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Hayes El Camino disc brake review

A while back, I picked up a set of Hayes El Caminos for my trail bike, despite plenty words of warning from a number of friends who logged serious time with these things on their dh rigs. The primary complaint was about the way the brakes faded or pumped up on fast runs but I figured I’d be all right since my set wasn’t going to be used at Whistler or for heavy duty gravity-fed action.

I’ve spent a couple of solid months with these brakes in conditions that ranged from steep, wet, and sloppy to dry, dusty, and really freakin’ fast, and have a pretty good idea about their strengths and limitations. They weren’t as bad as my friends claimed, but the El Caminos definitely are not the best brake in their price range; in fact, because of the all-round performance of the brakes, there are a number of less expensive hydraulic brakes that I’d choose over these things.

Initial impressions

Out of the box, the brakes look pretty slick. The monoblock calipers are gorgeous and, while the levers take some getting used to, there are plenty of uglier-looking things out there. The lever body conceals the brake fluid reservoir and looks pretty low profile. Other interesting features include the ‘Power Adjustment Dial’, a ‘tool-free’ reach adjustment, and a split-clamp that makes mounting the brake on your bike an easy process.

My brakes came pre-bled, which would’ve been perfect had the lines on the front and back not been about a foot too long. Fortunately, Hayes includes a full bleed kit with each brake and, after cutting the lines to length and putting everything back together, I bled the brakes and everything felt great.

After a relatively straight-forward installation, I was ready to set the lever throw on the El Caminos to my (admittedly finicky) preferred position. After a year or so using Avid’s Juicy 5 brakes, I was used to solid, one-finger braking, with the levers set pretty close to the bar. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a similar ’sweet spot’ on the El Caminos because the lever always ended up touching the bar when I gave the lever a good pull. I ended up bringing the levers as close to the bar as possible and using the Power Adjust feature to fine tune it after that.

Using my trusty Alpine Digital Scale from Feedback Sports, the brakes weighed in at about 400 grams (rotor, lines, caliper, lever), which puts them in the middle of the pack, weight wise. Hayes includes rotor bolts in their weight measurement, which means the claimed weight on the company’s site is pretty close to bang on.

On the trail — the good

The El Caminos really do well under the right conditions. They offer plenty of bite, decent modulation, and feel pretty solid when you grab them.

On terrain that I consider cross country — rolling singletrack, doubletrack logging roads, semi-technical descents with lots of roots and rock — the brakes performed admirably. During these rides, I never had any doubts that the El Caminos were capable stoppers.

The Power Adjust Dial offers noticeable changes in the way the brake engages and it’s easy to use, understand, and access. On-the-fly adjustments were 50 / 50, since I often turned the dial the wrong way when I wasn’t looking, so it’s one of those things where you should stop and look before you leap, but this feature really does work well.

On the trail — the not so good

Fade and pump. When I took these brakes out of that ‘comfort zone’, their limitations became readily apparent. On steep descents where you’re heavy on the brakes the El Caminos would fade pretty quickly, losing power and limiting my ability to properly control the bike. But before I’d experience brake fade, the levers would ‘pump up’, which left me with uneven braking performance and a lack of confidence in the consistency of the product.

Sloppy levers. Other things bothered me about these brakes too. Out of the box, there was more slop in the levers than there were after 12 months on the Juicy 5s. And without any crashes, the lever blades on the El Caminos started to hum after about a month and, as of now, feel like I should be able to change gears by tapping the lever with my fingers.

No tools, for a while. Similarly, the ‘no-tools’ adjustment worked fine for the first little while but I soon found myself removing the rubber knob and making the adjustment with an allen wrench. For whatever reason, I found it impossible to get any kind of grip on the lever reach adjustment.

Not for small hands. If you have small hands, the El Caminos might not be for you either. Unlike brakes like the Juicy 5s or 7s, it’s really hard to get these things set up close to the handlebar without running into interference. I found that I always had to reach for the lever first and then settle into a comfortable braking position.

Other problems. After asking around at a couple of local shops, I found that the El Caminos had additional problems that I haven’t experienced yet. Some people have had issues with the inner lining of the brake line rupturing, a problem that requires a new (and expensive) line and puts a quick end to your day’s ride; others have found the brakes feel flimsy under full pull, a result of the hardware Hayes used inside of the lever body.

Scoring

First impressions: 7 /10. I was pretty pleased with these brakes out of the box. The monoblock caliper looks sharp, and the brake was easy to install. The included bleed kit was a nice touch.

Performance: 24 / 40. The El Caminos performed well on light-duty cross country runs, where really steep, technical, all-mountain trails aren’t a part of the experience. They have plenty of power to stop you, as long as you’re not dragging the brakes for any amount of time. Because when you turn up the heat on these things, they are outperformed by plenty of the other brakes out there. I experience things like brake fade and lever pump, stuff that really hindered the enjoyability of my ride.

Durability: 14/20. The levers on the El Caminos had play in them straight out of the box. Over time, this little bit of sloppiness has gotten worse until now, and the levers ‘hum’ at speed.

Pricing: 10 / 20. Retail pricing on these things is pretty high, something like $600 cad for a set. For that kind of cash, I expect performance that rivals the Avid’s Juicy 7s, Shimano’s XTs, or Magura’s Louise brakes. Unfortunately it’s not there and, if you have to pay full pull, I’m not convinced you’d get solid value for your dollars.

Wild card: 5 / 10. Hayes loses marks for trying to sell these brakes as suitable for anything other than cross country or light trail use. Based on the amount of fade I experienced, there’s no way they can hold their own on downhill runs or at places like Whistler’s Bike Park. In fact, I’ve spoken with reps from a number of manufacturers who stopped spec’ing El Caminos brakes on their gravity-fuelled bikes because of the problems I mention above. To be fair, Hayes did reclassify the El Camino after 2005, and removed the DH from its purpose rating, although they’re still called ‘freeride’ brakes on the Hayes website.

Overall: 60 / 100. Ok, but you can do better.

Summary

The Hayes El Camino disc brake is a sexy looking thing, but in the mountain biking world good looks only take you so far. The El Caminos work fine on rides where you don’t head down prolonged descents but they fall short on extended, steep runs where heat build up takes its toll. Under these conditions, they offer inconsistent performance and are less impressive than cheaper setups like Avid’s Juicy 5s or Shimano’s Deores.

As much as I’ve loved Hayes’ brakes in the past — the Purples and early Mags were fantastic in their time — I wouldn’t recommend these things for anyone who is into fast, aggressive trail or all mountain riding, let alone serious freeride or downhill. While the El Caminos are more than capable for lightweight xc use, but many of us out here in the real world have one bike that we use for a bunch of different conditions. If you’re brand-loyal to Hayes, I’d recommend looking at the company’s Mag brakes, where you can match your riding style to one of these.

Being concerned about your brakes’ ability to stop puts a serious damper on what you can (or will) ride, because you’re reminded of their inadequacy every time you roll a little outside of the lines.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 18th, 2006 at 8:39 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.