 Avid, purchased on March 1, 2004 by SRAM, designs and manufactures bicycle brake systems and components.
Its products include hydraulic and mechanical disc brakes for mountain bikes, mechanical disc brakes for road and cyclocross bikes, rim brakes for mountain and cyclocross bikes, brake levers for mountain bike rim brakes and mountain bike mechanical disc brakes, brake cables, and brake maintenance products.
And because Avid's parent company SRAM recently added road bike rim brakes and brake levers to its product line, one may find brakes and levers for all types of road, mountain and cyclocross bicycles within the SRAM business family.
[ HYDRAULIC ] [ MECHANICAL ] [ RIM ]
 Avid is part of SRAM. The SRAM Corporation began with the goal of creating the absolute best shifting system and changed the cycling world forever with the introduction of Grip Shift.
SRAM had the vision and desire to expand their presence in the industry so they found the best brake systems company, Avid, joined forces with them, creating huge excitement in the global cycling community.
Click here for SRAM's comporate info.
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 BRAKE SYSTEMS
Bicycle brake systems are used to slow down, or brake a bicycle.
There are two main types of disc brake: mechanical (cable-actuated) and hydraulic. Mechanical disc brakes are almost always cheaper, but have less modulation, and may accumulate dirt in the cable lines since the cable is usually open to the outside.
HYDRAULIC & MECHANICAL BRAKES
Hydraulic disc brakes use fluid from a reservoir, pushed through a hose, to actuate the pistons in the disc caliper, that actuate the pads. They better keep out contaminants, but are difficult to repair on the trail, since they require quite specialized tools. The brake lines occasionally require bleeding to remove air bubbles, whereas mechanical disc brakes rarely fail completely.
Also, the hydraulic fluid may boil on steep, continuous downhills. This is due to heat build up in the disc and pads and can cause the brake to lose its ability to transmit force ("brake fade") through incompressible fluids, since some of it has become a gas, which is compressible. To avoid this problem, 203 mm (8 inch) diameter disc rotors have become common on downhill bikes. Larger rotors dissipate heat more quickly and have a larger amount of mass to absorb heat. Two types of brake fluid are used today: mineral oil and DOT fluid.
RIM BRAKES
In rim brakes, the braking force is applied by the rider squeezing a lever mounted on the handlebar; this causes friction pads (usually made of leather or rubber) to contact the rim of the rotating wheel, thus slowing it and the bicycle. There are several types of rim brakes.
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