Comments on: Review: Avid Elixir CR Hydraulic Disc Brake for Mountain Bikes

By: Avid Elixir CR Hydraulic Disc Brakes | Mountain Biking - Bike198.com

Avid Elixir CR Hydraulic Disc Brakes | Mountain Biking - Bike198.com — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:53:31 +0000

[...] UPDATE: Click here for the final review on the Avid Elixir CR’s [...]

By: 2009 Avid Elixir CR Disc Brake Update | Mountain Biking - Bike198.com

2009 Avid Elixir CR Disc Brake Update | Mountain Biking - Bike198.com — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:52:32 +0000

[...] Share2009 Avid Elixir CR Disc Brake Update Component Reviews, Reviews | 198 | November 12, 2008 at 10:29 am UPDATE: Click here for the final review on the Avid Elixir CR’s [...]

By: Review: Hayes Stroker Gram Mountain Bike Disc Brake | Mountain Biking - Bike198.com

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:06:29 +0000

[...] At 355 grams for the system with 160mm rotors, you are looking at a weight that is on par with the Avid Elixir CR’s and lighter than most recreational, all mountain brakes on the market. So xc riders should like the [...]

By: Terry

Terry — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 09:29:21 +0000

I got very tired of the whole Juicy/Avid mess and just bought a set of Hayes carbon brakes. After using these, I will NEVER go back to Juicy.

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:56:56 +0000

Yes, the 4 pots. I bought them in 1999 or 2000 (first generation), so they are actually 10+ years old.

Still have them on my 12 year old GT LTS, and even though they weigh over double that of the Elixir CRs, I am getting tempted to move them over to my 29er to replace the Elixirs, and will do so if the money and time I’m pouring into the CRs doesn’t fix the squealing and vibration.

By: 198

198 — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:39:12 +0000

Craig,

Were you running the four pot XT’s? Those were some of the most reliable brakes mfg. to date.

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:30:57 +0000

198

Glad you have had good luck with them. There is enough of a problem with the Elixir’s that Avid released a special service bulletin to shops explaining how to diagnose and attempt to fix the squealing and vibration.

A quick Google search on Avid Elixir squeal or turkey gobble comes up with a dozen or so posts on MTBR and other forums, and it is clear that this is not just one or two people who are having problems with these brakes. The G3 rotors didn’t solve the gobble or squeal for me or many others.

I have ordered new Alligator rotors, organic pads and a bleed kit to try to fix the issue. I hope something works.

I never had to put a dime into my Shimano XT disc brakes, they never made a sound, worked superbly and in 8 years, I never bled them once.

By: 198

198 — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 01:28:00 +0000

Craig

Still running them on one of our bikes a year later with zero noise. Also had several review bikes with them installed for what it’s worth.

The experience on this end is that the new G3 rotor and Elixir’s do not have the turkey gobble like the Juicy’s.

Thanks for coming in and giving your input, but we have run these for more than 5 hours.

By: Craig

Craig — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 01:15:06 +0000

It was premature in this review to claim that Avid fixed the turkey gobble, squealing and other issues that the Elixir CRs predecessors had. All the reviewer had to do was to ride them for more than 5 or 6 hours and all of these problems would show their ugly heads.

Avid hasn’t fixed a thing. Mine squeal, gobble and vibrate so badly that I can’t even use the bike until I remove the pads and rotors and sand them down after each ride.

Any number of names (Hayes, Hope, Shimano) are far superior to these prematurely released R&D experiments from Avid.

Never again.

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:21:03 +0000

Very impressed with the CRs. Got’em in May, had the old style Hayes hydros for last nine years, what a difference! The carbon levers feel great, the adjustability allows me to use one or two fingered as needed, with smaller hands, I like my levers to engage close to the bar – the EASY adjustability is ideal.

Sintered pads work best for me on the east coast – pretty much noiseless even in wet conditions, better pad life than organics too.

For those worried about pad contamination – try boiling your pads in water on the stove for a few minutes. I found this degreases them and brings pads back to life.