Avid Ultimate Discs

[rockyrider]

Well even though I don't often buy stuff from fleabay, I did find a set of brand new Avid Ultimate discs on ebay so cheap that I couldn't resist. So I have acquired these carbonaceous critters, and as soon as the snow disappears a bit more I'll be giving them a shot. I'm using them with the Marta rotors as the Marta rotor is lighter than the G2 Avid rotors.

The carbon levers feel quite a bit less fragile than the Marta SL levers, although the brakes are still about 40 gms each heavier than the Marta SL's.

They feel pretty good on the bike, better lever feel than the Juicy 5/7's I've tried before.

More input to follow....

[Hand/of/Midas]

that ultimate/X0 pic is too sexy

[RickB]

Well even though I don't often buy stuff from fleabay, I did find a set of brand new Avid Ultimate discs on ebay so cheap that I couldn't resist. So I have acquired these carbonaceous critters, and as soon as the snow disappears a bit more I'll be giving them a shot. I'm using them with the Marta rotors as the Marta rotor is lighter than the G2 Avid rotors.

The carbon levers feel quite a bit less fragile than the Marta SL levers, although the brakes are still about 40 gms each heavier than the Marta SL's.

They feel pretty good on the bike, better lever feel than the Juicy 5/7's I've tried before.

More input to follow....

They're pretty much the same internals as the Juicy 7's, so shouldn't feel any different (if they do, it's a setup thing).

I'm more interested in how they hold up to BC riding! They're specifically targeted at XC racing. I went for the plain vanilla Juicy 7's again, even though we're sponsored by SRAM this year, for durability and for less worry about smashing a carbon lever in the inevitable endo.

[rockyrider]

They're on a carbon impregnated XC hardtail so they won't be getting the worst case BC trail thrashing. I try very hard to not fall over while riding in case I break something more personal. Like me. :D

The Marta SL carbon levers are light and stiff but they feel more fragile than the alloy Marta levers (even though I've never broken a Marta SL Lever). The Ultimate levers feel like alloy except they don't wick heat out of your fingers. It is odd that they have the same shape as the Juicy levers since those have the "bend zone" built in, but carbon won't be bending. :confused:

The calipers look a lot more svelte than the typical Juicy units. The front fork is a PM caliper mount so I saved some weight there.

[rockyrider]

Well a couple more rides on the Avid Ultimates, including some long steep paved downhills. The brakes must have the organic pads because they bed in fast (4-5 stops) and the power and modulation are good. The levers have a good feel, none of the feeling that if you pull too hard they might break off. They engage sooner than XTR brakes and not quite as fast as the Marta SL, but they have similar feel to the XTR once engaged.

They didn't like the Marta rotors much, even though they have the same braking track width. So even though they are heavier, I put the Avid G2 rotors on and they aligned much better. The rotors come with Ti rotor bolts, which doesn't really make up for the heftier rotors. Something about the wavy nature of the Marta rotors made it difficult to get the pads parallel to the rotor using the CPS mounts.

I shortened the front brake hose and that went quite well. No bleed needed after that, which I always assume is more good luck than good management.

[LeeMcGough]

Your bike collection, and the parts you equip said bikes with, makes me green with envy.:o

[rockyrider]

But in real life I'm a pathetic and lonely person who will die sad and alone in their apartment, without even feeding a Pekinese who had to eat the dead body because there was no other food source. :cool: With sunglasses.

[LeeMcGough]

LOL!!! Pekinese? I thought you were around the 200lb mark. A Rottie might be the way to go, if that is your funeral arrangement!

[LeeMcGough]

But in real life I'm a pathetic and lonely person WITH A KICK-ASS BIKE COLLECTION who will die sad and alone in their apartment, without even feeding a Pekinese who had to eat the dead body because there was no other food source. :cool: With sunglasses.

I edited your last post to better reflect the reality of your situation Rocky:D

[rockyrider]

LOL!!! Pekinese? I thought you were around the 200lb mark. A Rottie might be the way to go, if that is your funeral arrangement!A Pekinese could keep going for a month or so, it's cheaper than cremation. Too bad I'm in a no pets building.

My bikes are my friends. But they wouldn't withstand 300 deg temperatures. :D

[bomberbarnes]

ooooh, magic gay fairy land spam. Nice

how you making out with those discs Rocky? I have J7s and find them pretty good, could be convinced into a weight weeny fest if there was no loss in functionality though....

[mimbresman]

ooooh, magic gay fairy land spam. Nice



I am one of the forum monitors.
I just tagged that Kevinfly guy as spam in about 8 or 9 posts. There might be one or two posts I missed so if you find them, let me know.

[rockyrider]

So far so good on the Ultimates. They feel very solid, no issues with needin' bleedin' after a few months of use. So far the organic pads and G2 rotors are keeping the turkey gobble at bay. I can't think of any negatives. The rotors could be lighter, more like the Marta SL wavy rotors, but the Marta's have a 14mm brake track and the Avids have a 16mm rotor track so there's no compatibility there.

And now they're available in SID blue and arctic white. :D

[LeeMcGough]

Uh-oh. You aren't going to get rid of a perfectly good brake set in order to buy the exact same product in a different colour, are you Rocky?

[rockyrider]

Uh-oh. You aren't going to get rid of a perfectly good brake set in order to buy the exact same product in a different colour, are you Rocky?Nah, the black brakes go nicely on the black and white Vertex hardtail.

[bitterfish26]

as you know im not too much of an XC rider but how do they feel when going on a faster pace and on downhills?

[rockyrider]

They're on a XC hardtail so there's a limit to how fast and how downhill they get ridden. They work great on anything I'd be prepared to ride on that hardtail. They're definitely an XC brake like Magura Marta SL's, I wouldn't put them on a freeride bike or a DH bike.

[bitterfish26]

i dont have the money to drop on a set of brakes like the J-ultimates but arent they the same internals as every other juicy?

[rockyrider]

The Ultimates are completely different actually, smaller calipers, smaller master cylinders, less mass to absorb heat. They're different than Juicy Carbons which are a hot rodded Juicy 7.

[bitterfish26]

on the sram site it says that the juicy carbons are for XC/AM/FR/DH so essentially all around riding and anything that you can throw at it

the ultimates say that they are intended for light weight XC so why would Avid make a brake for "light weight" XC and only lightweight xc. they should have made the ultimate a more versitile brake but still light

[rockyrider]

That wouldn't make sense, you can't take enough weight off a Juicy to make it a super light XC brake like the Ultimate. You don't have the bike weight or speed to deal with with a straight XC bike. My heavy hardtail is all of 23 pounds, and the light hardtail is down to 21.5 pounds, and you couldn't get it up to a high enough speed on steep gnarly rough downhill to need the big brakes you would for a AM or DH bike.

That's why they make specialized brakes for different applications, you can adjust the parameters you compromise to balance weight, heat management and braking power.

The Ultimates and my Marta SL's have similar braking power and modulation. But I prefer XTR brakes for my FS bikes for XC and AM use.

[bitterfish26]

well as you said the piston size is smaller than the juicy 7's 5's 3's and i guess a small piston would make for a smaller caliper and therefore less weight correct?

[rockyrider]

Yep, they're tailored it to fit that particular XC race market niche. If you look at most brake manufacturer's product lines they differentiate the models into light XC, more general purpose MTB brakes and freeride/DH brakes.

From a product development point of view you always want to minimize the product overlap so that you don't have one model stealing sales away from the appropriate model, and you don't want your competitors to get sales in a market niche that you don't cover.

It's taken Avid quite a while to develop something other than the general purpose Juicy series compared to Magura, Hope, Hayes, Shimano, and Formula who have had a broader product line for many years now.

[bitterfish26]

yeah i noticed they finally spanned away from juicy and went with the code and code 5 and now the elixir

[Hand/of/Midas]

yeah i noticed they finally spanned away from juicy and went with the code and code 5 and now the elixir

and now the elixer has more power AND is lighter than juicy 7s. now my brakes are obsolete.

[rockyrider]

and now the elixer has more power AND is lighter than juicy 7s. now my brakes are obsolete.Ain't progress wunnerful. :D Commercial progress is a pickpocket. :rolleyes:

[tryandgetme]

and now the elixer has more power AND is lighter than juicy 7s. now my brakes are obsolete.

don't think of it that way. stay behind and get cheap prices. imagine all the cheap juicy's that'll be out there now.

[Hand/of/Midas]

don't think of it that way. stay behind and get cheap prices. imagine all the cheap juicy's that'll be out there now.


yea, but i already got some. and i get 15% under wholesale on anything avid from QBP anyway. but im not going to anytime soon,gotta save for a house now.

[bitterfish26]

im going to hold off on the elixers for a year or two i would like to find out if they are proven

[rockyrider]

What?!?!?! And miss out on all the fun of being an early adopter?

[bitterfish26]

well i would rather ride the bb7's / j5's i have now than throw on a new pair of elixers and blow the line or somthing of that sort on a down hill and not stop and die...in other words i dont want to die and i want to see if these brakes have what it takes