[Delimeat]

I love my Avid brakes. I've had about 6 different pairs of brakes over the years on various bikes, I can still remember the world of difference when I came off my Hayes Mag's and onto the original Juicy 7's . Multiple sets of J7's, Ultimate's, Ultimate/Code combo's, and now some Elixir CR's (oh hey, where'd the power go?!), and since that very first set I've had the same funny nuance....

Even with the bite point set to it's furthest out position it seems to move in over time, especially when the bike is not being ridden. It is easily fixed by dialing the bite point adjuster in all the way, giving the lever about 20 pumps, and then dialing the bite point back out. Dynamite, it's back out where it belongs! All of my brakes have had this little niggling problem, as well as many of the Avid users I ride with, no matter what the system. A million bleeds later and I'm pretty damn sure there is no air in there...

So my question would be: Can some good soul explain what is happening, mechanically?

 

[IH8Rice]

sounds pretty obvious to me. you have air in your system. if you have to pump it up 20 times like you said to get it back to normal, then theres obviously air in the there

 

[basikbiker]

try new lines, or a new resivior

 

[6thElement]

Even with the bite point set to it's furthest out position it seems to move in over time, especially when the bike is not being ridden. It is easily fixed by dialing the bite point adjuster in all the way, giving the lever about 20 pumps, and then dialing the bite point back out. Dynamite, it's back out where it belongs! All of my brakes have had this little niggling problem, as well as many of the Avid users I ride with, no matter what the system. A million bleeds later and I'm pretty damn sure there is no air in there...

So my question would be: Can some good soul explain what is happening, mechanically?

Have the same problem on my Codes, just tried the dial it in, pump, dial it out and my bite point is back out in front of the bars. Damn annoying, but at least I know a quick fix now, thanks.

 

[illflip]

happened to me with my Codes. a good bleed did the trick. seems to be a common problem.

 

[Sandwich]

I have heard horror stories with the bleeding of avid brakes. Things like having to individually bleed calipers, levers and lines separately. Or that the DOT fluid eats through the seals in the calipers.

I don't know how much of that is true and not just ham-fisted mechanical ignorance, but it sounds like air in some part of the system.

 

[IH8Rice]

I have heard horror stories with the bleeding of avid brakes. Things like having to individually bleed calipers, levers and lines separately. Or that the DOT fluid eats through the seals in the calipers.

thats not a horror story, thats how you properly bleed them, and makes plenty of sense when you do it. coming from running Hayes for 9 years, it didnt make sense until you actually bleed the brakes for the first time and notice all the air bubbles coming out

and if they are putting seals that are effected by DOT fluid then that would be a pretty huge blunder.

 

[jonKranked]

Or that the DOT fluid eats through the seals in the calipers.

This will happen in any braking system that is designed for mineral oil, or using Dot 5 fluid in a system designed for Dot 3, 4, or 5.1 (because DOT 5 is silicone based, while 3, 4, and 5.1 are polyethylene glycol-based).

 

[Sandwich]

thats not a horror story, thats how you properly bleed them, and makes plenty of sense when you do it.

damn. I'll stick with my Saints that I can bleed in a parking lot.

 

[KavuRider]

damn. I'll stick with my Saints that I can bleed in a parking lot.

I thought it was intimidating until I saw a friend bleed mine. Its so much easier than it sounds, takes about as long as bleeding a set of Hayes.
They have a good system.

 

[IH8Rice]

damn. I'll stick with my Saints that I can bleed in a parking lot.

it looks and sounds more complicated then it really is. theres no mess or pain bleeding them.
bleeding them in the parking lot or anywhere else is easily done w/ their syringes and clamps.

 

[time-bomb]

Yeah, it really is a simple process. I just did mine on Saturday evening. It took me about 15 minutes per brake and that includes reading the instructions multiple times just to make sure I didn't miss something. It gets exponentially easier to do each time you do it. The bleed kit is simple to use and mess free.