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Avid Code 5 | $208.03
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Avid Code

BikeRadar verdict

45 out of 5 stars

"Super powerful mountain-proof brake at a pretty low price"

Mon 3 Mar 2008, 10:00 am GMTBy Guy Kesteven

This ‘new’ all-mountain Avid is basically a Juicy 5 lever pumping a Code calliper, but it’s a powerful big mountain pairing.

Juicy 5 levers miss the bite-point adjust and massive reservoir of the Code levers, but they’re nearly 100g lighter, £40 cheaper and still work fine on long, long descents.

What’s more, the monster four-piston calliper delivers enough power to hurl you over the bars with a single lever twitch. Once you’ve got used to the sheer stopping power, and learned to tickle the levers not heave them, modulation is very good.

The usual ‘Power Reserve’ lever geometry gives good enough feel that few testers complained about the lack of bite point adjust. Avid’s syringe-assisted bleeding makes it relatively easy to balance up any difference between the levers, too.

As with any bigger calliper, drag-free alignment is a little more awkward, but the 3D cup and cone ‘Tri-Align CPS’ system is still easier to set up than others. You’ll appreciate the dislocating lever feature if you’re unlucky enough to be a regular crasher, too.

Pad life is proving good, adding to the already impressive value of this faithful mongrel setup. This makes it our value winner choice if you’re a regular big-hill blaster or just like to have a lot of power at your fingertips.

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User Reviews

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  • User review of Avid Code 5

    After much cursing over my Avid Juicy 3's being unable to stop me as quick as id like i opted to replace them with something with a little more grunt. Step up the Code 5's. They are like dropping a ship anchor off your rear wheel, more stopping power than a bison on smack.

    The responce from them is brilliant. I run a Orange Evo8 XC bike, some will say that the Code 5's are a little over kill (185's Front and Rear) , maybe, if your a skinny runt, but a flexible straw on your rims would stop you, but im not, im a big heavy man, and big heavy men need big heavy brakes to stop them killing themselves! Whilst I appreciate the beauty of having kit that weighs the same as a nats bollok, i like mine to feel meaty, like its not going to let you down anytime soon, and thats what you get with these. Bewarned, if you dont respect what you have at your finger tips they will punish you, and then laugh at you once your far flung body comes to a stop as quickly as they did.

    If your looking for a good solid brake that wont let you down, then these are they. They are easy to fit and set up, require next to no maintenance and will stop you like a backhander off your mum.

    Wu.

    0.3
  • User review of Avid Code 5

    COMMENT:

    Good, honest review.

    When i get more time to have days on off-road trails, i want to do a custom-build, and after reading other positive reviews on the Code-5's, i will include them in the build (185mm f+r)

    it's allways important to spend as much as you can afford on brakes (+ uprated pads) & tyres for safety & to have more stopping power than you usually tend to need - nothing worse than getting brake fade quite quickly on a steep decent ; not a nice feeling.

    0.3

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Specification

Name:
Code 5
Built by:
Avid
Price:
$208.03

Diameter:
203 mm
Weight (g):
514 g

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