Clark Skeletal ejeculation on hard brake

2wheelsonit

Well in the nature of bedding in the pads on my new Vulcan with Clarks skeletal disc brakes, i pulled into the garden and quickly and abruptly pulled the front brake - this resulted in the hydraulic hose shooting off at the lever end shooting it's dot 4 all over my fence

Previously i've had cable disc brakes but am concerned that even though said hose clips back on it obviously a weak point and could let me down when i need it most

I have the brake adjustment sensitivity all the way clockwise and have moved the lever out quiet away from the handle bar as there was too much travel before

Has anybody known this to happen and what should i do? I didn't get any instructions with these and the website support documentation doesn't even mention lever and strength adjustment.

1mancity2

It should not come off like that, "clips back on"? does it not bolt into the lever?

can you take it back to the shop to get it sorted?

2wheelsonit

Hey thanks for the quick replay - yep i suppose i can take the bike back but too be honest this will be the 2nd return now on the Vulcan i got it on the 1tth and the crank caved in and sounded like a bag of spanner during my 1st 4 mile ride (not even harsh riding) so i returned it and was given a new one now this brake issue - not sure of the exact fitting for the hose as i needed to get off to work, but i just pushed the hose back on and it clicked in place ??

bennett_346

Maybe it just got excited.

2wheelsonit

bennett_346 wrote:

Maybe it just got excited.

Well there's a time and a place for that and this wasn't mentioned in the service schedule ie

Periodically relieve your brakes !!

bennett_346

2wheelsonit wrote:

bennett_346 wrote:

Maybe it just got excited.

this wasn't mentioned in the service schedule ie

oh that's what those are..

andrewjoseph

2wheelsonit wrote:

Well in the nature of bedding in the pads on my new Vulcan with Clarks skeletal disc brakes, i pulled into the garden and quickly and abruptly pulled the front brake - this resulted in the hydraulic hose shooting off at the lever end shooting it's dot 4 all over my fence
...

All joking aside (for the time being at least), don't use the bike, the brake is now useless and needs to be rebuilt properly and then bled to get rid of the air.

i have been using hydraulic brakes for the last 10 years on mtb's and have never heard of this happening.

i have known people to have ripped out hoses during a fall but never from normal use.

Take the bike back and get a refund, two badly built bikes is too much coincidence. Even having untrained staff build up bikes for sale shouldn't cause these problems as they don't assemble the brake systems or install BB's. these sound like factory QC is non existent.

2wheelsonit

Oh dear, the thing is as these are all branded components would you say it is down to the Carrera QC i imagine they fit them as oem -rather than the component manufacturer eg sram for the crank and clarke for brakes - i'm just trying ot work out if i've been unlucky or if theres more to it
Looks like i may be going back to decathlon for a rockrider - shame as the reviews of this bike (Vulcan) were favourable and even the individual component reviews were ok. Still halfords do a bad job of fumbling their way through setup as i've had to set the gears up properly and set components correctly on both now after purchase.

Good advice andrewjoseph by the way on safety aspect and rebuilding

andrewjoseph

2wheelsonit wrote:

Oh dear, the thing is as these are all branded components would you say it is down to the Carrera QC i imagine they fit them as oem -rather than the component manufacturer eg sram for the crank and clarke for brakes - i'm just trying ot work out if i've been unlucky or if theres more to it

I suspect it is, or even a bad batch from clarkes.

The BB from SRAM has to be assembled into the bike, so possibility for problems there. The brake system should be complete from Clarks factory and just bolted onto the bikes, no need for bleeding or fiddling with hose joints, but someone could have done so to get it to fit.

sound as if the hose joint near the lever wasn't assembled properly. A really serious, potentially fatal, oversight.

This should have been caught at the place of bike assembly/packing or at the place of final assembly/bike shop. There is no excuse for letting a bike with such a serious flaw out of the shop.

However, there is also an onus on the owner to check the bike is safe for use once it is out of the shop. The shop could argue that you had loosened nuts and bolts unknowingly (had you?) to get a good bike fit. (adjusting angle of levers, loosened wrong bolt etc.)

Take it back, explain what happened, demand money back. see what happens.

2wheelsonit

just to be clear when i say the hose came off at the lever end it was still attached to the silver end piece which i imagine screws in (but it just clipped back)

andrewjoseph

2wheelsonit wrote:

just to be clear when i say the hose came off at the lever end it was still attached to the silver end piece which i imagine screws in (but it just clipped back)

the hose joints are meant to be screwed into place. there are no push fit joints on hydraulic systems. they need to be leak free and airtight so nothing comes out and nothing gets in.

You should need tools to work on these systems, finger tight doesn't do it.

can you get some pictures up?

At the very least it needs a competent/experienced person to put it back together and re-bleed.

2wheelsonit

tbh this happened just before i had to rush out for work so i don't have alot of info at the moment other than what i quickly assessed had happened

I have a VFR800 motorbike with quite a complex hydraulic setup (linked brakes) which i bleed so im not a complete newb to hydraulics - if its just the case of a screw not tightened up enough to keep the banjo in etc then i would have a go and bleed refill - but anymore and its going back - its just the fact i've got i all running nicely and adjusted to me.

Thanks for your input really appreciate the help

andrewjoseph

I would let the bike shop know regardless, this may be a bigger issue. If they have several complaints then Clarkes may look into it. also if you have other issues later on, you have let them know there were problems from the start.

2wheelsonit

yup i'll do a quick assessment when i get home and then we'll see if its back for the 3rd time and also if its the final time - i do like the carrera but so far a crank and brake could have been quite dangerous had i have been on trails riding hard etc i'll update later

mrmonkfinger

I was fitting a pair as I work in a Bike Shop and 1 set was fine but the other set shot me in the face/eye with brake fluid straight out of the box! Cheap!! You buy cheap, you buy twice!!! If you can't afford decent Hydro Brakes, use V-Brakes...... I didn't give them a 1 becasuse 1 set worked but I felt that the fact it shot me in the face was enough to lower it from a 3. S***T

This posted as a comment on bikeradar's review.

Sounds like Clarks have a few QC issues.

2wheelsonit

I've just emailed them to outline the problem i have had - i will let you know the response

2wheelsonit

forgot to add also the levers rattle especially on bumpy ground and there's no way of tightening them up any further

2wheelsonit

This was the part that shot out upon braking inside it is a threaded silver component - i assume there's no way of tightening this backup inside

mrmonkfinger

AFAIK the bit inside there should screw into the brake lever quite positively. Sounds like the thread might have been stripped by some gorilla fingered chump when it was first assembled = dead lever.

You might find the rattly levers can be quietened down by adding a plastic washer on the pivot bolt.


Not that it will be much help if the only thing that happens under hard braking is a faceful of DOT 5.

2wheelsonit

Just noticed this video on shortening the cable which shows the connector in great detail - when i get home i'll see wether the threads been stripped by some gorilla fingered chump or wether mr fairy hands didn't tighten it enough (i'm hoping it's the latter) as i said i've just set this bike up nicely - good idea on the plastic washer if it just needs tightening up - i'll stick some goggles on refill/bleed and try again

http://www.clarkscycles.com/index.php/h ... -to-videos

386ka

2wheelsonit wrote:

Just noticed this video on shortening the cable which shows the connector in great detail - when i get home i'll see wether the threads been stripped by some gorilla fingered chump or wether mr fairy hands didn't tighten it enough (i'm hoping it's the latter) as i said i've just set this bike up nicely - good idea on the plastic washer if it just needs tightening up - i'll stick some goggles on refill/bleed and try again

http://www.clarkscycles.com/index.php/h ... -to-videos

Have you messed with the hoses of the brakes?

2wheelsonit

Hey - no not touched them - i was kinda hoping not to have to coming from a cable disc brake i was looking forward to the low maintenance

andrewjoseph

mountain biking... low maintenance.... hahahahahahahahaha... ha! ;-)

peter413

If you haven't touched the brake yet I would personally say don't touch it and take it back to where you bought the bike so they can see exactly what is wrong with it rather than you trying to explain to them.

2wheelsonit

OK so got home and all i can think is that the hose connevtor wasn't tight enough in the fluid reservoir i've tightened it up and refilled i just need to bleed, i expelled some air by just pulling the lever with the diaphram off. Needs backfilling with syringes now as theres some loss of brake power and excessive travel

If i have anymore problems then i'll take it back, also waiting for reply from clarks

andrewjoseph

I wouldn't be prepared to risk it. good luck. you got good insurance?

2wheelsonit

OK so it turns out that the brake hose was leaking at the lever end where the connector attaches to the hose aswell as the fact that the threads must have been stripped to some extent for the other side of the hose connector to pop out and back in

The final straw was the left pedal started to creak and has play in it - so the bikes gone back for good

to summarise

got a carrera vulcan on the 11th rode for about 1 mile crank eat itself and sounded like a bag of spanners was loose and shot

got a new replacement went for a 4 mile ride clarks brake hose shot out from reservoir upon braking next day pedal had play and started grinding, front brake hose leaking from bottom of lever end connector.

took back got refund

went to see rockrider 5.3. has gone up £50 - now has btwin sport tyres which i don't like (look cheap) new decals which i dont really like so im not happy paying the extra £50 for what i think is an inferior bike to last years although they are bringing out a 2012 one soon with hutchinson tyres and improved brakes !! so im told so...argghhh now on the lookout for a new bike checked out some treks but the forks and gears seem budget for the price just looking at a corratec xvert disc on chain reaction !!

lugsey2k5

Hello.
Sorry to hear about how bad the bike has been for you.

I work for Halfords and all i can say the Clarks skeletal brakes are the worst brakes iv ever seen.

Iv lost count of the amount of times iv built a bike up only to find the hose leaking at either the lever or the calliper. There quality control must be extremely lax to let some many wrongly assembled brakes though, that or the design its self is poor.

Although you have been unlucky with other components i personally would never trust the brakes.

2wheelsonit

Hey lugsey it is a shame that the bike didn't work out for me - if it was just the brakes i may have worked around them and u/g and although the carrera gets goods review generally it just wasn't proving reliable or and i had to question the longetivity of it.

I've got to say that although its a no sh*t sherlock average cable disc brakes are better than cheap hydos ( and more reliable too)

i had a go of a rockrider 8.1 and i think it came with avid juicy 3's ...wow talk about stop on a penny they felt dependable i made save a little more and get this as it specs up pretty well - the only issue i have with decathlon at the moment is that they seem to be playing around with the decals and too be honest i think the 2010 were much more appealing and they have put there own tyres on them all which in my opnion look cheap and skinny im holding out for the 2012 models

lugsey2k5

Again im not a fan of juicy 3s although that is mainly down to specialized putting stupid 203mm rotors on a 140mm trail bike which bend easily, but the brakes them self seemed fairly powerful.

The Clarks brakes are not even cheap there £60 a piece which is new Deore money!

And as for Halfords assembily, as has been said many times its all down to the individual shops, My shop has 4 bike builders, 3 of us mountain bike and the other has worked there long enough to know what hes doing.

peter413

lugsey2k5 wrote:

Again im not a fan of juicy 3s although that is mainly down to specialized putting stupid 203mm rotors on a 140mm trail bike which bend easily, but the brakes them self seemed fairly powerful.

So you don't like certain brakes because one company specs big rotors, makes total sense :roll: And how is that stupid? I run a Saint with a 203mm rotor on my Marin which is 140mm, what's that then.