Today, the final piece of the puzzle showed up, my Avid Juicy Ultimate Brake Set. On one of my other bikes, I had been using Avid Mechanicals, which are hard to beat for the price. But I've ridden a few bikes with hydraulic brakes and they seem to have better feel and stopping power. So, I decided to try these...in white of course...
Now I could have went with one of the cheaper versions of the Avid Juicy brakes, but I really want to try and save some weight on this bike. Yes, the Avid Juicy Ultimates are expensive, but as shown below they are SUPER LIGHT, weighing in at 706g (calipers, levers, lines, 160mm rotors). And you'll notice in the photos that I've left the adapters on and I don't think I'll need them so the brakes will end up slightly lighter. And just as an FYI, I weighed my Avid BB7 Mechanical disc setup (calipers, Single Digit Ti levers, lines, 160mm rotors) and those weighed in at 1012g... so I'm saving over 300 grams, which is close to 3/4 of a pound. Every little bit helps when you are trying to build a lightweight race bike...
I considered those brakes but when it came down to it, I just couldn't justify the weight vs cost issue. Plumped for 160 Juicy 7s which are currently doing fine. When I do swap them out, I hope to have saved up enough pennies for a set of Formula.
Can't wait for you finish this build. Are you going to put it up on yetifan.com?
Posted by: Mellex | Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 12:50 PM
I won't lie, part of the reason I ordered these particular brakes is because they were available in white. I thought that would look pretty trick. I haven't splurged on a bike build in quite awhile, so I figured what they hey on this one!
Any idea how much your Juicy 7s's weigh?
Posted by: YetiARC.com | Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 02:55 PM
The units weigh in at 790g for the pair (not including cables or adapters) so it's fair to say that there is a difference. I got the 2008 setup which has been more than reliable so far.
Posted by: Mellex | Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 04:21 AM
Those are great brakes! I got them when they first came out and I haven't thought much about them since. Reliable and powerful.
Posted by: nick | Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 04:30 PM
Nick, thanks for the reply. Yes, these brakes are incredible. A big step up from Avid Mechanicals, which is what I have on another bike. The feel is better on these, stopping power is awesome, and even though I've heard some people complain about the pads squealing, I have no noise whatsoever so far.
Posted by: YetiARC.com | Monday, September 22, 2008 at 12:24 PM