More Juicy 3 probs!!!

DC01

Hello all. Got a prob with my Juicy 3s on my 09 Rockhopper. When i got the bike bike they felt spongey and had alot of free travel on both front and rear levers. This bike is my commute ride so give it a week of use with the odd trail blast on my way home each day to bed them in fully ( about 60 miles in total). bled brakes fully as per normal avid procedure and got a fair amount of air out. There performance was improved but i still have alot of free travel on both levers. Ican get both levers about 1/2 inch from the bar with one finger. I ve bled them out several times using different methods with no air coming out but there still the same. perform ok but just loads of free travel on levers. I ve had juicy 5s before and currently run 7s on my ex8 so bit of an Avid fan, and plenty of experience with bleeding procedures. Def no air in them. Is this normal for the 3s or are they just cr*p as previosly asked in another thread. Any help welcome. Cheers all.

nicklouse

have you tried adjusting the lever reach?

Sikora

Try removing the wheels and carefully pull the levers to move the pistons out. Can be a bit of trial and error to get them perfect - just use a flat bladed screwdriver with a bit of tape on the end to push them back in if they rub on the rotor

Remember to align the calipers up afterwards

DC01

Yes. it is as far out as it can go when bleeding them. And if i adjust them in a tad to my normal position, the very end of the levers hit my index finger knuckle as i just brake with first finger. Just feels to much free travel on levers. My 7s do not do this and are pin sharp. Cant move them any further inboard on bars because braking then becomes uncomfortable. Dont expect them to be as good as the 7s as there a budget brake. but feel very poor. almost like sqeezeing a tube of toothpaste till they bite. I know it sounds like air in the system but its air free. i even rigged up a low prssure bleed rig. but no air at all.

DC01

Sikora wrote:

Try removing the wheels and carefully pull the levers to move the pistons out. Can be a bit of trial and error to get them perfect - just use a flat bladed screwdriver with a bit of tape on the end to push them back in if they rub on the rotor

Remember to align the calipers up afterwards

pistons are modulating fine and set up ok. And all the pads have the smallest of gap between the discs. to the point of just lightly ribbing. Its a few the first part of the lever pull is not pushing anything within the master cyclinder. strange both brakes are both equally bad.

nicklouse

again have you adjusted the reach?

DC01

Yes. assuming you mean the grub screw that locks the lever to the barrel pivot pin.

nicklouse

no the one that moves the lever in and out.

DC01

Yes. adjusted that one as well.

nicklouse

and what is it doing to the feel of the lever?

when the lever is adjusted fully away from the bar and when it is adjusted closer to the bar?

DC01

With the levers wound in i can just pull them to the bar with no or very little brake. wound out i get a good brake, but with just loads of free travel on lever. could it be just fine adjustment of the lever on the pivot? Or is there a recess on the pivot that the grub screw must sit in?

nicklouse

well there is nothing to adjust at the pivot so i don't know what you have been doing. maybe you have caused things to be miss aligned .

all it is is a crub screw to lock onto the pivot so it does not fall out.

DC01

What if i loosened the grub screw and moved the lever in to remove some of the freeplay. re tighten the screw, then adjust the reach screw to move the lever out so the lever is in a postion that suits. would this be a solution?

DC01

Ignore last comment. thought about it after and realised i was talking cobblers. :oops: lol.

Great Ayton

Welcome to the world of Juicy3 I have seen countless sets do the same thing. I am actually surprised you have not has a similar problem with your Juicy 5 and 7 s as we have had countless people coming in who have the same problem with these.

DC01

The 5s i did have and 7s i currently have are great. pin sharp with very little lever free travel. No matter what position i put the levers in. still loads of travel. if i set the lever so i can pull it without the lever striking my middle finger, i can just about reach it with my first finger.

Great Ayton

This is a general problem with the hole juicy range, its just the 3s and ultimates tend to suffer more than the other models. It sounds like your only just getting away with the 7s so its unsurprising the 3s are giving you problems. You can try swapping the pads for metal ones. These give a stiffer leaver feel as the pad it self has less give in them like that on the 7s. A trick you can also try on your 3s is take the wheel out and pull the leaver slowly once or possibly twice. This can push the pads in towards the disc and due to the Juicy dislike of self adjusting can give you a much sharper brake. This does however often result in trailing brake. Of if you push them to far you the brakes can get stuck on or the wheel may not even fit. If so just push the pads back out and try again. Just be careful not to pull the leaver to mush as if you have warn pads or if one piston is sticking it can result in the piston pushing past its seals and that's never fun.