to replace it. I opted to order the kit from elsewhere rather than be without my brake/bike for weeks. Admittedly this isn’t a great ad for the brakes/brand but I don’t mind much since I’ve done nothing but the occasional bleed in 5 years. I also bought them when seemingly nobody else wanted them so paid £120 for a full set of F+R, so I’ve had my money’s worth and then some!

Shimano hoses fit

Good to know.  I did snap up some dirt cheap Lifeline ones as CRC went under but haven’t tried them yet.

Also loving the Hayes A4. Best brakes I’ve used. Tweed Valley Bikes seem to stock a range of parts now.

I’ve a new unused set of rsc’s that I’ve swapped off my new bike.

We have two sets of Hayes A4s and two sets of Cura4s. The power on the Hayes is awesome with a very light lever feel. The hose is thicker and a bit of a squeeze in the fork crown clamp but went OK in the internally routed bike. The Curas are on my bike and are great as well but maybe not as much power but a small tad.

Sram piston kits for calipers are much cheaper than new brakes. Ive changed a few in the past and they feel like new again.

£12.49 per caliper from here:

https://www.tradeinn.com/bikeinn/en/sram-guide-r-rs-rsc-piston/136474108/p?utm_source=google_products&utm_medium=merchant&id_producte=5068505&country=uk&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwgpCzBhBhEiwAOSQWQZ6mi0f67gyrt0SwqNCCvIZ11ibkuV1LB3mwgLokRV_zmXvnAyH1bhoCg0wQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds