Your cart is empty.
Your cart is empty.The name says it all, and the Avid Shorty Ultimate Cyclocross Brake is just that. You can have lightweight, adjustability, and the sure stopping power of Avid brakes. The Ultimate Brake has more than a few details that we really appreciate. Firstly, they use standard road brake pads. As you may expect, they'll be easy to replace as every bike shop will have something to get you back on course if you have the need. Secondly, the arms are width adjustable to accommodate slight differences in stud placement on your cyclocross frame or fork and to ensure that you have proper heel clearance for the rear brake. The Shorty Ultimate Brakes also have a built-in tension adjuster and an easy-to-use quick release on the straddle cable. Aside from all of that, the Avid Shorty Ultimate Cyclocross Brake looks trick enough to do the mid '90s CNC cottage industry proud. They come as a set with both front and rear brakes and are available in Black/red or Grey/black.
Andrew Smith
Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2023
great brakes, just in time for 'cross season. almost as cool looking as the old Campy Delta brakes, but these actually work.
Customer
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2020
These brakes are an expensive investment but worth every penny. The installation and adjustment was frustration free not difficult. The braking power is amazing and definitely an improvement over cheaper set ups. I would highly recommend these brakes they are a superior product.
aury
Reviewed in Italy on March 3, 2020
probabilmente è il miglio cantilever ancora in commercio (il resto è tutto fuori produzione).Il montaggio non è immediato ma funziona bene e si può installare coi bracci aperti per l'anteriore e chiusi per il posteriore.Ottimo prodotto (i pattini sono standard)
Damiano Zignani
Reviewed in Italy on March 3, 2020
Freni tecnicamente al top. formidabili. Molto affidabili e sicuri, costano un po', ma ne vale la pena.
Frank K aus HH
Reviewed in Germany on December 16, 2019
Eigentlich wollte ich die gleiche Cantilever wie ich bisher am CX gefahren bin (diese ist bei mir gebrochen).Das Einstellen des gleichmäßigen Bremsdruckes links und rechts ist ein bisschen tricky, sonst ist der Einbau easy. Die Bremse bremst wirklich gut, ich werde mir davon noch eine auf Reserve legen.Klare Kaufempfehlung!
D. Washington
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2017
These brakes with the swissstop pads are killer! Amazing stopping power. I'm a 250lb rider with an All City Space Horse. The cantilever brakes that came with the bike were woefully inadequate, so I had my LBS install Avid Single Digit 7 brakes with Problem Solvers Travel Agents (these brake cable roller things). Those were better, but the calipers were too long and I kept hitting the rear ones while pedaling. These are perfect and they stop on a dime. Highly recommend.
Sticks
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2016
I bought these for a cross bike build and they installed easy and look great. They work well with Shimano Ultegra levers. They seem to stop as well as any cantis I have ridden before. Which is to say not as well as a good set of calipers.The arms can be adjusted from wide to narrow. They may have more stopping power in the wide configuration but I have not tried them wide. A couple years ago these were on a number of pro bikes so I figured they have to be pretty good. I give four stars cause they are darn nice but not perfect.
Jake
Reviewed in Canada on April 21, 2016
Upgrade for my Kona Jake the Snake. Much better braking and eliminated the vibration on hard down hill braking. I should have bought this year's ago
Eddie Licitra
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2015
I've bought both sets of these brakes for my cyclocross bike. The brakes are wonderful, you should probably buy them.What isn't wonderful, is the poor quality control on the saddle cable nipple (the metal shape at the end of the brake cable). The cables are over tolerance, causing excess friction within the barrel adjuster. This means, after trying to assemble them once with a minor amount of tension -- the cable nipple was completely bound in the barrel adjuster (rendering it useless). Go to your local bike shop and purchase a replacement brake cable (for a road bike) and use that instead.This happened to both sets of brakes I had (front and rear, bought totally separate at different times). Local bike shops said the part was bad, and was immediately fixed by buying a new brake cable. Shame on you SRAM, low quality OEM cables that don't fit with your hardware.
Shannon Burt
Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2014
Maybe I need to clean my rims or play with the settings but these didn't have the stopping Power I expected.
Manu
Reviewed in Spain on February 10, 2014
Muy buenos frenos cantilever. Seguramente los mejores frenos cantilever que se puede adquirir en el mercado. Ligeros y de la maxima calidad.
Houckster
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2014
I am using these brakes on a road bike optimized for touring.These are the best cantilever brakes I've ever used. They are easily adjustable and quite powerful though the pads may not be quite as good as the Kool Stop pads I've seen reviewed. I used these brakes to replace Shimano V-brakes that worked OK but were hard to adjust properly. The need with the V-brakes to keep the pads close to the rim made tire removal difficult as well.These brakes are adjustable to a narrow or wide stance. The front brake comes in the wide stance and the rear brakes come in the narrow stance. I don't know why. It takes a T10 Torx wrench to change from a wide to a narrow stance. Almost, if not all road bikes should use the narrow stance on the front and rear positions. Installation will also require 2.5, 3 and 4mm hex wrenches.I am using these brakes with Cane Creek Drop V brake levers and I have nothing but good things to say about this combination. They allow greater rim clearance to make tire removal easy (up to 28mm at least) and at the same time provide an excellent road bike feel. They have a quick release button to facilitate tire removal. Like road bikes, to make parking the bike easier, you can adjust the brakes to lock the brakes in the normal use position and ride with the levers in the quick release position. Personally, I prefer an old toeclip strap on the brake lever to lock the front wheel for parking.I used an SRAM brake cable kit to provide smooth cable operation.The installation instructions were reasonably good.
nick tosques
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2014
best brakes for cross bikes. just as powerful as dura ace road brakes. matched with dura ace 7800 brake/shifter leverseasy to adjust. wheel changes to wider rims is no problem with the small barrel adjusters.
Recommended Products
