Home >> Product Reviews >> Avid Juicy Ultimate Brake Review
On my Ibis Mojo, I had been using Avid Mechanical Disc Brakes, which are hard to beat for the price. I had ridden a few bikes with hydraulic brakes and they all seemed to have better feel and stopping power, so when building my Yeti ARC I decided to try some high end hydraulic brakes.
I could have went with one of the cheaper versions of the Avid Juicy brakes, but I really wanted to try and save some weight on the ARC, so the Avid Juicy Ulimates were my choice. 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...
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS..
After a couple months of use, I'm in love with these brakes. I consider them to be the Brembo (for you car nuts) of mountain bike brakes. Even on long dowhills, I'm not getting any fade, and stopping power is near perfection. I like them quite a bit more than the Avid Mechanicals I have on another bike. And so far I'm getting no squeal, which seems to be something others have experienced. Overall, I think the Avid Juicy Ultimates are about the best brake for a lightweight XC bike. I've even seen them on quite a few all mountain bikes, using larger rotors of course.
THE BOTTOM LINE..
The Avid Juicy Ulimates are expensive, but you definitely get what you pay for. To me, brakes are not a place to try and save money, especially on a race bike. These brakes are super light and provide great feel and stopping power. What more can you ask for?
WHERE AND HOW TO BUY..
Like a lot of my bike parts, I picked these up at JensonUSA.com.
