Them's The Brakes

Project Elixode 5, The Frankenbrake

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Elixir 5 Levers		Code 5 Callipers		Herman?

The Dream

Take lightweight Elixir 5 levers with their nice feel, and marry them to Code 5 callipers with large pads. Get the improved modulation of the Elixir levers, get the increased power of the Code callipers.

The Reality

Actually, Avid pretty much do this with the current Code R brake. So in theory it should be all good. The only difference with my setup is that I'm using the older Code 5 callipers. Which are, in all honesty, not as easy to change pads, or bleed (especially if you buy them second hand, and they don't come with a bleed block, grr), and are a different shape and size.

However, the Code 5s were quite cheap, and when set up work just fine. They have very similar sized pistons and pads to the new Codes - just a bit more fiddly to work on.

Surgery

Joining them together was simplicity itself. The lever ends of the hoses on all Avid brakes are identical - just unscrew the old calliper and screw on the new calliper. Total time, 5 minutes.

Stitching it Up

Ah yes. Bleeding. The Elixir calliper bleed process is the same as the the Code 5 calliper bleed. It was the levers that had different bleed procedures. So with my setup (i.e. Elixir levers + Code callipers) I do the familiar Avid process with the two syringes - bleed the hose, bleed the calliper, bleed the lever (Avid's 2009 service manual contains both code 5 and elixir bleed procedure). It takes me on average about a half hour to do one brake - I'm not very quick at this, the SRAM video guides seems to crack on through a single brake in about five minutes. And sometimes I get to do one calliper twice because I've left an air bubble in there (remind me not to ever work on my car's brakes).

Total time so far, about 65 minutes.

Then a bunch of time spent refitting things to the bike.

It's Alive!

So, was it worth it? Yes, these things sure do have some stop in them. The Code callipers are a touch less grabby and feel more progressive than the Elixirs. Gold stars all round.

Now if only my riding skills were as good as the brakes...

Do it Again?

Yep, definitely. I kind of enjoy playing with this sort of stuff, I have a fairly unusual setup that works nice for me.

If I was being purely mercenary, however, I could easily have just sold my Elixirs, and bought a set of Codes. But where's the fun in that!?

Listen Carefully, Here Comes the Science Bit...

Ok:

• Piston diameter in the Elixir calliper is 20.5mm.
• Piston diameters in the Code calliper are 16mm and 15mm.

So, the piston surface area is:

• Elixir - 330mm2
• Code - 201mm2 + 176mm2 = 377mm2

So there is a difference in the area of the pistons. Hence when you use the same lever, there is a corresponding difference in travel of the piston(s), and the clamping force applied by the calliper. Piston travels less distance, force is increased - that's where the extra power in the Codes comes from.

The ratio of that area can directly tell us the increase in clamping force and braking. The Codes have approximately 15% more area, and 15% more clamping force, and so that's 15% more stopping power (yeah, well, that last bit assumes the pads are exactly the same, etc etc).

On the minus side, they are 15% more fiddly to get aligned, because the pads are 15% closer to the disc at rest. Pays yer money, takes yer choice...

Note that the funky new X0 "trail" brake has about 355mm2 piston area, which is bang in the middle of the Elixir and Code - so Avid now have a "right down the middle" option to sell you...


Right, I'm off to go and pull some endos with 15% less effort.