New Sram Guide/Code combo

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New Sram Guide/Code combo
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flag dubod22
Posted: May 14, 2017 at 3:54 Quote
I have accepted that my Guide RSC's are simply not up to the task of downhill riding. The modulation is great but the stopping power is some way short of my Saint riding friends. I do want to give them a chance so I'm looking at purchasing a set of Code R's and installing the caliper onto the Guide RSC levers.

As far as I can tell the new Code R levers have a 30% bigger reservoir than Guides which can handle heat build up better but this wouldn't effect the overall power output from the lever, would it? The caliper is where the power seems to be at so can any engineers confirm a bigger reservoir doesn't mean more power. I can handle the heat build up as I havent had brake fade on the guides yet.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
flag Painhawk
Posted: May 14, 2017 at 14:21 Quote
Well, what actually decides the power isn't just the calipers. How much fluid the master cylinder (lever) pushes is a big part of where power is generated. And it's a distinct possibility that the new Code lever delivers more power than the guide lever.
flag cmcrawfo
Posted: May 14, 2017 at 15:13 Quote
Painhawk wrote:
Well, what actually decides the power isn't just the calipers. How much fluid the master cylinder (lever) pushes is a big part of where power is generated. And it's a distinct possibility that the new Code lever delivers more power than the guide lever.

I thought the same thing
flag cmcrawfo
Posted: May 14, 2017 at 15:14 Quote
Have you maximized your rotor size? and considered running a different pad?

If you say the modulation is good, and you haven't had any brake fade due to heat ... I am curious why adjusting your setup is even required... to compare your stopping power to your friends is interesting, as there are so many variable that would dictate how well/efficiently another rider would stop compared to you.

Run what ya brung!
flag dubod22
Posted: May 15, 2017 at 2:38 Quote
Thanks for your replies.

Yeah, I'm running 200mm rotors front and rear with metal pads.

The modulation is fine but when it really comes to braking hard, it needs to be done earlier on the approach. As mentioned, my friends Saint's have brutal power, having tried it on the same run (albeit a different bike). Having come from trials, I'm quite used to modulating powerful brakes, but the Guides are definitely underpowered
flag five-10
Posted: May 20, 2017 at 8:25 Quote
I run guide rs levers on the old code calipers and its fine.
flag Ploutre
Posted: May 22, 2017 at 7:22 Quote
I ran Guide RSC levers to Code calipers last summer, and it was almost perfect. The only drawback I had was that due to the rather small reservoir on the Guide levers, over a day, it would hardly compensate for pad wear and actually "suck" the pistons in.

Basically on the first few runs in the Alps, I would have had a perfect lever feel, but after each run, the pads would get farther from the rotor. It took me a few seconds to reset them, with a small flat screwdriver, but that's still annoying.


Other than that, pretty good power, no fading that I could notice, but once the pads were completely toast (black compound, rainbow backplate due to overheating), I definitely lost power (but even with the brakes cold). So if I was changing the pads every 2 days I'd be just fine Smile
flag sham8723
O+
Posted: Sep 28, 2017 at 18:43 Quote
I recently bought a Code RSC front brake. Haven't ridden it yet.
Any opinions as to whether i'll be mismatched with a guide RSC rear?
flag Telebump
Posted: Oct 3, 2019 at 19:36 Quote
dubod22 wrote:
I have accepted that my Guide RSC's are simply not up to the task of downhill riding. The modulation is great but the stopping power is some way short of my Saint riding friends. I do want to give them a chance so I'm looking at purchasing a set of Code R's and installing the caliper onto the Guide RSC levers.

As far as I can tell the new Code R levers have a 30% bigger reservoir than Guides which can handle heat build up better but this wouldn't effect the overall power output from the lever, would it? The caliper is where the power seems to be at so can any engineers confirm a bigger reservoir doesn't mean more power. I can handle the heat build up as I havent had brake fade on the guides yet.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

An older post but for anyone researching the topic... Last summer I bought a Nukeproof Mega Carbon Pro that came with Guide RE brakes. Decent brakes, but even after extensively bleeding (SRAM brakes require patient "sucking back and forth bleeding where just when you think all air is gone a series of bubbles burp), they still felt mushy. Plenty powerful but yeah, pretty mushy, which I kinda liked; coming from Shimano XT, I welcomed the better modulation (hated the way XT's locked up, especially varying in conditions (i.e. dry to wet etc). Regardless I didn't like the fact that Guide RE's have no contact adjustment and looked to upgrading the lever assemblies to gain that function. So long story short I bought CODE RSC levers to mismatch with my Guide RE calipers before blowing the wallet on the complete system and WOW!!! The brakes are now spectacular, and I do mean SPECTACULAR!!! All the power one could want but lever actuation is significantly smoother, crisper and full on lock at half the pull. Not as "full on or off" as the XTs, but definitely not Guide RE mushy anymore. Think "a happy medium" perfectly in between. And they are totally consistent in changing conditions. And honestly, it is the first hydraulic brake system I have used where there is almost no difference between front and rear brake feel and actuation despite the differences in hose length. That is a big something. But one thing that disappointed me is that the contact point adjustment works from a base gapping that only allows you to increase the gap between pads rather than close the gap (as in adjusting for pad wear). So unless someone knows a trick I didn't try (tried bleeding as per SRAM (contact adjust full in) as well as winging it by bleeding contact full out; it makes no difference other than you reduce the contact out adjustment)... At any rate, of all the upgrades I've done to the Carbon Pro Mega (tires (Maxis Assegai 1.5 front, DHR2 1.4 rear), 40mm stem, seat (Tioga Outland), XO1 drivetrain, 30T chainring, grips (Deathgrips), Wolftooth dropper, handlebar trim, etc), this one had the best bang for the buck improvement. Definitely worthy of doing just a partial/mismatch swap. I would bet that beyond gaining "bleeding edge" bleeding capability at the caliper, you will not notice any improvement with dumping Guide RE calipers for Code RSC's, but you will gain huge by swapping just the lever assemblies for about $100 a piece (as opposed to $250 per one brake for the RSC complete lever/caliper combo assembly).
flag kurt2
O+
Posted: Apr 22, 2020 at 14:26 Quote
An older post but for anyone researching the topic... Last summer I bought a Nukeproof Mega Carbon Pro that came with Guide RE brakes. Decent brakes, but even after extensively bleeding (SRAM brakes require patient "sucking back and forth bleeding where just when you think all air is gone a series of bubbles burp), they still felt mushy. Plenty powerful but yeah, pretty mushy, which I kinda liked; coming from Shimano XT, I welcomed the better modulation (hated the way XT's locked up, especially varying in conditions (i.e. dry to wet etc). Regardless I didn't like the fact that Guide RE's have no contact adjustment and looked to upgrading the lever assemblies to gain that function. So long story short I bought CODE RSC levers to mismatch with my Guide RE calipers before blowing the wallet on the complete system and WOW!!! The brakes are now spectacular, and I do mean SPECTACULAR!!! All the power one could want but lever actuation is significantly smoother, crisper and full on lock at half the pull. Not as "full on or off" as the XTs, but definitely not Guide RE mushy anymore. Think "a happy medium" perfectly in between. And they are totally consistent in changing conditions. And honestly, it is the first hydraulic brake system I have used where there is almost no difference between front and rear brake feel and actuation despite the differences in hose length. That is a big something. But one thing that disappointed me is that the contact point adjustment works from a base gapping that only allows you to increase the gap between pads rather than close the gap (as in adjusting for pad wear). So unless someone knows a trick I didn't try (tried bleeding as per SRAM (contact adjust full in) as well as winging it by bleeding contact full out; it makes no difference other than you reduce the contact out adjustment)... At any rate, of all the upgrades I've done to the Carbon Pro Mega (tires (Maxis Assegai 1.5 front, DHR2 1.4 rear), 40mm stem, seat (Tioga Outland), XO1 drivetrain, 30T chainring, grips (Deathgrips), Wolftooth dropper, handlebar trim, etc), this one had the best bang for the buck improvement. Definitely worthy of doing just a partial/mismatch swap. I would bet that beyond gaining "bleeding edge" bleeding capability at the caliper, you will not notice any improvement with dumping Guide RE calipers for Code RSC's, but you will gain huge by swapping just the lever assemblies for about $100 a piece (as opposed to $250 per one brake for the RSC complete lever/caliper combo assembly).[/Quote]

@telebump,

Are you still happy with the mismatched lever/caliper you descirbed earlier? Just curious if you've found and challenges with the set up since you last posted. Thanks. I have Guide RSCs on my Spartan. They're okay, but lack what the saints offer on my Wilson. A buddy is unloading some Code calipers, so I see this as an opportunity to improve Spartan Braking.
flag Telebump
Posted: Apr 22, 2020 at 14:57 Quote
My calipers are Guide REs, but my levers are Code RSCs. I love them!!! Upgrading to the Code RSC levers is one of the best mods I have done to the bike. Stopping power is amazing and the feel is as well. The only thing that the Code RSC calipers would gain over the Guide REs is the “bleeding edge” bleed screw. Otherwise the Guide RE caliper is the same as the Code RSC. I don’t know if that is the same with the Guide RSC calipers. The Guide REs weakness is the lever. The RE lever is crap.
flag Slyez
Posted: May 21, 2020 at 20:18 Quote
The master cylinder bore size of the guide and code is the same, the caliper pistons on the code calipers are bigger. I think it's 14/16mm for guide calipers and 15/17 for code. Don't know master bore size, but seal part number is the same for code and guide.

But I to am curious about codes up front guide out back. I have 2 bikes and a set of codes and a set of guides. Both long travel 29, so I could give them both a code front guide rear, or potentially under brake one.....
flag SantaCruzSean
Posted: Jan 15, 2021 at 7:44 Quote
@kurt2

I'm thinking of getting Code RSC levers for my guide R calipers, I hate the feeling on the guide levers and lack of adjustment.

I know the guide RE caliper is the last generation code caliper, do you think this setup would work with a standard guide caliper?
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