Evans brake bleeding (do they really need to send if off)

Prowlus

Just completed a 3 hour long ride across Ellenbrook fields in Hatfield Hertfordshire of course making full use of the local dirt mounds there to practice hucking and jumping using my Spesh camber and I noticed my back wheel was not spinning as freely as it should be when i casually rinsed the tyres free of dust and dirt at my local workplace.
so decided to RTB (Return To Bikestore) to find out what the problem was and they said that the rear brake hasn't been set properly by the manufacturer and it needs to be returned to SRAM or Specialized and bled which would take 2 to 3 weeks which means my bike is now in the LBS for quite some time .
Does anyone here think this is a bit wasteful if they concluded the system needed to the bled , why couldn't the engineer do it ? Last I checked Evans mechanics can bleed hydros on the spot

DCR00

Fix it yourself? Then check the rest of the bike over

supersonic

Yes, it's bollocks, unless there is some weird fault with some non obtainable part. But they should be able to 'set' a brake. If not, god help us.

stubs

2 or 3 weeks to bleed a brake! What are they using Unicorn blood as brake fluid. Very poor by Evans if its an Avid brake you can get the rebuild kit and completely rebuild a caliper or master cylinder in about an hour.

paul.skibum

Rubbish. Unless there is actually a manufacturing defect sending it back is BS. You need a kit to bleed it and if its avid you probably have to do it twice but they could do it in an hour you'd imagine.

CitizenLee

Take it to a different shop.

My local Edinburgh Bikes will do it whilst you wait if they're not too busy.

swod1

buy a bleed kit and do it yourself unless the brake has got a leak or something and they had to take it off to send back but surely would have another brake in stock to fit on the bike.

I bought a kit from epic bleed solutions something like that and they come with a very helpful guide.

Be careful with evans, if you take your bike in for a service they will most likely burp the brake especially on shimano ones i noticed the screws on my brakes had been removed.

Prowlus

CitizenLee wrote:

Take it to a different shop.

My local Edinburgh Bikes will do it whilst you wait if they're not too busy.

Main reason for using Evans is because they are offering to do it for free because they suspect it "may" be a defective batch from Sram/Avid (they are specialized costumed elixr 3Rs) . I've been researching Avid/Sram brakes whilst this is going on and it seems their QC is falling compared to my 2008s juicy 7s on my old bike which lasted for 6 years without any major issues .
Have Avid/sram become duff?

supersonic

Given that Jucies have about the worse record for reliability going, it would be a feat to be any less reliable!

paul.skibum

Prowlus wrote:

Have Avid/sram become duff?

I believe that SRAM have pretty much given up on Avid and are now producing SRAM branded brakes (The Guide being the first) - I reckon Avid could vanish in a few years or maybe become the budget brand. You see it over and over in reviews and magazines - great brakes when they work, which is too infrequently.

stubs

paul.skibum wrote:

Prowlus wrote:

Have Avid/sram become duff?

I believe that SRAM have pretty much given up on Avid and are now producing SRAM branded brakes (The Guide being the first) - I reckon Avid could vanish in a few years or maybe become the budget brand. You see it over and over in reviews and magazines - great brakes when they work, which is too infrequently.

Are they still using the stupid taperbore lever on the new SRAM brakes. I have been told thats the problem it needs to machined to an incredibly fine tolerance to work consistently not something you will get from a budget brake.

Prowlus

Little update . Went into the Evans store to grab my lights which I forgot to do after sending it in and it turns out the Avids need to be completely disassembled thus they've sent them away to fisher on friday :P
At least I know why it'll take 2 weeks for that though i wonder why this wasn't picked up on the bike's service that was done a week ago

declan1

Learn to maintain a bike yourself - it really isn't hard once you know what you're doing and it saves you the hassle of taking it in to a bike shop to get ripped off every time something goes wrong.

stubs

Prowlus wrote:

Little update . Went into the Evans store to grab my lights which I forgot to do after sending it in and it turns out the Avids need to be completely disassembled thus they've sent them away to fisher on friday :P
At least I know why it'll take 2 weeks for that though i wonder why this wasn't picked up on the bike's service that was done a week ago

What a load of absolute sweaty bol**cks they can get a service kit and strip and rebuild an Avid caliper or master cylinder whilst you wait. I have done it myself and it takes no time at all at most and I mean at most half an hour per item if you have an air line to pop the pistons out. Get your brake back and walk no make that run away from the shop.

The Rookie

Given the massive egg on face SRAM had with the cyclocross disc brakes, they clearly still don't know how to make reliable brakes!

That said my old (circa 2006) Juicy 3's were reliable if uninspiring.

Angus Young

declan1 wrote:

ripped off every time

Exactly. How dare people charge you for work they do!

Prowlus

Well heres an update . Got the bike back today and it looks like they have replaced not just my rear but my front with Avid DB3 brakes .
Anyone know why couldn't I get some new elixrs instead of these ? They use dot 4 instead of 5.1 , don't feel as quality as my original brakes and they weigh a couple of grams more. When I asked evans about them , they didn't know f*** all

cooldad

If Evans can't tell you I doubt anyone here can.

DOT 4 and 5.1 are interchangeable. Same thing except for slightly different boiling points, which on an MTB will make no difference. You can mix them.

kajjal

I would just swap them out for XT or SLX brakes and rotors. That way you can just fit and forget the brakes. My Elixir 1 brakes worked OK but needed frequent adjusting. My XT brakes have been on for months with no issues.

poah

Prowlus wrote:

Well heres an update . Got the bike back today and it looks like they have replaced not just my rear but my front with Avid DB3 brakes .
Anyone know why couldn't I get some new elixrs instead of these ? They use dot 4 instead of 5.1 , don't feel as quality as my original brakes and they weigh a couple of grams more. When I asked evans about them , they didn't know f*** all

they look like they are Elixirs. The lever looks like an Elixir and has taperbore tech and are branded avid.

stubs

POAH wrote:

Prowlus wrote:

Well heres an update . Got the bike back today and it looks like they have replaced not just my rear but my front with Avid DB3 brakes .
Anyone know why couldn't I get some new elixrs instead of these ? They use dot 4 instead of 5.1 , don't feel as quality as my original brakes and they weigh a couple of grams more. When I asked evans about them , they didn't know f*** all

they look like they are Elixirs. The lever looks like an Elixir and has taperbore tech and are branded avid.

I am sure I read somewhere that the Avid Elixir branding is being dumped. Low end stuff will be Avid DB and high end stuff will be SRAM X. I doubt SRAM will admit it but the Avid name is dead in the water these days everyone wants Shimano or anything but Avid.

Manc33

They could just replace the brake caliper, fluid and housing and get you on your way in no time (ITS AUGUST!), then sort the brake out themselves, send it off, get fixed, then resell as a "returned item" at a lowered price.

Disc brake calipers aren't expensive enough to justify sending it anywhere abroad for fixing.

supersonic

The DB3 is the (improved) replacement for the Elixir 3.

Prowlus

supersonic wrote:

The DB3 is the (improved) replacement for the Elixir 3.

"Improved" is a bit of an overstatement . Just decided to do a shakedown cruise with them today in Lee Valley's Mountain bike park and was doing a few climbs and jumps with them then all of a sudden, I have DOT fluid on my entire right hand ! :x . Had to walk 1/2 way back to the "doritodrome"'s entrance . Got cyclesurgery to wrap a tourniquet around the failed reservoir seal and had to hoof it all the way to Stratford station then walk a few miles from Mill hill towards Evans Hendon !
Evans had now promised they will contact SRAM immediately and i'm hoping they will give me a better set of brakes for compensation whatever they will be .
Whats has happened to SRAM/AVID? are they really that crap that their brakes fail completely after only a few hours from light use? I'm really considering replacing them with deores after this

welshkev

Prowlus wrote:

supersonic wrote:

? I'm really considering replacing them with deores after this

do that anyway, then sell the brakes that they give you as a replacement

you can get slx for £110 now.

Prowlus

welshkev wrote:

Prowlus wrote:

supersonic wrote:

? I'm really considering replacing them with deores after this

do that anyway, then sell the brakes that they give you as a replacement

you can get slx for £110 now.

Is that per caliper or set? I've noticed alot of the low and mid range 2014/2015 FS bikes now sport shimano, hope or formula brakes and not a sign of AVID/SRAM

balmybaldwin

I would suspect that in no small part the failure is due to the way they were installed by evans rather than the product itself.

Evans are Halfords for people who don't like orange

JBA

Prowlus wrote:

welshkev wrote:

Prowlus wrote:

supersonic wrote:

? I'm really considering replacing them with deores after this

do that anyway, then sell the brakes that they give you as a replacement

you can get slx for £110 now.

Is that per caliper or set? I've noticed alot of the low and mid range 2014/2015 FS bikes now sport shimano, hope or formula brakes and not a sign of AVID/SRAM

Merlin are doing SLX for £89.99 a set or £124.99 with rotors. 8)

Briggo

I must have the only set of Avids that never fails and works perfectly.

Worth their weight in gold then.

Prowlus

balmybaldwin wrote:

I would suspect that in no small part the failure is due to the way they were installed by evans rather than the product itself.

Evans are Halfords for people who don't like orange

Can I ask , how could evans incorrectly install a caliper which could lead to a compression olive failing and squirting fluid everywhere? I asked them that when i returned today and they said all they did was bolt on the calipers and lever as the DB3s were supposedly bled by Sram before sending them off.
BTW as regards to switching towards shimano , would I need to replace my standard IS rotors to shimano approved ones or just retain my SRAM certified discs? BTW Briggo . My Avid Juicy 7s on my old ransom lasted 6 years with no problems (bled after 3) before i sold them (bike and all )

supersonic

You can keep the rotors. Tend to be lighter than Shimano too.