[Jeremy R]

So yesterday, I grab my 5-spot and hit the trails. I have been off the bike for a few days, so I was ready to ride. It must have been the right combination of caffiene and energy gel, but I was riding really aggressive and felt light on the bike, just having a blast on the same boring trails I ride all the time.
Then, due to watching too many vids lately, I started thinking about how fast the Pros are, and how they ride. And how guys like Sam Hill can corner so fast etc.....
Which led to me ripping into a section with a right hand corner, which then drops down into a sweet sweeping left with a tree at the end.
I go into the left knowing I was about to write a check that my azz can't cash. Bike goes into tree, and I slide on my knee and elbow for about 12 feet straight on a trail so hard it could be asphalt.
It was the kind of pain that makes a grown man skip. Yep, I jumped up like Mary Poppins and skipped 100 yards while making animal noises. So, covered in blood, I pick up my bike to continue, and my back brake was blown up, straight to the bar. So, I got to turtle back to my truck, all the while thinking about how you can go into a corner like Sam, but you are gonna come out of it like Jeremy.
Nice reality check.
So, I gotta try to race tomorrow now. Putting pads on my skinless knee should be SUPER!
Oh, I do have one question out of this thread.
Having used Hayes for about 7 years now, and never losing pressure in all that time, I don't know what the problem is. When I crashed, I checked and no fluid was visibly coming out anywhere on the brake.
Yet, with the lever on the bar, the pads barely move and don't even touch the rotor. Any ideas?

 

[ÆX]

you would of railed it like hill if you would have been on your dh bike............

 

[ztlh13]

My Hayes advice (buy Shimano)

Good to know someone else will have to don gear over their dumd Azz road rash!

 

[Rockland]

Putting pads back over the raw = ouch. Moleskin is now your knee's friend.

 

[hooples3]

its good to emulate the pros riding.. i myself have learned, the hard way, to do it at less of a speed

 

[Cant Climb]

take your pads out and clean everything.
reset the pistons.
and then try to see if they pressurize.

if not bleed them......new Hayes can be finicky but you can get them to work.....

At the Snowshoe race in my race run i hit that nice drop under the lift grab my rear bake into the corner , its at like 50% power.....get home rebleed and they back to 1-finger superpower......

 

[dante]

sounds like you kinked your hose or got some air into them. check the connection up by the lever.

for the scrape, I found this spray-on bandage type stuff at CVS last year due to my knee pads sucking big time. you spray it on, wait a couple min, then spray on another layer and you should be good to go. just do yourself a favor and get the "no sting" kind, I saved myself $.50 and it definitely wasn't worth it. :mumble:

 

[profro]

Yeah, check for a kink. You might have also busted the hose where it connects to the master cylinder making a void where the fluid can push into. That and a hole in the inner hose can cause Hayes to look like they should work but don't. I help you out tomorrow.

BTW, I decided to not race the DH. I need a break and I want to be refreshed physically and MENTALLY for Snowshoe next weekend. The last thing I want to do is try and pin a super pedally course. However I am going to rock out the MTNx race. Then I take photos during the DH race.

 

[SDH]

I had the same problem at Whistler

1st, I would take CC's advice and rebleed them. If that does not work, then replace the brake line.

Hayes' lines have a inner tube and an other tube. You can crack or damage the inner tube and not the outer tube. With the inner tube cracked all of the fluid goes between the inner and outer tubes and you will lose pressure. When you rebleed it for the first time run your fingers along the line to see if there are any buldges, if so the line is shot and replace it!

I lost pressure like this just recently in whistler while maching down Garbonzo. My thought was if I was Sam Hill how would I crash!

Hopes this helps.

 

[ztlh13]

sounds like you kinked your hose or got some air into them. check the connection up by the lever.

for the scrape, I found this spray-on bandage type stuff at CVS last year due to my knee pads sucking big time. you spray it on, wait a couple min, then spray on another layer and you should be good to go. just do yourself a favor and get the "no sting" kind, I saved myself $.50 and it definitely wasn't worth it. :mumble:

Yeah Jeremy do not get the one labeled Nu Skin. Holy cow what a sting. After applying I looked at the ingredients and the main three were acetone, alcohol, and propane. OUCH!@!

 

[dante]

Yeah Jeremy do not get the one labeled Nu Skin. Holy cow what a sting. After applying I looked at the ingredients and the main three were acetone, alcohol, and propane. OUCH!@!

builds character.

 

[vitox]

So yesterday, I grab my 5-spot and hit the trails. I have been off the bike for a few days, so I was ready to ride. It must have been the right combination of caffiene and energy gel, but I was riding really aggressive and felt light on the bike, just having a blast on the same boring trails I ride all the time.
Then, due to watching too many vids lately, I started thinking about how fast the Pros are, and how they ride. And how guys like Sam Hill can corner so fast etc.....
Which led to me ripping into a section with a right hand corner, which then drops down into a sweet sweeping left with a tree at the end.
I go into the left knowing I was about to write a check that my azz can't cash. Bike goes into tree, and I slide on my knee and elbow for about 12 feet straight on a trail so hard it could be asphalt.
It was the kind of pain that makes a grown man skip. Yep, I jumped up like Mary Poppins and skipped 100 yards while making animal noises. So, covered in blood, I pick up my bike to continue, and my back brake was blown up, straight to the bar. So, I got to turtle back to my truck, all the while thinking about how you can go into a corner like Sam, but you are gonna come out of it like Jeremy.
Nice reality check.
So, I gotta try to race tomorrow now. Putting pads on my skinless knee should be SUPER!

hmmm

i think you might have forgotten two very important things-to-do

1 game face
2 moto noises

 

[ChrisKring]

Yeah, Moto noises and Maxxis tires.

 

[mobius]

If the brakes are 9s check the rubber bladder in them we had so many of those die at snowshoe for no reason.

 

[dromond]

Also, make sure to clean your kneepads before putting them on. Dirty pads and an open wound seem like a great way to net yourself a nasty infection!

 

[DRB]

Yeah Jeremy do not get the one labeled Nu Skin. Holy cow what a sting. After applying I looked at the ingredients and the main three were acetone, alcohol, and propane. OUCH!@!

shhhh

 

[SinatorJ]

Damnit I hate it when I think that I am fast. Just ask Doug about when I felt I was fast in Telluride, Quite humbeling.

 

[thaflyinfatman]

Where the reservoir on the master cylinder is, there's like a diaphragm/bladder thing that expands/contracts to allow for fluid expansion due to heat. If you bash the lever into something real hard (crashing is usually the only way to do it) then it can cause a sudden spike in pressure in the reservoir (which usually isn't pressurised) and either rupture (very unlikely) the bladder, or force it off the bit it's stretched/sealed across. This basically means that the brake fluid won't stay in the lines - you might find that if you pump the brakes enough, you seem to get some kind of feeling back, but that it shortly disappears too. Solution: pull brakes to bits, check the bladder, and repair if necessary.