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DH Brake Poll

Which DH brakes are best?

  • '08 Shimano Saint

    Votes: 19 16.4%
  • '08 Shimano XTR w/ 203mm rotors

    Votes: 4 3.4%
  • '08 Avid Juicy Carbon

    Votes: 36 31.0%
  • '08 Formula The One

    Votes: 57 49.1%

  • Total voters
    116

Damo

Short One Marshmallow
Sep 7, 2006
4,603
27
French Alps
I'm basically going to let you guys chose my next brakes.

I am building up a 2008 Yeti 303 for race and Morzine use.

I want light, powerful and maybe a wee bit of bling factor.
 

Kevin

Turbo Monkey
Juicys have never let me down and the Carbons look more bling then any other brake imo.
Offcourse I havent got experiance with those other brakes but Im guessing not a whole lot of people actually have experiance with all of them...
 
Feb 26, 2003
32
0
plovdiv & boston
On steeper tracks I have experienced lack of power with Saints and Juicys I have ridden. I'm with weak hands and was used to Gustavs in the past. This past season I rode Oros and they were powerful enough for me, even in Champery, and The One with 180mm rotor was more powerful than Oro with 200. So for power and feeling, The One would be my choice.

I won't comment on the highly subjective bling factor ...
 

Sir_Crackien

Turbo Monkey
Feb 7, 2004
2,051
0
alex. va. usa.
yeah you let out my two options

codes and oros.

i think the real purpose of this poll is so he can compare brakes for his bike instead of searching. maybe i'm wrong though. if that is true this post needs some major editing
 

Damo

Short One Marshmallow
Sep 7, 2006
4,603
27
French Alps
Sorry guys, I might have started this all wrong:

This isn't a poll on what the best brakes are, just a poll to let you guys chose which of these four options I am about to buy.

Basically I have narrowed it down to these four.

ie: I'm not bothered with other options at this stage.....

Cheers.
 
Oct 14, 2007
394
0
I know its not on the list, but dont think of going for the juicy ultimates....my best bud did this with 203mm rotors...and basically the mono bodied caliper overheated and got hydralocked...needless to say it wasn't a happy ending
 

S.K.C.

Turbo Monkey
Feb 28, 2005
4,096
25
Pa. / North Jersey
I'm basically going to let you guys chose my next brakes.

I am building up a 2008 Yeti 303 for race and Morzine use.

I want light, powerful and maybe a wee bit of bling factor.
I ran the numbers (piston diameters, stroke, brake pad surface area) with jvnixon, and believe it or not the new ONE brakes from Formula have the same power as SAINTS (which is more than the Codes) but weigh a little bit less than Juicy's.

Pretty nice bling factor for the regular ones, but if you want full-on pimpness you can get the polished GM Edition (Greg Minaarr) set.

So you get loads of power and tons of modulation in a lightweight package. Sounds good to me.

:)
 

davep

Turbo Monkey
Jan 7, 2005
3,276
0
seattle
I just cant figure out why the formulas are soooo much $$$ (atleast here in the USA). Brakes with comparable mfg techniques are half the price or less. I can see a premium for 1st world production, but someone in the production/distribution path is taking a large slice of profit.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
WTF with all you? Codes are heavy. He already has/will have a heavy frame so why add weight of codes/gutstavs/hopes/brembos (well the bling factor would be high :P ).

I will definately say formulas. One are better than my k24 and they feel much better than rubber juicys. I'd also recomend goodridge hoses.
 

potta

Chimp
Feb 18, 2008
9
0
I am running xtr with hope 203 floating rotors. Very light, great modulation and stopping power.
 
Oct 14, 2007
394
0
I ran the numbers (piston diameters, stroke, brake pad surface area) with jvnixon, and believe it or not the new ONE brakes from Formula have the same power as SAINTS (which is more than the Codes) but weigh a little bit less than Juicy's.

Pretty nice bling factor for the regular ones, but if you want full-on pimpness you can get the polished GM Edition (Greg Minaarr) set.

So you get loads of power and tons of modulation in a lightweight package. Sounds good to me.

:)
Can i have a look at those numbers, Each year i make horizontal/vertical comparisson of parts...your imput would help alot
:monkeydance:
 

Lollapalooza

Monkey
Jan 22, 2007
527
0
I voted for The One but I don't personally have experience with it. However, the guys at my shop (the fat ones too) all seem to love. Power and modulation are the words that come up whenever describing them. As for the other brakes, Saints are cheap, reliable, and strong but a tiny bit hefty. I have some Juicy's on my DH bike and believe they're fantastic when well bled (I only weigh 140 with gear though). I don't have any experience with the XTR's so I can't comment on those.
 

Monkeybidnezz

Turbo Monkey
Dec 16, 2003
1,212
0
Pac NW
I know it isn't on the list, but did you consider the Juicy Ulitmate levers mated with Code calipers? Super light, and really powerful. If you were considering the Juicy's carbons, I would at least look at this combo.
 

Jettj45

Monkey
Oct 20, 2005
670
3
Butthole of NC
WTF with all you? Codes are heavy. He already has/will have a heavy frame so why add weight of codes/gutstavs/hopes/brembos (well the bling factor would be high :P ).

I will definately say formulas. One are better than my k24 and they feel much better than rubber juicys. I'd also recomend goodridge hoses.

Formulas are only 50g lighter than codes..... thats not heavy.
 

Damo

Short One Marshmallow
Sep 7, 2006
4,603
27
French Alps
Cheers Norbar, well said. :cheers:

If I wanted any of these other suggestions, don't you think they'd be on the list?

There is no way in hell I would buy Hope disc brakes (sorry Brian).

I don't want Codes or Gustavs, never heard of Brembos.

XTR looks out of the race, Saints are lagging behind. Its between Avid and Formula now and it kinda looks like One for a win perhaps...

Both of these are the same price for me, so either way I win.

There are some good answers amongst these posts, so I'll sift through them at the end of the poll and buy what I'm told.

:thumb:
 

S.K.C.

Turbo Monkey
Feb 28, 2005
4,096
25
Pa. / North Jersey
Formulas are only 50g lighter than codes..... thats not heavy.
Actually the ONE's are a bit lighter than that:

Code Front:
http://www.sicklines.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=337

Code Rear:
http://www.sicklines.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=338

ONE Front:
http://www.sicklines.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/6370

ONE Rear:
http://www.sicklines.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/6371

So since those are the original Codes, subtract about 50g for the new mag 08' versions and you're still looking at about a 95g weight savings with the ONE's per system (front or rear)

Can i have a look at those numbers, Each year i make horizontal/vertical comparisson of parts...your imput would help alot
:monkeydance:
No problem - I'll send the Excel doc. to you in a PM later on tonight.

:)
 

Biffff

Monkey
Jan 10, 2006
913
0
I've been running juicy carbons for the past couple years and they're very good. I bought the bleed kit and fitted Goodridge lines. This is an awesome combo.
 

Damo

Short One Marshmallow
Sep 7, 2006
4,603
27
French Alps
What are the Formulas like to bleed and work on?
The Saints are nice and easy and the Avids are a bit more work...
 

sethimus

neu bizutch
Feb 5, 2006
4,881
2,132
not in Whistler anymore :/
Actually the ONE's are a bit lighter than that:

Code Front:
http://www.sicklines.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=337

Code Rear:
http://www.sicklines.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=338

ONE Front:
http://www.sicklines.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/6370

ONE Rear:
http://www.sicklines.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/6371

So since those are the original Codes, subtract about 50g for the new mag 08' versions and you're still looking at about a 95g weight savings with the ONE's per system (front or rear)



No problem - I'll send the Excel doc. to you in a PM later on tonight.

:)
but you can ride them with the juicy carbon levers, so there's still some weight saving potential
 

Steve M

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2007
1,991
45
Whistler
I ran the numbers (piston diameters, stroke, brake pad surface area) with jvnixon, and believe it or not the new ONE brakes from Formula have the same power as SAINTS (which is more than the Codes) but weigh a little bit less than Juicy's.

Pretty nice bling factor for the regular ones, but if you want full-on pimpness you can get the polished GM Edition (Greg Minaarr) set.

So you get loads of power and tons of modulation in a lightweight package. Sounds good to me.

:)
Sick, did you take into account lever blade length, lever blade pull angle, heat dissipation and coefficients of friction? Otherwise it all means pretty much nothing...