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Brake Upgrade


jase2101's picture

By jase2101 - Posted on 05 August 2010

I'm looking to upgrade the Juicy 3's on my XTC 29'er. They are useless! I've decided on getting some Elixer R's. The current brakes are running 160 rotors. Should I be upgrading to 185's or will the new brakes be fine on 160's?

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ADRIAN B's picture

just go shimano and never look back.

Scottboy's picture

on the rear just put on the elixir R ,will bed them in at Dargle over the weekend I hope ...lol ,will give them a review over the weekend

jase2101's picture

Thanks. Let me know!

muvro's picture

Yep, go Shimano.

The bleeding is so painless and simple, it makes fitting and maintenance fun.

Anything from SLX up are great, XT being the pick for ruggedness and generally the best value for money, and obviously XTR for the best feeling out of the lot.

The new generation of XTR look so horn! Available in race and trail.

jase2101's picture

Thanks Muvro for the Shimano advice, they sound super easy on maintanence. I've got a dually already running Elixir's, I want to run the same brakes on both to save coin on pads etc.

hawkeye's picture

I'd convert both to Shimano. Eye-wink

It's what I did. Smiling

Jonathan's picture

Ive got elixir 5's

Wow......every time i get on my bike they blow me away.

The elixir r's shoud be even better

arghvee's picture

Interested Hawkeye, did you move from Elxir or Juicy 3/5 ?? Was shimano xt SO much better ? As I am in same boat.. my juicy 5's are inconsistent, ocassionally spongy, squel, and starting to have a little leak from the top reservoirs.

hawkeye's picture

Were what I moved on from originally.

But I have ridden a couple of bikes for extended periods with Elixir R's and CR's that have been the subject of review articles, and it always feels nice to come "home" to the 2010 XT's that are on my Cannondale.

The Elixirs are great brakes, don;t get me wrong. They more than do the job. The servo-wave XTs just seem to have that bit more more bite AND progression, make less noise, and rub on the disc less when it's muddy. And the brake fluid doesn;t eat your paint.

One of my mates has Juicy 3's or 5's on his Giant and when we did a bike swap for about 10-15 minutes after a ride he commented "I'm gonna send myself over the bars if I'm not careful. Your brakes have so much more stopping power." To which I replied "You only need to use 1 finger Smiling "

Pants's picture

Unless you are doing long descents or if the existing rotors are bent id stay with what youve got.

185,s will only give you 15% more power and slightly better heat dissipation.

jase2101's picture

Thanks Pants.

Scottboy's picture

the elixir r are great they didn't fail me all weekend they are better than the juicy 5 , I have a new set coming to me soon so they will be on the front & rear by next weekend

jase2101's picture

Thanks for the heads up mate. I ordered a set of front & rear 185's. Got them both for $290. Stoked!

Scottboy's picture

Bit of overkill for a 29er . How heavy are you ? I'm 90kg & my brothers bike pulls me up ok , same bike

hawkeye's picture

on how steep and how fast you're going. I wouldn't bother on my Cannondales, no shortage of stopping power on either of them, but on a 29er I wouldn't rule it out. Might just have been the wet track, but I reckon I had to squeeze a fair bit harder on the singlespeeder's anchors than I'm used to with my other bikes. 185's could be a good choice I reckon.

jase2101's picture

I'm 95kg & they don't pull me up well at all. The 185's are on the way. I'd rather have a bit too much than not enough!

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