elixir three brake issues

Ferrals

I'm having a few issues with my elixir threes which hopefully i can get some pointers for:

1) The brakes seem to be loosing stopping power - the pads are relitively new (I guess 15hrs riding) so should be fine but i just dont feel they are stopping me well and not as well as they used to.

2) the rear disk is rubbing - but it seems to start half way through the ride. I've re aligned the calipers and the wheel spins freely, and at the start of the ride its fine, but at some point, either after breaking or sometimes leaning into a sharp corner, the rear disk starts to drag.

3) Due to 1) I have to really squeeze to slow down and even after cleaning the squeal is unbearably loud.

Any thoughts? I know a lot of people slate elixr brakes, so my other thought is whether at some point i need to think about upgrading them to get more powerful and consistent braking. Would I notice a massive difference if i switched to something else? This won't happen soon due to lack of cash but if I can't fix the lack of breaking power I'm going to have to switch them at some point!

bob6397

have you bled them??

Mine had similar issues (namely not feeling like they did when i got the bike) and spending a couple of hours bleeding them sorted everything out - they now feel like they should

get a bleed kit from here (the best price by far and it all works great)

http://bigrideracing.co.uk/shop/avid-bl ... 5-1-fluid/

bob6397

Ferrals

thanks, no i haven't bled them. I had a feeling that might be the issue but being a new to hydraulics I wasn't sure when and why you bleed brakes. I'll give it a crack

The secret rider

Shimano Deore are £31 on CRC at the moment get them and live life care free

The Rookie

The lack of power sounds like contaminated pads, you need new pads and to clean the discs before fitting them.

The second suggests you have the silly CPS washers, you need to be careful when doing up the bolts, you may also have a sticky piston, carefully over extend it, clean with brake fluid and then push back, do it twice to get any crud out.

The secret rider

The Rookie wrote:

The lack of power sounds like contaminated pads, you need new pads and to clean the discs before fitting them.

The second suggests you have the silly CPS washers, you need to be careful when doing up the bolts, you may also have a sticky piston, carefully over extend it, clean with brake fluid and then push back, do it twice to get any crud out.

I assume you mean brake cleaner !

cooldad

The secret rider wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

The lack of power sounds like contaminated pads, you need new pads and to clean the discs before fitting them.

The second suggests you have the silly CPS washers, you need to be careful when doing up the bolts, you may also have a sticky piston, carefully over extend it, clean with brake fluid and then push back, do it twice to get any crud out.

I assume you mean brake cleaner !

No brake fluid. It lubes the seals and pistons.
Keep brake cleaner away from MTB brakes.

Ferrals

Cheers all. Stupid question but how do I over extend the piston?

The secret rider

Is brake fluid not corrosive to the rubber seals as this system would use a .4 fluid ????

cooldad

As the seals hold the fluid in, I would suspect not.

cooldad

Ferrals wrote:

Cheers all. Stupid question but how do I over extend the piston?

Extending it too far and it will pop out of the caliper.

bob6397

cooldad wrote:

Ferrals wrote:

Cheers all. Stupid question but how do I over extend the piston?

Extending it too far and it will pop out of the caliper.

without the wheel in the bike, having taken out the pads, pull on the lever very gently.. make sure you catch it carefully, or you will just contaminate it further...

cooldad

bob6397 wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Ferrals wrote:

Cheers all. Stupid question but how do I over extend the piston?

Extending it too far and it will pop out of the caliper.

without the wheel in the bike, having taken out the pads, pull on the lever very gently until the piston pops out.. make sure you catch it carefully, or you will just contaminate it further...

Don't.

The Rookie

The idea is to use the lever to push the piston out a but further than it normally goes, not to pop it out, use the same DOT4 fluid as in the system to clean round the exposed piston, push back and repeat, second time out, being cleaner it may pull extra debris out with it.

kajjal

The secret rider wrote:

Shimano Deore are £31 on CRC at the moment get them and live life care free

This is what I would suggest. I went from Elixir 1's which worked OK but needed continual adjustment, to XT's which work much better and are pretty much fit and forget.

rockmonkeysc

Kajjal wrote:

The secret rider wrote:

Shimano Deore are £31 on CRC at the moment get them and live life care free

This is what I would suggest. I went from Elixir 1's which worked OK but needed continual adjustment, to XT's which work much better and are pretty much fit and forget.

It's the only way to go if you have Avid brakes. I went from Avid X0 brakes to a cheap pair of Deores and they are virtually maintenance free and just work.

swod1

RockmonkeySC wrote:

It's the only way to go if you have Avid brakes. I went from Avid X0 brakes to a cheap pair of Deores and they are virtually maintenance free and just work.

Yeah they are I went for the xt brakes as the price was too tempting on crc, thinking of saving them for my full suss build.

Hmm I'm gonna try this, I used IPA to clean inside the caliper on my brakes last time.

Just a bit of mineral oil on a cotton bud round the piston then?

cooldad

swod1 wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

It's the only way to go if you have Avid brakes. I went from Avid X0 brakes to a cheap pair of Deores and they are virtually maintenance free and just work.

Yeah they are I went for the xt brakes as the price was too tempting on crc, thinking of saving them for my full suss build.

Hmm I'm gonna try this, I used IPA to clean inside the caliper on my brakes last time.

Just a bit of mineral oil on a cotton bud round the piston then?

For Shimano, yes. For Avid no.
Whatever fluid the respective brakes use.

The Rookie

Why use mineral oil when all the materials are designed to work with DOT4?

Use the right stuff.

Ferrals

Cheers all, ended up just taking to the bike shop this morning, their opinion was that thats what elixirs did! they are going to bleed them and service them for me (i dont ahve time or space at the mo to try it myself) but I've half a mind to switch the rear brake out - I've not had any problems with the front so can leave that until I have more cash. I'm guess there is no reason, unless you are particularly image concious(!), not to have slx/xt on the back and avid elixir on the front?

marcus'73

I had a Avid Elixir on the front and an XT on the back for a few weeks as the front was working OK when I swapped out the rear brake as I was fed up with it rubbing- I used it till the pads wore down then replaced it with another XT. The only issue is you have to get used to the different lever length as I found the XT are only long enough for one finger braking and I never trusted the Elixirs to be consistent enough to brake like that whilst using them. I've had them on for months now and I've only had to align the rear calliper once (even though I've had the rear wheel in and out several times)....total bliss!

Ferrals

Decided I'm buying one and the mrs is buying me the other for my birthday pressie so I'm going xt front and back straight away :-)

swod1

The Rookie wrote:

Why use mineral oil when all the materials are designed to work with DOT4?

Use the right stuff.

I was asking for myself as I have a similar issue with brakes on one of my bikes so thought best to ask in a same thread.

Sorry for the confusion