[Islandmudpuppy]

Allright, I am trying to decide what disks to get, should I get Avid Mech 8", Hayes mag or Magura LouiseFR. Now I am no DH'er but I am a big boy (260lbs) and need something reliable and easy to work on while being hella powerfull. Add another component to the mix....I am broke...lol. So I need to find something not very expensive, that is the major reason I am considering the Avids. Any ideas?

 

[Kornphlake]

avids are good enough for me at 150 lbs. I imagine that if they don't work out for you to begin with some soft EBC pads would do the trick quite well. Get some SD5 or SD7 levers and dial in the leverage where you like it. The cool thing about avids is they can have the on off feel of hayes, if you like that, or they can be more progressive feeling if you prefer, just by spinning a little knob.

 

[Rik]

I have alot of good words to say about Avids.
To give you an idea of my liking for them... I have Avids on my bike right now (8"f 6"r), and a set of Hayes Mags in pieces in my random parts box. Why haven't I put my Mags back together? Well, I'm lazy... and, I don't feel a real need to rebuild the Mags when the Avids are serving me very well at the moment. I didn't think a cable disc could feel this good, but even with old pads and not the best lever, I'm loving the Avids. Combine them with a good lever (Avid SD for extra adjustability) and you have a great brake. How simple is it to work on Avids? Too simple... 2 big red dials to adjust pads, get a SD lever and you have a smaller red dial on the lever to help play around with the feel of the brake. Get your caliper alignment and cable pull right, and the rest is so damn easy.

 

[w00dy]

I'm pushing 200, running 6in rotors, and all I ever need to use is my index finger.

 

[bighitfsr]

Avids Cables are really grabby/poor modulation.
That said they are by far the best cable discs.

If your willing to drop hayes mag money on your brakes then step it up to hope M4s or even M4 up front and a mono mini on the rear.

Hayes are also pretty poor modulation wise (very on/off grabby IMO).

Just becuase you can lock up an Avid cable with 1 finger doesnt mean its any good. It isnt even a good test of power. You can lock up a wheel easily with a v brake if you snap the brakes on suddenly and we all know disc brakes are generally more powerful and have better modulation.

If you can still find them the shimano XT M755/M756 braks with 8 inch rotors have excellent modulation and should be the same price as hayes mags.

I havent ridden the maguras but they are a lower end brakeset so are probably not as good as hayes (maguras high end brakes are the Gustavs for DH and the martas for XC).

Avid cables are also pretty flimsy.
One of my riding buddies had to replace a caliper as the plastic adjuster knobs melted and fell off.

 

[bighitfsr]

You'll find that people reccomending Avid cables havent had much expirience with decent hydro setups.

I bet you cant find anyone who says after years using hope/hayes/shimano I tried Avid cables and liked them better.

 

[drift1492]

I ridden Hope M4s, Almost all the Hayes, XTs with 8 inch rotors AND I still choose to use 8 inch avids on both my bikes.

 

[nicklin]

I'm 190, and the Avid 7 inch rotors suit me jsut fine. I only got the 7 inch becasue i had a qr fork before my current fork and didn't want to put too much torque on the lowers. That being said, the avid is awsome, reliable, and reliable. you know that you will never have to worry about bleding your brakes ever again, all you need is a foot or so of cable housing and some cable, instead of messy hydraulic fluids........wish i got the 8 inch though.......

 

[The Kadvang]

* spam * Nicklin, I have an avid 8 inch disk + adapter just sitting around gathering dust. Its yours for the cost of shipping. (You still in SC, if so I will be over the hill this week) * spam *

 

[bighitfsr]

"I ridden Hope M4s, Almost all the Hayes, XTs with 8 inch rotors AND I still choose to use 8 inch avids on both my bikes"

Ridden eh?
I own both avids and shimanos.
After riding a friends Avids I bought some myself.
I took me a while to appriecate that they arent nearly as good as decent hydros.

This still holds true:

"bet you cant find anyone who says after years using hope/hayes/shimano I tried Avid cables and liked them better"

"you know that you will never have to worry about bleding your brakes ever again, all you need is a foot or so of cable housing and some cable, instead of messy hydraulic fluids"

Your kidding right?
Hydros are wayyyy less maintaince than cable brake.
One ride in the wet and you need new cables.
My expirience is mainly with shimanos where you can go for years without bleeding you brakes.

 

[nicklin]

you are what we call back in the days(elementary school) a party-pooper.

 

[MikeD]

Hayes 8" no question.

Avids can be tuned to feel great, but mine just didn't hold together...adjuster knobs fell off and pads refused to stay in adjustment during the course of a single run. Perhaps newer models are better, but in the long run, I'd prefer Hayes.

MD

 

[chicodude]

my shimano hydros have yet to fail me and up keep it close to none.

 

[Brian HCM#1]

Hope Mini or M4

 

[kidwoo]

Send me a pm. I just got a set of magura louise brakes that were headed for the trash at a shop. They will be cheaper than your wildest dreams (ie shipping cost).

That said, I rode a friend's bike around a bit while setting up her fork and she had avid cable brakes. They stop a bike but do not compare to decent hydraulic systems. I've also gone on full xc rides with these things in years past and they just don't have the same level of performance. They feel like v-brakes and are capable of some of the loudest squealing I've ever heard from something that is not a dying animal. My vote would be for hayes or the newer shimano xt brakes, maybe even hopes but price is a limiting factor there.

 

[JRB]

I rode Hayes HFX Mags for 7 months. They have been bled once and I got a new lever with master cylinder when the adjustment screw broke(my fault). I just got some 04 Louise and they are way nicer. They were $300 from Hammerhead bikes. I like them tons better than the hayes. I think I would prefer Avid mechs over the hayes.

 

[Kornphlake]

Your kidding right?
Hydros are wayyyy less maintaince than cable brake.
One ride in the wet and you need new cables.
My expirience is mainly with shimanos where you can go for years without bleeding you brakes.

You're kidding right?

I've ridden my avid's for more than a year on the original cables. I only recently changed the cables because I snagged the front cable on a branch and kinked the housing. Last spring and summer I did plenty of wet muddy ridding. The calipers do seem to act as mud magnents but it only makes the brakes sound really grimy when you are using them, they still stopped as well as they did when clean and dry.

Maybe shimano brakes are better as far as bleeding goes, everybody I know with Hayes has had to bleed at least once a year, more often than that if they can't get the bleed done right. Which may seem simple for some but it's not so simple for a lot of people. Replacing cables is hands down easier even if you did have to do it more often it's still much easier than messing with caustic brake fluid.

 

[Inkhell]

I've got a set of both. 8" Hayes on my Fly and Louise FR 7" on my Ellsworth. Both are good brakes but the Hayes feel way better and give me the feeling of more control. The Maguras tend to lock up a bit and the levers feel very noodly. Great for a trailbike but I don't think I'd slap them on a DH bike. Also, the Maguras are a pain in the ass to set correctly (washers and a file to get them parallel to the rotor) and are prone to rubbing a bit. Once set they work very well though.

As for the Hayes, 2 years of DH runs without any maintenance other than a few sets of pads.

As for Avids, never owned them but have ridden plenty of bikes with them. To me they compare well with the Maguras, but are way outclassed by Hayes.

 

[Islandmudpuppy]

Send me a pm. I just got a set of magura louise brakes that were headed for the trash at a shop. They will be cheaper than your wildest dreams (ie shipping cost).

Thanks kidwoo, I just sent a PM.

And thanks for all the info everyone.....