Bike Storage - Solutions or Issues?

gary.musto

Hey Guys,
I don't bike as often as I would like due to Family commitments, but when I do I always check my bike the night before. Usually I have no issues as I tend to be quite proactive when I complete a ride.
So I was concerned when I checked my bike over Friday evening to find I had no pressure in my front brake (Avid Juicy 3SL on a 2009 Specialized FSR XC Comp).
So Saturday took me to Leisure Lakes Cheltenham and £40 later I am the owner of a bleed kit.
I have to be honest, I have used the kit and it was fairly easy the first time round, but as I was bleeding the brake, I tried to think why the brake should be this bad when the last ride I had was excellent in the braking Department.
And the only thing I have done differently is the way I store my bike. My garage is rather busy with five bikes in total, so a friend of mine made me some wall brackets that allow the rear wheel to be sat on the floor against the wall with the front wheel in the air, also against the wall. This means the bike is stored at 90 degrees to the normal working level. My belief is this should not cause an issue as I have seen similar brackets sold quite freely. Am I right to think this or is it a definate no-no? If storage this way is totally acceptable, is there a chance the seals are worn and leaking? How easy are seals to replace.
Any help is very much appreciated.
Gary

nicklouse

the storage is not the problem.

bamba

I have stored my bikes like that since ive had them (vertical , front wheel up) never been a problem.

Anonymous

Front wheel up is one tip advised for helping brakes self bleed, though that's in combination with tying the levers to the bars.

Juicy 3s are part of the problem. They suck. One minute they can bite nicely, next they're squishy and horrible. Bleed, they ride okay for a bit (never as good as new though), then they're squishy again. Nothing leaking though.

ilovedirt

Yeah, Juicies are just problematic in general, and a massive pain to bleed sometimes. You're not supposed to tip the bike upside down either, as it can move air from the lever to the caliper, but i do it anyway...

nicklouse

ilovedirt wrote:

Yeah, Juicies are just problematic in general, and a massive pain to bleed sometimes. You're not supposed to tip the bike upside down either, as it can move air from the lever to the caliper, but i do it anyway...

no they are no to both those statements. and if you have correctly bled the system there is no air in it anyway.

ilovedirt

nicklouse wrote:

ilovedirt wrote:

Yeah, Juicies are just problematic in general, and a massive pain to bleed sometimes. You're not supposed to tip the bike upside down either, as it can move air from the lever to the caliper, but i do it anyway...

no they are no to both those statements. and if you have correctly bled the system there is no air in it anyway.

It says in the tech manual not to put the bike upside-down....

Anonymous

On my old GT it said in mine not to use it for Downhill.

So I went around climbing hills and along flats but got off every time the slope went downwards.


Actually, I've taken it on a number of proper DH trails and it survived fine. It's such a tank it will survive anything I think.

shade™

hmm. surely air anywhere in the system will result in a squishy feel as it compresses under load?

Bleeding a system means getting all the air out as well as replacing the fluid if it has become tired or absorbed too much water.

Have you replaced the brake fluid? Did you use the right type? It is critical to use the correct fluid as the material that the seals are made of can be lunched by the wrong type. If I remember correectly, DOT4 and 5.1 are similar and DOT5 is different. Systems will either use the first two or the 3rd type. (or mineral oil, in which case dont use ANY brake fluid).

Anonymous

Juicys are DOT 5.1 now (nasty stuff), though some earlier ones may have 4 I think. If you use 5.1 where it had 4 before they say you should flush and replace the lot.

I find even doing a thorough bleed properly, the Juicys will at first bite well but a couple of rides and they're squishy again. The levers are nasty as well. Bends and flexes too much so doesn't feel right.

shade™

it's worth noting that 5.1 really isnt needed on a MTB. It's designed for motorbike that race where the brake fluid can boil....it has a higher boil point BUT it is more hygroscopic (absorbs more water more easily) so can become contaminated more easily.

In a MTB I would only use DOT4. It lasts longer and if you can boil it up inside the calipers then you are bloody superman or something imo!

Perhaps your system allows a little water ingress? or yeah....just perhaps the brakes are rubbish. I have Elixirs. No problems yet, although bleeing them seems to be a bit of a black art. I've not properly sussed it yet....and I can bleed my motorbike brakes easily in a few minutes. :roll:

cooldad

DOT rating makes very little difference on a bike and you can mix different DOT rated glycol based fluids.

Stu Coops

Had juicy 3' on my sons hardtail in the past juicy elixir on my full suss and had all types of issues, over the last two yrs changed them all to formula's not one issue

nicklouse

shade™ wrote:

it's worth noting that 5.1 really isnt needed on a MTB. It's designed for motorbike that race where the brake fluid can boil....it has a higher boil point BUT it is more hygroscopic (absorbs more water more easily) so can become contaminated more easily.

In a MTB I would only use DOT4. It lasts longer and if you can boil it up inside the calipers then you are bloody superman or something imo!

Perhaps your system allows a little water ingress? or yeah....just perhaps the brakes are rubbish. I have Elixirs. No problems yet, although bleeing them seems to be a bit of a black art. I've not properly sussed it yet....and I can bleed my motorbike brakes easily in a few minutes. :roll:

Oh there are so many incorrect statments in there it is unreal.

shade™

nicklouse wrote:

Oh there are so many incorrect statments in there it is unreal.

Feel free to point em out then...dont hold back on my account

shade™

I may be taking the bait here as a noob on this forum but:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_fluid

Just a quick google brought up our old reliable (ahem) friend wikipedia. I am still curious to know what you found to be incorrect in my earlier post.

cooldad

shade™ wrote:

I may be taking the bait here as a noob on this forum but:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_fluid

Just a quick google brought up our old reliable (ahem) friend wikipedia. I am still curious to know what you found to be incorrect in my earlier post.

When you get a statement like this in your 'authority' you may want to research further:
Oftentimes, a car will become flooded with brake fluid.

cooldad

But just to question one point of your previous post - water does not 'ingress' into the system. If it did all the fluid would chuck out of the same hole(s).
Air contains water vapour, and it is this that condenses to form water in a system.

shade™

Good old Wiki. :roll:









I still stand by my statements though. This doesn't disprove them :P

shade™

cooldad wrote:

But just to question one point of your previous post - water does not 'ingress' into the system. If it did all the fluid would chuck out of the same hole(s).
Air contains water vapour, and it is this that condenses to form water in a system.

Yes, of course it would only suffer water ingress/contamination if it was damaged in some way or had a leak or someone had stored the brake fluid poorly prior to use. I felt that was understood and therefore made that eventuality a remote one at best.

cooldad

shade™ wrote:

cooldad wrote:

But just to question one point of your previous post - water does not 'ingress' into the system. If it did all the fluid would chuck out of the same hole(s).
Air contains water vapour, and it is this that condenses to form water in a system.

Yes, of course it would only suffer water ingress/contamination if it was damaged in some way or had a leak or someone had stored the brake fluid poorly prior to use. I felt that was understood and therefore made that eventuality a remote one at best.

Ramble on.

gary.musto

Many thanks to you all for your time. My thoughts were that the brakes were the issue and not the storage. I am confident I bled properly so I will check it again and maybe look at changing brakes.
Once again, many thanks.