Juicy pad replacement
Discussion
Just tried superstars then EBCs on my wife's Rockhopper; the pistons are as retracted as humanly possible using fairly serious tools but still aren't flush. The pads also don't seem a great fit (in fact the Superstars are way too long). Both sets of pads are for Juicy brakes; I used to have some 5s on my bike and now remember why I hated them so much.
New brakes, some secret technique or more violence? I'm fairly savvy on
most bits: my self fitted X0s haven't yet killed me.
New brakes, some secret technique or more violence? I'm fairly savvy on
most bits: my self fitted X0s haven't yet killed me.
I had a right royal pain in the posterior with the Juicy 5's on my old bike.
I followed the recognised procedure on various forums and You Tube vids on how to change pads. A 3 minute job I was expecting, but alas...ended in failure!
I used original Avid pads and I also had the problem where I couldn't retract the pistons far enough to get the pads fitted without leaving them dragging on the rotor. Much head-scratching later, I admitted defeat and pedaled (at huge effort due to draggin brakes) to my LBS.
Explained what I did, left old pads in, used tyre lever to press aginst old pads to push pistons in etc, then they asked if I had been hanging the bike on the wall.
I hadn't but I did say that I had the bike turned upside down while I was pushing the pistons back into the caliper (I don't have a bike-stand).
LBS then said that this was the cause of my problem. Pushing the pistons back into the caliper while the bike was upside down caused me to force some air into the system.
I had no idea how this was possible as I thought it was a completely sealed system. If fluid can't come out, how does air get in?
Anyway, one brake-bleed (and £15) later the LBS handed me back a bike with perfectly functioning brakes.
Very strange, but was happy that £15 seemed to fix the problem. Still don't really undertand how it could have happened in the first place, but the Elixir's on my current bike seem (touch wood) to have avoided this problem after quite a few pad changes by myself (I don't rest my bike upside down anymore).
I followed the recognised procedure on various forums and You Tube vids on how to change pads. A 3 minute job I was expecting, but alas...ended in failure!
I used original Avid pads and I also had the problem where I couldn't retract the pistons far enough to get the pads fitted without leaving them dragging on the rotor. Much head-scratching later, I admitted defeat and pedaled (at huge effort due to draggin brakes) to my LBS.
Explained what I did, left old pads in, used tyre lever to press aginst old pads to push pistons in etc, then they asked if I had been hanging the bike on the wall.
I hadn't but I did say that I had the bike turned upside down while I was pushing the pistons back into the caliper (I don't have a bike-stand).
LBS then said that this was the cause of my problem. Pushing the pistons back into the caliper while the bike was upside down caused me to force some air into the system.
I had no idea how this was possible as I thought it was a completely sealed system. If fluid can't come out, how does air get in?
Anyway, one brake-bleed (and £15) later the LBS handed me back a bike with perfectly functioning brakes.
Very strange, but was happy that £15 seemed to fix the problem. Still don't really undertand how it could have happened in the first place, but the Elixir's on my current bike seem (touch wood) to have avoided this problem after quite a few pad changes by myself (I don't rest my bike upside down anymore).
It's fairly easy to strip Juicys and replace the pistons or just give everything a good clean and hope for the best. Usually they just get really crudded up if they won't go back in, if you're not getting the pistons in far enough you can bang away all day and you wont get pads in.
Remove brakes from the bike, remove the pads, squeeze the lever till the pistons meet in the middle. remove the 2/3 bolts that hold the two halves of the calliper together and split it. removing the pistons can be hard, but try to avoid ripping them out with tools. Once in bits go mental with brake cleaner and kitchen roll to get all the baked on crud off. Ideally replace pistons and seals, reassemble and bleed, bleed again, bleed a bit more - it hard to get the air pockets from behind the pistons out.
Or just throw the hateful things in the bin and buy some Formula / Hope / Shimano brakes ha ha.
Remove brakes from the bike, remove the pads, squeeze the lever till the pistons meet in the middle. remove the 2/3 bolts that hold the two halves of the calliper together and split it. removing the pistons can be hard, but try to avoid ripping them out with tools. Once in bits go mental with brake cleaner and kitchen roll to get all the baked on crud off. Ideally replace pistons and seals, reassemble and bleed, bleed again, bleed a bit more - it hard to get the air pockets from behind the pistons out.
Or just throw the hateful things in the bin and buy some Formula / Hope / Shimano brakes ha ha.
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