We specced Juicy Ultimates on the 6in frames we tested back in May and out of the box we weren’t very impressed with lever feel or power. Running the levers further from the handlebar made them useable but what’s the point of all the adjustments if you can’t have your lever where you want it? After bleeding the brakes things improved a lot but the pistons still needed priming to get a firm lever feel with the lever close to the bar. Even with all that the Juicy Ultimates don’t feel as positive as the Juicy Carbons, possibly because the lighter magnesium lever body on the Ultimates flex more than the aluminium ones.
When fitting the rotors, the Torx key slipped several times as the heads on the Ti bolts aren’t very deep. And while we are at it, the Tri A-line spacers on the mount give you an extra degree of adjustment which means you’ll find it hard to achieve perfect caliper alignment.
While we are big fans of Avid brakes, there are some bleed issues at source that mean we won’t be replacing our Juicy Carbons, even if the Ultimates are a little lighter.

MBR RATING: 7/10