hey i have a set of i believe 01-02 hydro hayes on my vp free and am having some problems with them. today i left my house and went one block and then down a pretty steep hill and hit the brakes hard to stop about 60 feet from the intersection and the levers went to the bar and i barely stopped in time. this happens quite often. like a half hour later i went to slow on a trail for a turn and cloudnt and ran into a bush. they have just been bled by a shop and they dont know what is up either. any ideas? right now im thinking of just getting avid mechs cuz they work well on my other bike. thanks
hayes brake problem
- Thread starter ZEDMAN
- Start date
the pads? its not the pads.
Bleed bleed bleed and bleed. If their the hfx 9's make sure to flick the lever while you are pushing fluid through. Hayes can be a real bitch sometimes...if nothing works get a pair of shimano's.
they are not new they are like 3 years old and this has been a problem for a while
bleed them ten times on ten different days, reading the instructions each time. This worked for me 'cos the bubbles always get up into the lever after a days ride.
Okay, don't listen to these jokers. Just needs a rebleed. Lever to the bar is possibly the most common syptom of that problem. Follow the instructions; it's not too hard. I have found that a syringe works better than the Hayes bleed bottle. According to their instructions, it might not work well but I have found that it is much easier than the bleed bottle. I have used that method for HFX-9s and Mags with success.
Um, ANY new brake, be it car bike or motorcycle, should be bled a couple of times at first. They need to get the bubbles out of all the little nooks and crannies in the calipers and cyclinder. This is quite normal with a high performace product. They require maintenance and the setup is a little bit more involved them simply slapping them on there. It isn't like adding a body kit and type R sticker to your Civic.mack said:
um..one simple solution might just be the reach adjustment screw loosening. mine dose that time to time.
Their instructions state that you should squeeze and release the bottle several times at first to draw back on the system to get the bubbles out of the caliper. I think they feel you can't do this with a syringe but you can. The syringe rocks.JRogers said:
Mike
Word. Their reasoning is whack.Dartman said:
i have bled these things and the problem is still there and its a very bid hassle and i am way too lazy to do it
this is a common problem with the hayes. the reach adj screws have a tendency to thread themselves out, thereby causing the levers to get progressivly closer to the bars. Here is hayes solution. thread the adj ( 2mm allen ) out and put a drop of blue locktite on the threads and thread it back in and let it sit for a day before you ride it. be careful not to get the locktite on anything other than the adj screw, it could give your brake a sticky feel if you gum up the pivot. Good luck
could be this it happened to me and drove me crazy for a week or two...
On my set of hayes the lever felt great nice and solid but if I squeezed the lever and held it on the lever would creep slowly til it reached the bars...After numerous bleeds this is what actually was the problem.
I must have crashed and my brake line was hit right near the master cylinder and what happened was the line cracked on the inside(the line has three layers a yellow,a white,and a black outter) only the inner layer was cracked and when I Squeezed the lever the fluid would actually slowly go through this crack BETWEEN the other layers and not leak any fluid....If you line is long enough just cut like and inch or so off(on the lever side) ... then put a new compression fitting and do a rebleed....sounds crazy but it happened to me....goodluck
On my set of hayes the lever felt great nice and solid but if I squeezed the lever and held it on the lever would creep slowly til it reached the bars...After numerous bleeds this is what actually was the problem.
I must have crashed and my brake line was hit right near the master cylinder and what happened was the line cracked on the inside(the line has three layers a yellow,a white,and a black outter) only the inner layer was cracked and when I Squeezed the lever the fluid would actually slowly go through this crack BETWEEN the other layers and not leak any fluid....If you line is long enough just cut like and inch or so off(on the lever side) ... then put a new compression fitting and do a rebleed....sounds crazy but it happened to me....goodluck
Could be a blown line. I have seen it before where a line is blown, but the brake will retain some functionality. Looks fo kinks. Is it one brake or both? I am one of the few who like the syringe. Keep in mind that the faster you try to force in fluid, the more bubbles you generate.
Hayes used to say "squeeze for 5, then release for 3" until the fluid is really coming out the top. That trick has always worked for me. That and making sure that the line is a verticle as possible. Flicking the line with you finger can also help dislodge bubbles.
My ghetto trick is after the bleed, if things are still not 100%, let the bike sit for a while. Then flip up the lever and fill it using the "bleed cone" as if you were bleeding a Hope or Shimano. You can get a lot of bubbles out that way.
Hayes used to say "squeeze for 5, then release for 3" until the fluid is really coming out the top. That trick has always worked for me. That and making sure that the line is a verticle as possible. Flicking the line with you finger can also help dislodge bubbles.
My ghetto trick is after the bleed, if things are still not 100%, let the bike sit for a while. Then flip up the lever and fill it using the "bleed cone" as if you were bleeding a Hope or Shimano. You can get a lot of bubbles out that way.
pipe tape works better than the blue loctite, loctite can seep into the lever pivot causing it to stick