/Rant! An expensive "5 minute maintenace job"
Raymondavalon
Posts: 5,346
Grrr..
I am doing an event on Sunday, a 20 mile ride in Nottingham for charity
Today I collected my rear wheel from the bike shoppe @ Cannock with the new bearings fitted.
In my infinite wisdom I decided to change the rear pads on my (newish) Avid Code rear caliper as the rear brake's noisy and I suspect contamination. I did buy a few sets of Code pads as spare when I bought the brakes.
Simple, remove circlip from the rear of little bolt that goes down the middle of the brake pads, insert good condition 2.5 Allen key, loosen and.. tada! The bolt head strips! FFS!
Take out Dremel and grind a slot in the little hex cap so I can use a screwdriver to remove the freaking thing.
Insert flat screwdriver and *snap* bolt head breaks in half. Oh well.. so in the spirit of a Gypsy grifter with improper tools, and no technical knowledge I hack away with a Leatherman multitool and anything that will grab the bolt with zero success..
Nope the bolt, she's stuck and I am not proceeding any further until I've done the event this weekend.
The brake is functional and I've resigned to writing it off and spending £130 on a complete new rear brake as I don't have the resources to bleed the brake if I could source a caliper.
Damn, I am more than a little peeved about this,,,
I am doing an event on Sunday, a 20 mile ride in Nottingham for charity
Today I collected my rear wheel from the bike shoppe @ Cannock with the new bearings fitted.
In my infinite wisdom I decided to change the rear pads on my (newish) Avid Code rear caliper as the rear brake's noisy and I suspect contamination. I did buy a few sets of Code pads as spare when I bought the brakes.
Simple, remove circlip from the rear of little bolt that goes down the middle of the brake pads, insert good condition 2.5 Allen key, loosen and.. tada! The bolt head strips! FFS!
Take out Dremel and grind a slot in the little hex cap so I can use a screwdriver to remove the freaking thing.
Insert flat screwdriver and *snap* bolt head breaks in half. Oh well.. so in the spirit of a Gypsy grifter with improper tools, and no technical knowledge I hack away with a Leatherman multitool and anything that will grab the bolt with zero success..
Nope the bolt, she's stuck and I am not proceeding any further until I've done the event this weekend.
The brake is functional and I've resigned to writing it off and spending £130 on a complete new rear brake as I don't have the resources to bleed the brake if I could source a caliper.
Damn, I am more than a little peeved about this,,,
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LBS...?Boo-yah mofo
Sick to the power of rad
Fix it 'till it's broke0 -
Options;
1 Drill and re-tap
2 Can you get any pliers on the stud? try turning it with those
3 Try unscrewing it with a centre punch and a hammer by making a mark in it and then knocking the punch in an ati clockwise angle.
And my advice is;
4 Take it to a bike shop. They probably wont want much for it. If you live near Nottingham I would take it to holts in Derby if its convenient. They are great at that sort of thing and reasonable too.Road Bike; http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12727419
MTB; http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12695499
Something I will never do justice; viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=128093330 -
The bolt is minute, so no chance of drilling it
On the upside I discovered that you can buy the Pin Clips and that the LBS has some in stock according to their website.
So, tomorrow I'll pick them up (to sort of book them now to avoid disappointment) and after the event on Sunday I'll remove the entire break assembly, pop it over to the LBS and see if they cannot revive it..0 -
Did a similar thing on the MPH3 brakes that I had on the NRS, only I snapped the ball head of the allen key off inside the bolt. Not a cheap allen key either, it was a Snap-On (or snap-off... :x ) one. Had to be very carefully drilled out. And obviously replaced with a Ti bolt...
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ElC Cap,
Wherever possible I try to buy the best tools. I have a gut feeling that the brake pin was overtightened.
My dad was an REME trained tradesman. He once saw me using one of his beloved Snap On screwdrivers as a punch and he justifiably clipped my ear.
A few months later I broke a Philips head Snap On screwdriver using it as a lever and my old feller was dumbstruck. When the Snap On van came past his work, my dad showed him the damaged screwdriver and the Snap On rep replaced it free.0 -
When you say "Pin clip". Do you mean the little e-clip that goes on the wheel side of the caliper to stop the bolt vibrating loose?
If so, I've got a spare you can have because I have also just changed the pads on my own codes. You should have got another one with your new pads anyway if they were Avid pads.
As for the bolt. Must remember to check mine when I get home, maybe slacken it off a bit.0 -
CWNT,
No I stripped the head on the hex bolt like in the link below
Clicky for image
I will see if my LBS has some and if so I'll buy them0 -
Raymondavalon wrote:My dad was an REME trained tradesman...
Uh-oh....
It means he was taught to bodge everything then....? And that black tape and prayers make the world go round...?
I know this through first hand experience...!
Boo-yah mofo
Sick to the power of rad
Fix it 'till it's broke0 -
Dunk_911 wrote:And my advice is;
4 Take it to a bike shop. They probably wont want much for it. If you live near Nottingham I would take it to holts in Derby if its convenient. They are great at that sort of thing and reasonable too.
I hope their service is better than their website :P0 -
So this morning I pop into Swinnerton Cycles in Fenton armed with my botch job brake assembly
I show them what I did, make no excuses for my ham fisted stupidity and as them if they can remove the stripped brake pin
The lady at the reception shoots into the workshop with and returns 2 minutes later telling me they cannot fix it.
Now the caliper is a two piece design and as the pin only has threads on the outer part of the caliper, technically the caliper can be dismantled and the pin removed from the other side with mole grips etc.
I explain this to her, a customer next to me agrees with the very logical process I've clearly explained. It does make sense and can be done!
She looks at me with the blank look I get from my dog when I read the ingredients of his dog food to him aloud and replies "well our qualified mechanic says we can't fix it, you'll need a new one" I was most surprised.
Anyway I don't foresee myself ever letting them do any work for me again. As for their qualified mechanic, well he can stick to adjusting seatposts and oiling chains as he either doesn't have the skill set or logical mindset to undertake jobs of this nature.
Is it really such an effort to split and reassemble a brake caliper? I am aware that a service kit will probably be needed, but that is not an issue
Well I am taking it to another shop tomorrow and hopefully they can be bothered to, or have the skillset to split and rebuild a brake caliper0 -
Split and rebuild might cost as much as a new calliper.0
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Raymondavalon could you post a pic or two of it, i work in engineering and might be able to clear it for you0
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Erm, wouldn't it be far cheaper to just buy fluid, and even a bleeding kit, plus a rear calliper on it's own if it came to that?Raymondavalon wrote:The brake is functional and I've resigned to writing it off and spending £130 on a complete new rear brake as I don't have the resources to bleed the brake if I could source a caliper.0 -
dwill, firstly thanks for the offer, the caliper is on my desk at work as I am going to take it to the bike shop at Cannock.
If they cannot sort it, I will take a photo and may call upon your generous help to get it sorted.
Yehaa, LTNS chap!
I haven't seen the Code calipers for sale as loose items. If the bike shop say they cannot or will not take the job on, I will buy a rear brake assembly from Wiggle tomorrow and keep the fubar/repaired unit as spares.0 -
LTNS? whassatmean?0
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Little Thicket Nature Sanctuary? :?0
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long time no see"Melancholy is incompatible with bicycling." ~James E. Starrs0
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An SRAM dealer should be able to get the calliper for you. That said, sounds like you've a valid reason to avoid at least one LBS.0
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I prefer my interpretation! 0
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Providence!
I found a Code service manual with all the torque settings for the caliper. If the bike shop won't take the job on, I most certainly will, it's not that difficult now I've read the manual.
w00t!0 -
I don't know if I'm being dumb but having a look at my code5 calipers the pad pin is exposed in the middle between the pads, so some pliers (mini clamp type) around that part of the pin and back it out in increments should imo work, hell you could even file a couple of flats in it and use a very small (adjustable) spanner.-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Mongoose Teocali
Giant STP0
Why are MTB economics; spend twice as much as you intended, but only half as much as you wish you could afford? :roll:0 -
Providence!
Got the caliper split and the offending Raymond_I_am_a_Dork@fettling_Avalon Brake Pin removed.
This was done by Steve at Swinnerton Cycles in Cannock Chase. (Ironically Swinnertons in Fenton, Stoke On Trent wouldn't touch the job!)
Sadly the Pin Clips aren't in stock until early July so Steve has fitted a Hope Pin in it's place and it's secured by rear clip. It's not the right part for the job, but I'm in business until the real McCoy items can be ordered in July. In the interim I will try and find them elsewhere. They come in packets of 2 or 20! I don't want 20 that's for sure.
The job itself cost me £15 to split the caliper, remove my handy work, reassemble and re-bleed the brake assembly. Kudos to the man!
Anyone have a spare Code / Elixir Brake Pin they'd like to sell? :roll:
Bottom line, I am sorted at a fraction of the cost of replacing the rear brake assembly 0 -
Have you dropped Fisher's an email? The SRAM Brand Manager sent me a couple of cable plugs for my shifters for free when I contacted them.0
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El Capitano wrote:Have you dropped Fisher's an email? The SRAM Brand Manager sent me a couple of cable plugs for my shifters for free when I contacted them.
El Capitano,
I'll get on to them straight away :¬)0
