#!markdown
I am intrigued by your statement "beleaguered Elixir four piston brakes". If
you were to say beleaguered two piston brakes, I would have said sure, of
course. The classic 2-pot Elixirs and Juicys were all round slated by and
riders and mechanics. With good reason they were down on power, noisy,
unreliable and maintenance heavy.
The new 4-pot Elixir Trail brakes (X0,X9 and X7) are another story entirely.
All the reviews that I have seen about these brakes have been favourable. I
personally have been running a set of X7 Elixir Trails on my 6″ trail bike for
the past 18 months and they are fantastic brakes - head and shoulders above
the performance of the XT M785's on my XC bike. They have way better
modulation, power is comparable and a better lever shape than the XTs. Gone is
the turkey gobbling of old (even with sintered pads). Yes, they get noisy when
wet but then again so to my Shimano brakes.
Certainly, as the Trails still use dot fluid, they will require more frequent
bleeding than a brake using mineral oil, but again nothing like the older
2-pots (I have re-bled my front brake once). The only problem that I've had
with my trails is that the pin holding the pads snapped during reinstallation.
Shimano's trad. split pin is a more simple and better solution.
Sram/Avids 4-pot brakes are very good and shouldn't be tarred with the same
brush as their 2-pot namesakes.
Oct. 26, 2014, 8:51 p.m. - Danny B
#!markdown I am intrigued by your statement "beleaguered Elixir four piston brakes". If you were to say beleaguered two piston brakes, I would have said sure, of course. The classic 2-pot Elixirs and Juicys were all round slated by and riders and mechanics. With good reason they were down on power, noisy, unreliable and maintenance heavy. The new 4-pot Elixir Trail brakes (X0,X9 and X7) are another story entirely. All the reviews that I have seen about these brakes have been favourable. I personally have been running a set of X7 Elixir Trails on my 6″ trail bike for the past 18 months and they are fantastic brakes - head and shoulders above the performance of the XT M785's on my XC bike. They have way better modulation, power is comparable and a better lever shape than the XTs. Gone is the turkey gobbling of old (even with sintered pads). Yes, they get noisy when wet but then again so to my Shimano brakes. Certainly, as the Trails still use dot fluid, they will require more frequent bleeding than a brake using mineral oil, but again nothing like the older 2-pots (I have re-bled my front brake once). The only problem that I've had with my trails is that the pin holding the pads snapped during reinstallation. Shimano's trad. split pin is a more simple and better solution. Sram/Avids 4-pot brakes are very good and shouldn't be tarred with the same brush as their 2-pot namesakes.