Avid Shorty Ultimate

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Avid Shorty Ultimate Preview

March 2013

Will Avid’s Shorty Ultimate brakes live up to their name?

We’d heard fantastic things about these brakes so it seemed a good option for our project cyclo-crosser, Trigon XQC01.

We really liked the Avid Shorty 4 brakes that we tested recently, so we’re hoping that these top of the range cantilever brakes live up to our expectations and may just hold off the advance of disc brakes for a while… Apparently we can expect more power than from other cantis, promising to give us more than just extra stopping power but more control when scrubbing off speed as well. We’ll see.

Avid Shorty Ultimate Brakes

We can already say that the black and red aluminium units are relatively low weight at just 115g per unit, an important consideration when hefty a bike over your shoulder every lap. They look great as well, finished in black with anodized red hardware.

A clever feature is that they are adjustable between a wide and narrow stance. Set them up in the wide position and you have even more clearance for mud and other debris. In narrow, which seems to be the most commonly chosen option, you have increased power at your finger tips. We’re starting in narrow but will try wide as well for comparison.

Avid Shorty Ultimate narrow or wide?

The Avid Shorty Ultimate has other great features, such as the neat red anodised cable adjuster and quick release, allowing you to perform last minute adjustments to your brake pad position as well as quickly remove your wheel.

The brakes come with standard road cartridge pads which as we are not at the level where we can justify two or three identical bikes, makes switching pads between carbon race and aluminium training wheels a lot easier. Its something we already do on a regular basis on our road bikes.

Avid Shorty Ultimate CX Brakes

We are going to be matching them up to SRAM Force shift/brake levers and expect them to work well, given that both products come from the same parent company.

Avid Brakes

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