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Submitted by
DEAGO
a Cross Country Rider
from Brooklyn n.y.
Date Reviewed: April 29, 2008 | | Favoriate Trail: | | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$160.00 | | Purchased At: | Pricepoint | | Strengths: | Cheap when I bought them new,stand up to anything,basically maintenance free. | | Weaknesses: | Heavy | | Similar Products Used: | Avid,Hayes,Shimano | | Bike Setup: | Jamis Dakar Xc Expert | | Bottom Line: | I'm switching over to Avid juicy ultimates,but not because there's anything wrong with the hayes,just because I completely put my bike on a diet! Thes Hayes can keep going & will on my cousins bike!! | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Taylor
a Downhiller
from Davis, California
Date Reviewed: January 7, 2008 | | Favoriate Trail: | Pacifica, Northstar | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | Stock on bike. | | Strengths: | If you cant find any brake system that have enough power in any knid of weather condition and are relatively cheap, then these brakes will suit you perfectly. They have amazing stopping power, stealthy looks (especially with the big fat levers), and great lever feel. | | Weaknesses: | The only slight but perfectly harmless weakness is that they sqeak a tiny bit every once in a while but i dont even notice it. | | Similar Products Used: | Hayes Sole, Avid Codes, BB7, Hayes MX2 & MX4, Tektro lo, V-brakes, Juicy 5 & 7. | | Bike Setup: | 2007 custom Haro X-7, fox vanilla, manitou stance 170mm, hussefelt, holzfeller. | | Bottom Line: | Great brakes for any type of riding in any type of weather! I definately recomend these to everyone. i dont know why the other people had problems with there levers but that is because the bike shop bled them when they built the bike for me. Maybe they just dont know how to bleed these brakes properly. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Derek Batchelder
a Cross Country Rider
from Portland, Oregon
Date Reviewed: December 5, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | Browns camp loop | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$150.00 | | Purchased At: | Trail Head Cycles | | Strengths: | Great stopping power, light weight, and great modulation | | Weaknesses: | Only problem i had was because my stock pads were shot! | | Similar Products Used: | Hayes stroker, avid juicy 3,5, and 7, and hope mini's | | Bike Setup: | 2007 Leader 516h single speed xc race | | Bottom Line: | Amazing breaks for price! Work great until pads go out. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ricky
a Downhiller
from Corona Ca
Date Reviewed: November 6, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | | | Strengths: | Great stopping power, Great modulation at speed I dont know what people are talking about saying they have poor modulation mine work great. | | Weaknesses: | No adjustment on the bars. | | Similar Products Used: | Hayes sole, Mx4, tektro alivio, demos juicy 7's and 5's | | Bike Setup: | Stock Iron Horse 7.5 and Jamis Komodo | | Bottom Line: | Great brake with a good feel at the lever If you can pick up a pair cheap do it. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
fadi
a
from toronto
Date Reviewed: October 27, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | | | Strengths: | Great For Stock On An Entry Level DH Bike | | Weaknesses: | I just bought a 2007 Norco Atomik about 3 weeks ago, and i put in over 100 Hours of riding into the bike since then, and i'm still waiting for the top layer of coating on the pads to finish, so i can achieve better stopping power... | | Similar Products Used: | Hayes El caminos, Hayes Soles, Hope Mono 6-ti, Avid juicy 5, avid juicy 3, | | Bike Setup: | Stock 2007 Norco Atomik | | Bottom Line: | These Brakes Arent bad...
If You do ALOT of DH, these are not for you, Pitch in the extra $400 (work for that extra week or two riding with these things) and get Avid Codes...
On the other hand, if you do alot of riding, but not DH, and you dont hit high speeds, these will work...
For me, i havent done any DH yet, but i do XC and i do hit 60KMPH sometimes and these stop me after about 3 Metres of slowing down...They work even better in the rain (probably becuz of the coating on the pads)...but the pads do touch the disc occasionally and that annoys me... | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
james
a
from sarlat
Date Reviewed: October 20, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | probikeshop.fr | | Strengths: | the stopping power xtraordanary | | Weaknesses: | squeeeeeeeeeeeek | | Similar Products Used: | 1 of a kind | | Bike Setup: | giant terrago with marzo forks | | Bottom Line: | gr8 gr8 gr8 gr8 | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Eugene
a Downhiller
from Denver,CO
Date Reviewed: October 14, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | Keystone | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | | | Strengths: | They stop you, kind of. | | Weaknesses: | I am only 145lbs, 15 and these brakes literally fade after about 2 minutes of light decent, and I don't even use my brakes much. The people that made these brakes were completely oblivious to the fact that there is something called modulation because these brakes have none. Some people say that the modulation is controllable but its not, maybe in a parking lot but not on a trail. Once you have stopped or slowed down more than 3 times you have probably lost about 50 percent of your braking power due to fade. At moments these brakes have a sudden boost of power or the opposite. These brakes change in feel at least ten times by the time you get to the bottom. I always have to adjust the calipers position because it will always move and squeak. The lever feel is ok but as the brakes fade it becomes hard to press the lever. Don't even get me started on how ugly they are. | | Similar Products Used: | Avid BB7, Shimano XT m765 | | Bike Setup: | GIANT FAITH (KICK A#$ BIKE) | | Bottom Line: | DO NOT BUY, UNLESS OF COURSE YOU PREFER BRAKES THAT DON'T WORK | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mason
a Downhiller
from Portland, OR, US
Date Reviewed: October 10, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | | | Strengths: | Everything's great. Amazing power, great feel, very controllable, they look great. I don't see what more you could want out of a brake system. | | Weaknesses: | None | | Similar Products Used: | Promax Mechanical (lol) | | Bike Setup: | 2006 Kona Howler, front V7 rotor, rear V6 rotor. | | Bottom Line: | Props to Hayes for these. Affordable quality. Great all around. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jordan Nickell
a Downhiller
from the real nor cal america
Date Reviewed: September 25, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | southfork | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$80.00 | | Purchased At: | friend | | Strengths: | everything | | Weaknesses: | nothing | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | custom faith 2 | | Bottom Line: | awsome | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jordan Nickell
a Downhiller
from the real nor cal america
Date Reviewed: September 25, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | southfork | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$80.00 | | Purchased At: | friend | | Strengths: | everything | | Weaknesses: | nothing | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | custom faith 2 | | Bottom Line: | awsome | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Matt
a Weekend Warrior
from Camlachie, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: August 30, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | | | Strengths: | great braking power and very responsive these are very good all around brakes that can be used for almost any thing. theses are great brakes for the price | | Weaknesses: | stock pads are junk | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | norco bigfoot with race face diobluis crank, s type rims, 50 50 X petals, and some othere extras put stock other than that | | Bottom Line: | great breaks for the price and they have lasted me almost two years and i ride my bike almost every day | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Luke Peagram
a Weekend Warrior
from Tauranga, New Zealand
Date Reviewed: August 19, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | Oropi Grove | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$200.00 | | Purchased At: | Rocket bikes with bike & old ones off Internet for $200 | | Strengths: | Power & response | | Weaknesses: | occasional noise. Depending on what model & what size Rotor. | | Similar Products Used: | Hayes MX4 Mechainical Disk Brakes | | Bike Setup: | | | Bottom Line: | Great brakes & awesome value for money. Would highly recommend these brakes. Also very popular compared with other Hydroulic Brakes | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ant Lay
a Weekend Warrior
from Miami, fl.
Date Reviewed: August 8, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | Uleta | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$160.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | Stopping power | | Weaknesses: | Lever does seem to go all the way down when ridden for a little while but it doesnt affect the braking power. | | Similar Products Used: | Magura Julie | | Bike Setup: | Specialized Rockhopper pro. Tora 318 shock. | | Bottom Line: | For the price, these brakes are great. Im a big guy and I have no problem stopping with these brakes. Love them and would highly reccomend to anyone. For all the idiots that talk about modulation, all you need is a finger. Thats all the modulation you need. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
king
a Cross Country Rider
from colorado
Date Reviewed: July 30, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | horsethief | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | | | Strengths: | they're disk- when coming from v-brakes there is more power which is cool, but... | | Weaknesses: | always rub, always mush, always noisy, always suck | | Similar Products Used: | | | Bike Setup: | | | Bottom Line: | they just plain suck. i rode them for three years cuz i'm too cheap to upgrade, and i kept thinking that if i just bleed 'em one more time, if i just adjust the levers one more time, if i just replace the pads one more time...they'll be fine. well, they weren't. the bottom line is that they are simply a hassle, and an inferior product. i finally upgraded to juicy ultimates- they better not suck. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andrew Hurst
a Downhiller
from Vicenza, Italy
Date Reviewed: July 6, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | 601 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | stock, and i have a set from a build kit | | Strengths: | great stopping power, they work even with a bit of chain lube on them (not as well as without, this is not reccomended though) | | Weaknesses: | THE NOISE!!! melted the rear cable on a 17 kilometer downhill run at lake garda, italy (still works though) the stock pads are garbage | | Similar Products Used: | Juicy 5s, 7s, shimano xt, hope, and some wierd european brand on somone elses sled | | Bike Setup: | uh, its my frankentien FR bike, got a bit of everything | | Bottom Line: | good brakes for what what they are intended for, should swap out lines for steal braded though, unless you want melted lines (only happened once). i still like them regardless of the few small problems, they are the most comfortable brakes i have used. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
cam
a Downhiller
from canada eh
Date Reviewed: June 25, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | time killer | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$200.00 | | Purchased At: | store | | Strengths: | nothing | | Weaknesses: | you need to bleed it lots
it fades
somtimes it feels like there is cement in the lines
always rub
are just plain old pieces of crap | | Similar Products Used: | | | Bike Setup: | | | Bottom Line: | DO NOT BUY
to bad i cant put 0 for chili peppers | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
cam
a Downhiller
from canada eh
Date Reviewed: June 25, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | time killer | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$200.00 | | Purchased At: | store | | Strengths: | nothing | | Weaknesses: | you need to bleed it lots
it fades
somtimes it feels like there is cement in the lines
always rub
are just plain old pieces of crap | | Similar Products Used: | | | Bike Setup: | | | Bottom Line: | DO NOT BUY
to bad i cant put 0 for chili peppers | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
tyler kirk
a Weekend Warrior
from cambridge new zealand
Date Reviewed: June 13, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | whakarewarewa(rotorua) | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Purchased At: | kaimai cycles | | Strengths: | great to have the double clamping hydraulics. not weather effected and hold up well for downhill. | | Weaknesses: | i am yet to find a fault in these little babies. | | Similar Products Used: | avid juicy 3s, 5s and 7s | | Bike Setup: | avanti derelikt type 3 all stock. which reminds me... why arent there any derelikts to review?
| | Bottom Line: | these brakes no doubt ARE a great product. awesum value. if mine break il buy another set. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
beebo
a Downhiller
from ont, canada
Date Reviewed: May 18, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | my dirt jumps | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | cyclissimo (came stock) | | Strengths: | They work better then hayes mechanical brakes, and with the BFL lever they do look pretty good. It is possible to use them with one finger. They aren't quite as bad as the soles. | | Weaknesses: | The braking power can change from day to day and the rotors are terrible, they warp very easily. They also have noticable braking fade when they heat up, and the squeal A LOT, especially when wet or the get a bit dirty. I've also noticed that especially with the front brakes performance will change. There is also a very noticable power difference when you steadily apply pressure and the brakes slow down a bit and they squeal, then all of a sudden they lock-up. | | Similar Products Used: | Avid 5, Avid Code, Hayes MX2, Hayes Sole | | Bike Setup: | Stock 06 Devinci Hucker, but soon to replace brakes and fork. | | Bottom Line: | You should never consider buying these brakes aftermarket, you should only have them on your bike if they come stock, otherwise you just wasted your money. I would certainly recommend the Avid 5 over these and for a high end brake go with the Codes. If you are going from mechanical to hydraulic brakes don't be fooled by just lever feel, do some research. I'm giving these brakes a 2 because they are better then the soles. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bob Brown
a Weekend Warrior
from Perth, Western Australia
Date Reviewed: April 25, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | the goat farm | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$200.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | lots of braking power and no brake fade | | Weaknesses: | to kool for skool | | Similar Products Used: | hayes gx-2 | | Bike Setup: | o6 giant stp2, truvativ boxguide, maxxis holy rollers, hayes hfx 9 hd 8 inch | | Bottom Line: | very good brakes. a bit sqeaky wen they wer new but got better as they wore in. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Gavin
a Cross Country Rider
from BC, Canada
Date Reviewed: April 12, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | | | Strengths: | Feels good | | Weaknesses: | Ceramic pistons chip and crack and wear fast. Pain in the ass to bleed. | | Similar Products Used: | Hayes Mech. Avid Juicy 5 and 7, Hayes Mag,Magura Louise | | Bike Setup: | Fisher Sugar 2 | | Bottom Line: | These brakes are great wehn everything is in perfect working order. The pistons are horrible ceramic, they chip and i missed a race yesterday becasue my piston cracked during my warm up. Use them till they break, but i dont reccomned as an upgrade, these are also very tough to bleed | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Corstian Devos
a Cross Country Rider
from Philadelphia, PA
Date Reviewed: April 10, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | Any trail is a good trail | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | Cycle Sonic | | Strengths: | Great Stopping power. | | Weaknesses: | None so far. | | Similar Products Used: | Formula Mechanical discs. Hayes MX-1 and Hayes MX-2 Mechanical discs. | | Bike Setup: | Stock 2007 Giant Glory Freeride except for peddles SH 858s (yes they are old), seat Fizik Atlas, and replaced stock 2.5 Kenda tires with WTB Tyrannoraptor back (Yes I have a few of these old tires around) and Conti Double Fighter front. | | Bottom Line: | Borrowing from the previous review I am a large lump (6'3", 250 lbs) on a stiff bike and these work like a charm. I can finally lock up my tires again!! I have always said I preferred mechanical discs because of the maintenance issues when riding out in the middle of nowhere (easy to carry spare brake cable) but the reality is that after miles of trail and some pretty spectacular endoes I have never snagged a line (maybe just lucky). Time for me to change my tune. With these brakes I stop...PERIOD. I would recommend them to anyone.
I have had none of the modulation or pad issues mentioned in previous reviews. As seems to be Hayes modus operandi they listen and improve their products with every year.
Given the inclusion of this brake set in the stock groupo I have to give them a high value rating but I acknowledge that I would be unlikely to pay the full list for these, but I am a little cheap. ;-P | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bryan
a Weekend Warrior
from Cannock
Date Reviewed: April 8, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$2200.00 | | Purchased At: | Leisure Lakes | | Strengths: | If you need to stop in a hurry then these are for you, cheap and metal power that is reliable | | Weaknesses: | Well these are Killers, they have no feel and braking is a lottery over if you will stop fast or front end slide, they ragg my Marzocchi Z1 forks so i am waiting for some 888's to tame them | | Similar Products Used: | A boat anchor, handbrake, feet... | | Bike Setup: | scott Nitrous 20 2005 | | Bottom Line: | These were meant for heavy lumps on heavy bikes to stop and i am a lightweight lump on a heavy bike and i am tossed around by these. They are great stoppers and are addictivly strong but only if your bike is stiff enough | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Aaron
a Weekend Warrior
from Rainier, OR
Date Reviewed: March 21, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | Stella | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | came with bike | | Strengths: | powerful, don't fade on long descents | | Weaknesses: | stock brake pads wear quick, lever adjusters back out | | Similar Products Used: | 2001 HFX-Mag, 2003 Avid BB7, 2005 HFX-9 XC | | Bike Setup: | 2004 Kona Stinky | | Bottom Line: | These are descent brakes, but there were some issues along the way. The rear brake lever would stick at the most inopportune time, leaving me with no brakes. But to Hayes's credit, I sent them back to them and the problem was fixed in less than a week. The adjusters would back out, but that was fixed with a little loctite. The stock pads wore out in a month, replaced them with full metallic pads and they have lasted over 2 years! Could never get the rear brake to work consistantly, would start soft then firm up after a couple of pulls. I've bleed 100's of bicycle brakes in my life, so I know what I was doing. Just could never quite get it right. They're not terrible brakes, just need some improving. Interestingly enough, I have some 2005 HFX-9XC brakes that work flawlessly! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
jeff foehr
a Downhiller
from salt lake city, UT
Date Reviewed: March 16, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | shuttle assisted | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$120.00 | | Purchased At: | ep | | Strengths: | Maybe I just got a good pair but at 190 lbs these have never failed on me back to back shuttle runs, laps at deer valley. | | Weaknesses: | The stock pads are weak, the levers at the attachment points are loose. | | Similar Products Used: | Hayes Mags on my other bike, nigt and day difference. | | Bike Setup: | Azonic eliminator for 3 seasons, this season morewood izimu, fox 40 rc2, Galfer rotors lines and pads, azonic outlaw wheelset, x9 drivetrain, etc. | | Bottom Line: | The brakes are not bad they take patience and dedicated service. During the season I bleed my brakes weekly sometimes more often if it's a race weekend. IMO this systen is easier to bleed than the Mags. I should also add that my HFX 9's are far from stock, Galfer lines, rotors, pads and straitline aftermarket levers. So I probably could have bought after all the mods a nice set of Hopes. Still I haven't had a problem with them and they have help up to 3 seasons of riding and racing, and lots of crashing. Have fun and enjoy the ride. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jimmy
a Downhiller
from Canberra
Date Reviewed: March 14, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | Stock | | Strengths: | It works sometimes | | Weaknesses: | This arvo I was riding down a hill and went for a manual. I went about twenty metres and needed to tap the breaks to stop flipping over the back. I swear I pulled the lever almost all the way in and there was no power at all. I flipped off and grazed knee elbow etc. If anyoune else has had this sudden power loss email me. | | Similar Products Used: | | | Bike Setup: | 04 Bighit w e13 | | Bottom Line: | I dunno about these brakes. The fact that they failed me when I needed them most is not very confidence inspiring at all. Yeah, it could have been my error but I just dunno.
By the way, these are 04 gayes 9 which ive heard other dodgy stories for, such as levers pulling in (also happens to me) | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Grant
a Downhiller
from Castro Valley California
Date Reviewed: March 11, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | JMP | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | Came on bike | | Strengths: | Easy to set up, easy to bleed | | Weaknesses: | squeaks alittle, Expensive if you are going to buy them aftermaket | | Similar Products Used: | Mx2's Avid bb7 bb5's Hayes 9 XC | | Bike Setup: | Iron Horse 7point3 marzocchi DOIII, rockshox pearl 3.1, esi race grips, Funn viper pedals, WTB dual duty FR (wheel set) | | Bottom Line: | Keep them till you break them, dont buy if you are looking for an upgrade, go for juicy 7's.
Before getting my IH I had the XC version on my XC HT, they where to much for that bike and what it needed. For FR/DH the offer enough stopping power for what they are. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeremy
a
from Tallahassee, FL
Date Reviewed: March 5, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | Tom Brown---Cadilac | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$170.00 | | Purchased At: | Ebay | | Strengths: | Stop quickly. Great feel. | | Weaknesses: | Sqeak sometimes--at slow speeds. Heavy. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XT hybrid levers and hydros with 6" rotors | | Bike Setup: | '06 Gary F. Cake 3 with 8" rotors | | Bottom Line: | Love the feel more than anythingthe. Stop very fast and have had no problems so far. I have not had to adjust anything on them yet. Sunshine Cycles did a great job of installing them. Thanks John and Alex. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
lala
a
from ca
Date Reviewed: February 27, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$ | | Purchased At: | with bike | | Strengths: | they actually brake pretty well, I was going to go with Formula K24 but didn't, and these work fine. Dont ever change anything from the factory settings, and they will work. The eight inch rotors work way better than 6, so get 8 front and rear. | | Weaknesses: | they fade relatively easily, but you shouldnt be braking that much anyways. | |
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$ 149.00
