Avid Elixier 5 problems

[Shambler]

Hi bought a mountain bike that came supplied with these brakes. The front disc makes a horrific noise when stopping and seems to shudder. The bike is new and unfortunately I live 150 miles from a decent bike shop. Has anyone else used Avid disc brakes or come across this problem?

[Raven Flyer]

It might be a bedding in problem. They needing bedding in just like car discs do.

Lightly sand them with very fine wet and dry, in a pattern of strokes towards the centre of the disc, to remove old pad resin deposits. Then clean them with brake cleaner. Make sure you don't leave any greasy finger prints on the disc.

Go for a ride at walking pace, doing very light pressure stops but not actually stopping. After 20 operations, gradually build up the speed and the brake force until doing powerful braking from 20mph. Let them cool a bit between each braking operation and don't actually stop each time.

After 20 minutes of doing this, they should be very powerful and judder free.

I did mine one end at a time.

[CoolC]

Do you know what type of pads are in there?

I have Elixier 3 brakes and overcooked the sintered pads on some long road downhills in the north yorkshire moors. They made a god awful noise after that.

When I got home I changed them to Kevlar and they are now silent again.

Once you've bedded in the pads tweek the caliper to get them nice and central too.

[Shambler]

Not sure what pads are on it, They came standard on the anthem x3. Have cycled about 50 miles now, seem to get better when there is some heat in them but still a bit of a judder. When cold they are awful

[Gumstabber]

Oil on disc?? I managaed to get oil on the disc and caliper once. Cleaned and cleaned them to try and sort out the racket they made but never managed to solve it. Bought and fitted new disc and pads in the end - problem solved.

[Shambler]

Interesting! when i first got the bike the lever went soft and hydraulic fluid came pouring out. I wonder if that could be the problem.