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Anyone has experience with Avid Shorty Ultimate brakes?

45K views 65 replies 37 participants last post by  BB11 
#1 ·
I have a Gary Fisher Presidio bike that I bought over a year ago which I like very much. I am not looking to change much on it as it works well for me as is. The only thing I dislike about it are the Avid Shorty 4 brakes. They are somewhat weak and require frequent pad readjustment as they wear. It appears from looking at the Avid Ultimate brakes that they have a linear travel as you pull the brake levers kind of like the old V brakes on mountain bikes do. If so, this would eliminate the frequent pad readjustment needed with my current setup. Is this so? Also, does anyone have experience with the Ultimates as to if they have good modulation and power. Furthermore, are they difficult to set up without them squealing? Thanks for any input
 
#2 ·
My new Ultimates work great...on the road. I bought my new Hakkalugi with Ultimates at the end of cross season and did not get to ride it in a race so I can't report how they work when muddy. The front are set up wide and the rear narrow. On my first ride, I immediately had shudder the first time I applied the brakes, but it only took a minor pad adjustment and the shudder was gone. I think the power and modulation are fine for a cantilever. I can slow down or stop easily, even when screaming downhill to a corner or stop. I have no squealing. Adjustments are very easy.
 
#6 ·
The Avid Shorty Ultimates are a really well thought out 'cross brake. They are extremely easy to set up and work well in both dry and muddy conditions. I raced them the entire season here in Colorado, from the early season dust to the late season mud that was the USGP in Ft. Collins.
I don't think you'll find that frequent pad adjustment will be necessary, and power and modulation are what you would hope for in a 'cross brake.
 
#7 ·
I have also switched over to Avid Shorty Ultimates and agree with the other comments about ease of setup and the braking capabilities. Curious to note that while braking was good racing on Easton EC90 SL tubulars and clinchers using the supplied SwissStop Yellow Flash pads, but I found braking to be noticeably better with 09' Reynolds Assault carbon clinchers. Also, although setup is very easy, some (myself included) came against an issue with the rear canti studs being too short thus requiring either longer studs, or as most of us did, filing away some material from the back of the brake arms but hopefully Avid has identified and rectified that with later production runs.
 
#8 ·
ms6073 said:
I have also switched over to Avid Shorty Ultimates and agree with the other comments about ease of setup and the braking capabilities. Curious to note that while braking was good racing on Easton EC90 SL tubulars and clinchers using the supplied SwissStop Yellow Flash pads, but I found braking to be noticeably better with 09' Reynolds Assault carbon clinchers. Also, although setup is very easy, some (myself included) came against an issue with the rear canti studs being too short thus requiring either longer studs, or as most of us did, filing away some material from the back of the brake arms but hopefully Avid has identified and rectified that with later production runs.

I had the same problem with the rear canti studs. The front studs were fine - Ritchey WCS Cabron fork - but the rear - Lynskey Cooper CX - too short. Lynskey offered to swap them out, but when they measure what they had, all of their studs were the same length. I ordered longer ones from Paragon Machine Works.
 
#10 ·
hands down best Canti brakes I've used yet - I've had Shimano. Tektro CR720's, spookys, several TRPs models... none of them worked as well after spending a good amount of time tweaking them. The Ultimates were pulled out of the box and thrown on after a quick glance at the instructions; haven't touched them since and am amazed at the modulation and power capability of the brakes.
 
#11 ·
18usc371 said:
I ordered longer ones from Paragon Machine Works.
I also order a couple sets from Paragon but found they were the same length as those on my 2011 TCX Advanced SL as well as the 09' Giant TCX so I simply used a fine toothed flat file to remove some material from the back of the brake body and viola.
 
#12 ·
ms6073 said:
I also order a couple sets from Paragon but found they were the same length as those on my 2011 TCX Advanced SL as well as the 09' Giant TCX so I simply used a fine toothed flat file to remove some material from the back of the brake body and viola.

I pulled some studs off of some older bikes and they were longer, but not the right thread pitch for the Lynskey. After measuring a bunch of studs I had laying around, I discovered my Avid Ultis used the "Pre-2008" length. From PMW's site:

"For pre-2008 Shimano brakes, ask for our longer post, BR2014, as it allows 1/32" more room under the brake pivot."
 
#18 ·
Thanks for responding. I just ordered another set hoping they're right. My other set kept binding up and I thought it was frame paint on the canti boss because it was only happening on one side, I was trying to mod the bosses to make them fit. I love these brakes otherwise, but WTF how the hell does one side consistently come out longer than the other? That's crap.
 
#19 · (Edited)
I just installed a brand new set of Shorty Ultimates purchased from Amazon. Each package is marked "2011 WK 15" which I am assuming means they were manufactured in week 15 of 2011, in other words they're brand new. They mounted up perfect on all 4 posts on my '12 CruX with none of the provided spacers. No binding, smooth as silk.
 
#20 ·
I love mine.

The set I bought had binding issues on my Ridley, so I went to my local shop and told them the replacement part I needed. They contacted Sram, who then sent out new backer plates for free. Took a week. This way, I didn't have to file anything down.

Get them, you'll love em.
 
#22 ·
Sorry to drag this out of the darkness, but I think I am binding and want some input. I've never used a canti with the spring cap design before, so I have no idea how they should feel or operate. I have Tektro CR720s on there now. Installed all the components of the brakes on my fork last night and figured I was golden after reading everyone say "they are easy to set-up". I measured my studs to be 22mm (Easton EC90x) and put on the appropriate washer per the instructions. Went to tension them up and they seemed pretty stiff and didn't really move. So I increased the spring tension. Now they rebound ok, but the lever feel is incredibly stiff. Am I binding? How much free movement should the brakes have on the studs? Should I try the washer designed for a shorter post? What else could be going on? Thanks.
 
#24 ·
Thanks for the effort, but that really doesn't help me. My set is relatively new and the instructions show procedures for both 22 and 21 mm studs (I'm assuming an addition since issues with their earlier production run). And two differnt washers are included and recommended, depending on the length of the stud. I certainly may not have been as accurate as I could have been when measuring. And I guess I could just swap out the washers and see what happens, but I was hoping for something a bit more prescriptive.

I guess it comes back to the final questions of my post: Am I binding? How much free movement should the brakes have on the studs (with and without spring tension)? Should I try the washer designed for a shorter post? What else could be going on?

As I said, this type of canti is completely new to me, so I have nothing to judge it against to help me solve what appears to be an issue.
 
#25 ·
I had an issue with one of my front studs where there was binding, so I used both spacers and it solved the problem...the brakes work perfectly fine so far during one semi-intense practice session.

I set the tension as recommended in the instructions and could barely pull the levers, so I adjusted the tension so that the holes are ~ 5 & 7 o'clock for the left and right calipers respectively as looking at them from the end of the bike. So far that is working out good but I think I might increase it slightly. I am also running both front and rear in the narrow stance.

I love these brakes for their simplicity in setup & adjustment alone, that they work better than the POS stock that came with the bike is icing on the cake. I'm gonna stick with the stock pads for now but might get the kool-stop salmons if the others don't do well at race speeds, running alloy tubulars (Major Toms)
 
#27 ·
I have just finished installing them on by cross bike. The brake bosses are 22mm long on both the frame and the fork, therefore I went with the black spacer - only to find out that the right brake bosses (on the frame and the fork too) are slightly shorter than 22 mm, which would tighten up the whole assembly (including the brake arm) when tightening the bolt.
I fixed it by filling down the washer by 0.15 mm or so (which was a real pain in the neck), enough to allow the brake arm to rotate freely when the bolt is tighten as per instructions.
 
#28 ·
Update: 21mm washer installed and wow, amazing, they move freely. Spring tension probably still needs a bit of dialing in, but I think we are on the right track. Downside: With all my fiddling yesterday and extreme tensioning, I stripped one of the fastening bolts. So I grabbed one out of the bag for the rear set, but now have to contact SRAM for a replacement to install the rear set.
 
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