Avid Elixir 3 brakes

mclaren1986
mclaren1986 Posts: 23
edited January 2015 in MTB workshop & tech
Hi

I wondered if I could have some opinions. I bought a bike which I've owned for about 9 months and had to pay for 2 bleeds. Recently they started getting so much travel on they'd almost touch my handle bars so I bought a bleed kit and successfully bled the brakes which now feel perfect.

My question is, is there anything I could be doing that could cause them to need bleeding so often? The place I bike develops big puddles and is quite sandy but I hope that wouldn't cause the issues after all it is designed for off road.

My current opinion on AVIDs is they're a good brake while they're working but require maintenance too often to class them as a quality brake.

Comments

  • Chunkers1980
    Chunkers1980 Posts: 8,035
    Got it in one.
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    why did they need bleeding? if they needed bleeding then how was the air getting in? and where was the fluid going? how were they fixed?

    sounds more like the pads were just wearing down fast and you will now need to remove fluid to get new pads to fit.

    you do know you can adjust the lever position.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • mclaren1986
    mclaren1986 Posts: 23
    Hi, Nick....The lever position only moves the lever position not the position the lever makes contact so they'd still end up touching my handle bars because I don't have contact point adjustment. My pads have about 1.5mm thickness so they look worn but not past it. Because my brakes are now fairly sharp if new pads won't fit I can just open up the lever port then use a tyre lever between the old pads which will force a bit of fluid out then degas the reservoir again.

    I don't know how the air is getting in, they'v previously been done professionally and I haven't seen any leaks anywhere. Is there any areas that are common to taking water/air in.

    I bled them myself this time by following the steps on the SRAM youtube and I was very thorough with ensuring I degassed the syringes properly. There was a lot of bubbles coming out my brake lines from both the caliper end and the lever end into the syringes so definitely had lots of air in before bleeding.

    Thanks for help

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