# Avid Shorty Ultimate availability



## keywee (May 31, 2009)

I couldn't find a thread with the expected release date. Can anyone give us a clue? From what I have read they are a really powerful set of brakes.

thanks.


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## hooligan (Sep 30, 2006)

yes powerful as described by sponsored athletes/company reps. i prefer the opinion of people who aren't paid to endorse product..


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## gregdogg62 (Aug 9, 2004)

keywee said:


> I couldn't find a thread with the expected release date. Can anyone give us a clue? From what I have read they are a really powerful set of brakes.
> 
> thanks.


Last month, I was told that they were still a few months away from production. The sets I have seen in the flesh look really nice. I am pretty excited.


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## c-record (Mar 18, 2004)

hooligan said:


> yes powerful as described by sponsored athletes/company reps. i prefer the opinion of people who aren't paid to endorse product..



Struck me as pretty funny on this Saturday morning of not racing.


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## GrumpyOne (Jul 4, 2006)

Bump - Has anyone seen an ETA yet.

Thanks,
jw



keywee said:


> I couldn't find a thread with the expected release date. Can anyone give us a clue? From what I have read they are a really powerful set of brakes.
> 
> thanks.


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## CliveDS (Oct 7, 2009)

The Shorty Ultimates are now available.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*can't wait*

for the first
How do I stop them from squealing? post


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## jhr (May 31, 2002)

atpjunkie said:


> for the first
> How do I stop them from squealing? post


 BINGO!


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

jhr said:


> BINGO!


plus/minus 2-3 weeks is my guess.


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## limba (Mar 10, 2004)

Ha! 

Well, they sure do LOOK nice. Hopefully they work. I think they will.


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## MarvinK (Feb 12, 2002)

Well... I guess the honeymoon is over with these brakes. They've been the best CX brakes I've used for the first month... but the spring tension decided to blow up on the rear last night at a race--which leg to some serious brake drag and slow times for the last 2 laps.

Anyone else using these brakes? What's your experience?


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## crankles (Sep 25, 2007)

I've been smoke testing them now for three weeks. so far (fingers crossed) i've been really impressed. my other two rigs have Paul and before that mr grumpy and before that well...mafac. I've also ridded trp eurocross bikes a fair amount. Set up was a breeze, lots of adjustability. The lock nuts are not as refined as the paul's, but overall, they seem like a great break for the money. I'll report back after the sunday race.


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## tlm (Jun 2, 2004)

Same results here. After getting the install sorted. The brakes have been great so far. 

They are a bit difficult to get the toe set just the way I want them so they squeal a bit more than usual, but hey they work and work well.

BTW, my bike is setup narrow front, narrow rear. Plenty of power.

Can't wait for the BASP and CCCX series to begin!

-travis


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## ms6073 (Jul 7, 2005)

tlm said:


> BTW, my bike is setup narrow front, narrow rear.


Just curious why you opted to alter the front for a narrow/narrow setup? Is there an advantage or do the courses you race on have a lot of natural vegitation that stuff can snag on?


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## MarvinK (Feb 12, 2002)

I wish I would've done wide/wide.. but running narrow rear/wide front.


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## TXBDan (Sep 14, 2010)

according to what i've been reading, you should be able to make the brakes wide OR narrow. You move the spring to a different hole position or something. no?


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## MarvinK (Feb 12, 2002)

ya, i'm just trying to motivate myself to re-adjust. I guess I should've done it when they broke.


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## epicxt (Apr 26, 2005)

*Clarification...*

Quick question: did the brakes break, or did the allen bolt just come loose enough to let the spring tension go? 

I just finished building up my geared bike for this season and have these brakes on there, but haven't used them yet. Gonna race Starcrossed tonight for it's maiden voyage of the season (been racing a new ss the last few weekends).


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## MarvinK (Feb 12, 2002)

It was weird... because the bolt wasn't loose, it was still tight.. but the spring tension had completely released. I'd ridden 2 races and several hours of normal riding without any problems. Loosened everything up, re-tightened and hoping it sticks. I was thinking of calling SRAM to see if they have any recommended fixes or ideas what might have gone wrong.

Good luck at StarCrossed... a few of our local 3FCX riders are doing ss race, too.


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## tlm (Jun 2, 2004)

Hi MS,
>>Just curious why you opted to alter the front for a narrow/narrow setup? Is there an advantage or do the courses you race on have a lot of natural vegitation that stuff can snag on?

No need for the extra stopping power of the wide position. I weigh about 130lbs with gear so the wide option wasn't necessary. Plus in the wide position, the arms are waaay out there just looking to snag something.

Stopping power feels similar to my road brakes. (Zero Gs with swissstops on aluminum rims) which is good!

First race is this upcoming weekend. The brakes have not needed any fiddling since setup. I've had probably 4-5 practice sessions and about 150 miles of road riding without issue.


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## TXBDan (Sep 14, 2010)

I thought the narrow setting had more power, but less modulation and mud clearance... i googled and am finding mixed opinions all over.

It makes sense though that if the brakes must travel farther in the wide position, then its at a mechanical power disadvantage. its a lever, adjusting the fulcrum either gives you lower force but more travel or more force for less travel.

Actually SRAM clarified it: http://www.sram.com/avid/products/shorty-ultimate-rim-brake i swear that wasn't there a few days ago when i looked.


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## tlm (Jun 2, 2004)

You're right! Narrow = more power.

I just didn't like the look of the super wide arms. Plus up here in Nor Cal, there's not much if any mud to deal with.


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## billydonn (Oct 3, 2010)

MarvinK said:


> It was weird... because the bolt wasn't loose, it was still tight.. but the spring tension had completely released. I'd ridden 2 races and several hours of normal riding without any problems. Loosened everything up, re-tightened and hoping it sticks. I was thinking of calling SRAM to see if they have any recommended fixes or ideas what might have gone wrong.
> 
> Good luck at StarCrossed... a few of our local 3FCX riders are doing ss race, too.


The spring tension is probably released because the mounting post is spinning in the frame or fork. I had the same issue and that fixed it for me. These brakes have worked really well for me, though I do not race with them.


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## limba (Mar 10, 2004)

What were your previous brakes?


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## billydonn (Oct 3, 2010)

limba said:


> What were your previous brakes?


Avid Shorty... recent model. Not very good IMO.


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## tango (Sep 27, 2011)

*Spring or fork issue?*

I have also been playing around with the spring tension for a couple of hours until I figured out that on the left side (as labelled on the brake pad, looking into direction of riding) the brake mount of the fork was too thick.

As a consequence the brake arm on the left could not move freely. Regardless on spring tension settings, I could not get the brakes to work smoothly. However, after sanding down the brake mount on the fork it worked.

Did you also find the left/right labelling strange? While the brake pads are labelled in riding direction (at least for the front), the springs are labelled (red dot on left side) from the perspective standing in front of the bike. This issue makes things unnecessarily complicated.


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## wibly wobly (Apr 23, 2009)

Nope. Mine went on without a hitch and have been fine since. The only thing I might do is switch the front to narrow just to help keep the bike from catching things. I haven't had a problem so far, just thinking of a worst care scenario.


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## ms6073 (Jul 7, 2005)

tango said:


> Did you also find the left/right labelling strange? While the brake pads are labelled in riding direction (at least for the front), the springs are labelled (red dot on left side) from the perspective standing in front of the bike.


What I find confusing is the part of the instructions for tensioning which indicates to use a 15mm cone wrench to turn the left brake spring counter clockwise (as looking at them installed on the fork) around to the 3 o'clock position and the right brake spring clockwise around to the 9 o'clock position. Following that guidance/orientation, I get really quick return of the caliers but the brake levers are super stiff; reversing the orientation gives good feel and good return.


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## tango (Sep 27, 2011)

Yes, I agree, the 9 / 3 o'clock postitions appear very stiff. I chose 6 o'clock for both of them with the narrow setting on the front.

Oh, and the fork with the too thick brake mounts is on a Scott CX Team, 2011 model.


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