Hayes Stroker v Avid J 3

[TheHammer]

I recently won a set of Hayes Stroker Trail brakes at a race! Score! I currently am running the stock Avid Juicy 3 brakes. I talked to the guy at my LBS, he recommended leaving the Avid brakes on. He doesn’t like the new Hayes brakes.

I have a 185mm front rotor with my Avid brakes, if I mount the Hayes I would use the 160mm rotor unless the Avid mount is compatible with the Hayes brake to allow the larger rotor.

I think I am going to stick it out with my stock brakes. I have the ‘Red Shield’ plan for 2 more years so if I smash the stock brakes to hell I will get them replaced for free. Another good reason to keep them on.

What do you think? Anyone a big believer in these Stroker Trail brakes?

[trailrider247]

i have some Stroker Trails and i love them, i personaly think they are better than the Juicy’s when it comes to modulation and stoping power, the only down sides to the Hayes brakes is if you want to have the good power and modulation youll need to swap out the stock DOT 4 fluid with DOT 5.1 fluid to get the most out of the brakes, also they tend to be a bit grabby at slow speeds and sound like turkeys gobbling while the pads and rotors are getting burnished in, but besides those few things these brakes work great, they dont seem to get too hot, as i dont notice any brake fade on the long descents, ive had these brakes for about a year now with no major issues

[GoldenGoose]

If he’s using Avid Juicy’s he definitely knows about the turkey gobble!!

[TheHammer]

Last month I mounted the Hayes. They were really easy to install. I’ve only got to ride them once so far. The season is pretty much over here in Indiana. They ran really smooth, NO NOISE!! I was amazed at how quiet they were compared to my Juicy 3’s even after months of tweaking to quiet them.

I still have the stock DOT 4 fluid, maybe I’ll bleed the 5.1 into them this winter or in the spring.

Thanks for the advise everyone!

Hammer.

[Syd Patricio]

I just gotta clarify something about rotor sizes..

Hayes come in at 224,203,180,160,140mm

Avid come 203,185,160,140mm

The 185 size or what you would call 7" is the problem and compatability becomes a problem.

Cheers

[Author]

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