Quantcast

Hayes Stroker opinions/reviews?

Inclag

Turbo Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
2,750
439
MA
I did search and didn't find very much. Anyone have any time on them? Weight seems reasonable, but from what I did read and with Hayes reputation I'm considering just keeping my Juicy 5 and getting new pads/lines/and maybe levers.
 

jcook90

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2006
1,211
1
Connecticut
I demoed a Jamis Parker II (real cool, economically priced bike) that had a set of stroker rydes (low end model). I was actually quite impressed. They actually had this thing called modulation which was a surprise from Hayes, felt pretty good. I'm sure someone who has used them more than once will be able to say more than me, but I would consider a pair of the trails for my next set of brakes.
 

jcook90

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2006
1,211
1
Connecticut
Oh yeah, there's some sort of play in the caliper because when you squeeze the brake and push the bike back and forth, the brakes will make a clicking sound and the wheel will rotate. The pads can be seen moving as well. Happened on both the front and back of the bike I demoed and on another bike in the shop with strokers.
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
i got the trails with 8 inch rotors and i'm 160lbs (165-170 geared). I've had them for a month, and i'm totally stoked about the feel, they don't get that grabby feel at the very start when you squeeze the levers, they're very steady in how they ramp up, and they have enough power to lock up either wheel with one finger no problem. I would think anybody short of 220 lbs would have no trouble locking them up with one finger.

I will, however, be switching back to my codes, because after 2 weeks of playing around to eliminate the noise from them, and the fact that theres already play in the lever body (like lots of it) I'm not totally stoked about the construction of it.
 

Eren

Turbo Monkey
Mar 18, 2006
2,874
0
mill creek, WA (now in Surrey UK)
By any chance is it a 4-piston version?
yep :pirate2:

I've heard they are working on a 4 piston version, I'm not sure if its strokers or something new. I was just told Hayes plans to make a 4 piston brake soon.
yep there making a 4 piston stroker DH brake.

looks like the old mono





the lever with the orange is apparently going to a DH caliper as well. at least thats how i was informed

its gonna be called the Ace, and i hear mid season- start of 09 season

edit:
Ace


the gram??
 

Hougham

Monkey
Mar 28, 2007
375
3
Have sold quite a few and not had any come back with any problems yet. That is quite impressive on its own. But they have not been out that long in the UK.
 

Trekrules

Turbo Monkey
Apr 12, 2007
1,226
148
looks realy nice,i hope that they will give other 4 piston brakes a hard time like hope and avid.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
I got to Demo the strokers at Interbike, and I have to say I liked them. I dont like to have to think about what my brakes are going to do in a given situation, and these worked very well, Modulation was good, power was good. Thiking about getting a set for myself
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
Thats because all the people who bought them are still in the Hospital or not found yet from going over the cliffs due to no brakes! :D
gotta say man, aren't you the one who always wants to test stuff out and decide about stuff for yourself? calling out a company for trying to revamp its line and saying it sucks because of your past bad experiences with completely different products isn't really cool, doesn't do alot to fuel competition. Do you actually have ANY ride time on them? not trying to be a dick here, and if you do have ride time and have bad experiences, then sorry, I take back what I said
 

bullcrew

3 Dude Approved
gotta say man, aren't you the one who always wants to test stuff out and decide about stuff for yourself? calling out a company for trying to revamp its line and saying it sucks because of your past bad experiences with completely different products isn't really cool, doesn't do alot to fuel competition. Do you actually have ANY ride time on them? not trying to be a dick here, and if you do have ride time and have bad experiences, then sorry, I take back what I said
First of all it was a joke (Ive not ridden them) 2nd I have a fork or tweezers so we can pull your panties out of a bunch.
I try stuff all the time and definently am someone who speaks from experience on alot of items.
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
yeah i know, and i actually put a lot of stock in what you say normally which is why it bothered me. If some random grom had said "z0mg hayes sux0rz mah bahls" i wouldn't really bother to listen, but if you say "i've ridden hayes 9's for a year and they had these problems blahblahblah" i pay alot more attention to you. you're usually pretty reliable so spouting random "hayes sucks" kinda annoyed.

remember spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility.

or something!

anyway, sorry to derail the topic and call you out, back to how amazing whatever it is we were talking about is.
 

Mr Jones

Turbo Monkey
Nov 12, 2007
1,475
0
I have the stroker trails with V8 rotors on my trail bike. They work great but had some lever stiction that took about 5 rides to clear up. There was a gurgling sound when I had to use my grip of death on panic stops before a cliff. I think it's the grooves on the outter edge of the rotor that makes the noise. That coupled with the larger brake pads on the Trail model, most likely accounts for the noise. Noise went away when I went back to the old hayes 8" rotors. Thinking of trying them with shimano rotors if I can score a good deal. Tons of breaking power. I almost have to be careful on how hard I squeeze the front brake. The pads are bigger than the ryde version. Here's a review from one of our monkies...

http://www.ridemonkey.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/137/cat/15


edit: aside from the massive "oh-f**k-I'm-gonna-die" stops, they're very quiet and smooth
 

MinorThreat

Turbo Monkey
Nov 15, 2005
1,630
41
Nine Mile Falls, WA
The Stroker Ace was on display at Sea Otter. It is due for pre-release in July according to Clayton in the Hayes booth. At that time, only a select few will get sets because they will be officially an '09 product. The caliper body looks very much like the spy shots on the previous page but are a forging instead of the machined-from-billet piece in the picts. The master cylinder will be similar to the Stroker Trail MC but with a larger-volume reservoir. The lever is changed too, and has an even better feel than the Trail's.

Mind you, the Stroker Ace is still not the 'official' DH brake - - that will be the Donor, which is still in prototype only and there has been no official production date set yet.

I ran the Stroker Trails at Sea Otter and I love them; I can only imagine what the 4-piston Aces will be like. I did not think I wold notice much difference between them and my Mag HDs but I was wrong. They feel stronger to me and I don't feel like I gave up any modulation. The lever-reach adjustment is real nice; I was playing with bar placement/reach adjustments quite on the first practice days to get things set up 'just right' and it was darned convenient. The knurled wheel is cobby enough to handle with gloves and there are detents to keep your adjustment in place.

Everything wore in and had them to full power quickly.

Gad, I just noticed - - who dredged up this old thread??
 
Feb 26, 2008
5
0
Bend Oregon
Damn.....er...... Egads, I'll have to kick my own A$$ for re-treading old re-treaded threads.

The point was to ask about my Hayes Stroker problems and not the weenie waving up-thread.

Point still open....any gurgling ,besides mine, brakes out there?
 

MinorThreat

Turbo Monkey
Nov 15, 2005
1,630
41
Nine Mile Falls, WA
Damn.....er...... Egads, I'll have to kick my own A$$ for re-treading old re-treaded threads.

The point was to ask about my Hayes Stroker problems and not the weenie waving up-thread.

Point still open....any gurgling ,besides mine, brakes out there?
S'okay - - you are right; it does need revisiting now that people have had time on them.

I have not detected any gurgling. I have noticed and odd, hollowish-sounding 'groink' that is not the usual squeal or squeak (thank God) from the rotors right before coming to a complete stop at lower speeds. Odd sounding and weird because they are the same rotors off my Mag HD set.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
So I have some miles on my Stroker trails now, and I gotta say I really like these brakes, they work very well, lever feels awesome, one finger is all I need. Whacked the hell out of them on a rock the other day no problems. Awesome power, awesome Modulation.

I am getting some noise out of them, but I have had alot of hayes products that are noisy, so it doesnt bother me, I still have stopping power
 

ROTFLMAO

Monkey
Nov 17, 2007
363
1
Maumee, Ohio
I also have a few months on the Trails, 203mm/185mm. They have excellent modulation and mine have only made noise when wet but it goes away. The gurgling sound is from the vent holes in the rotor and only happen during high speed stops and it's not loud at all. I've not experienced any fade and can't imagine needing more power. I've OTB'd due to an oh-shat one finger stop.

I would like a stiffer lever. The feel of the lever is good but there is too much slop for my liking. It would be great if they designed a code-esque BB pivot for the lever.
 

Kntr

Turbo Monkey
Jan 25, 2003
7,526
21
Montana
I love mine and no problems. They were noisey at first but it went away after a few rides.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
I also have a few months on the Trails, 203mm/185mm. .
Question for you, on your rear 185, do your pads sit up about 2mm over the rotor? Also what bike are you riding? I started with a 185 in the rear, but the pads were overlapping the rotor byu about 2mm, Ended up getting an 8 in kit to replace it. Hayes gave me an entirely new kit and mount for free. Good people to work with
 
Feb 20, 2008
18
0
i love my strokers, best brakes ive had or ridden so far. plenty of power, great modulation, awesome lever feel and they are fade free. 2 thumbs up.

Does anybody know when the stroker ace is set to be replaced, and the msrp??
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
I got to Demo the strokers at Interbike, and I have to say I liked them. I dont like to have to think about what my brakes are going to do in a given situation, and these worked very well, Modulation was good, power was good. Thiking about getting a set for myself
So I have some miles on my Stroker trails now, and I gotta say I really like these brakes, they work very well, lever feels awesome, one finger is all I need. Whacked the hell out of them on a rock the other day no problems. Awesome power, awesome Modulation.

I am getting some noise out of them, but I have had alot of hayes products that are noisy, so it doesnt bother me, I still have stopping power
To add to the reveiw thread, I quoted my own stuff, been beating the hell out of mine now since march, railed the levers into many stationary objests, took them into the dirt while crashing etc.... still working excellent, awesome power soid feel. And on top of how they work, the feel is great, I use one finger at the very edge of the lever, plenty of power, plenty of modulation. Oh and the levers havent had to be adjusted since I found where i like them.
 
Last edited:

mrpercussive

Monkey
Feb 11, 2007
318
0
CA
i've got Stroker Trails on both my race bike and my play bikie... Modulation is awesome and it's got some bite. Like mags on steroids. Didnt really like Juicies i was on before as they were too grabby and with too little modulation. The Hayes Mags had awesome modulation but maybe not enough bite. The Strokers are just the cake... XD

 

seth505

Monkey
Jun 9, 2006
519
0
CA
I have the Stroker Trails w/ 6" rotors on my short travel bike and on my hardtail jump bike (rear only) and they all rule so far. They feel great and I'm a fan of the much easier lever adjustment.