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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 10:51 am 
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INDIGENOUS ASSHOLE
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Bike(s): Nomad mk2, Giant Glory
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If anyone has Avid Codes (pre 2010) or Elixirs, Juicys, etc., this thread might help you out in the future. (it would really be awesome if it became a sticky thread in the garage section).
Some people simply hate Avid brakes and say they are overrated...but i personally like them very much. If you are one of those Avid haters, please dont waste precious bandwith and clog up this thread with your complaints about Avid....leave it free and clear to the dumbasses like me who need the technical assistance from time to time.
In my opinion, Avids are easy to work on, very powerful and quite durable if you maintain them...(as with any bike component).
Again, the key is MAINTAINING them....which a lot of us are guilty of NOT doing.

If you own Avids, by now you may have either ran across (first hand) a sticky lever or perhaps read about the issue on line.
I get a kick out of reading posts that tell you the bleed is the problem....seems like a general default answer to all our brake problems.
Well its not, the bleed CAN be the problem, and in most cases is, but not always.

I was pretty hesitant to take apart my Code levers up until recently. Well, ok i'll be honest.....the past evening there was a full fridge of Newcastle beer, my significant other had hijacked the living room TV with the most recent episode of Glee (which in my opinion should be BANNED from network TV) and my ride lights were not charged...so in other words, the conditions were perfect for a lever disassembly and rebuild.

Step 1;
Have some instructions/diagrams handy....or at least know where to find them quick.
Step 2;
Know when to STOP.....if the piston or bolt isnt coming out, dont get out the skillsaw and try to remove it with that. There is a trick to everything, and sometimes stopping and calling SRAM tech in the morning is your best bet.
Step 3;
Have plenty of cold beer and cigarettes handy.
Step 4;
Have a camera handy to take pictures of the parts when you run into a problem....post them up with your question and 9 times out of 10, someone will have the answer for you.

Now for the fun stuff-
The lever disassembly is pretty easy...just follow the instructions on the SRAM technical manual. Follow them to the T.
(if your specific brake is not in the manual below, go to the SRAM site and look for your year and make)
http://www.sram.com/_media/pdf/avid/dea ... 0final.pdf

Once it dissembled, clean everything real good with a mix of alcohol and water (mix 60/40 in a spray bottle). Clean is good, so the more you clean, the better.
After cleaning ALL the internals of the lever real good, you can do one of two things.
1- if your seals are not damaged, you can reuse them
2-if your smart, you will have bought the rebuild kit and will use NEW seals (for Codes - http://www.bikebling.com/Avid-MC-Lever- ... d-code.htm )

Reinstall the internals (piston and guts) by following the SRAM instructions, and during sliding in of the guts, make sure to LUBE THEM....use either the DOT fluid that your brakes take, or you can use a brake grease (SRAM sells it, its a little yellow tube and comes in some of their rebuild kits).

Reassemble all the brake components, and bleed.... http://www.pinkbike.com/video/134884/ (this video is GOLD when it comes to bleeding Avid brakes) it should work perfect. If it doesnt, one of two things has happened;
1- you royally fucked up somewhere and didnt do exactly what i told you to fuckin do, you fuckin dumbass!
2- something is bent or damaged inside and will need to be replaced.

Here are some of the exploded views for the levers....i only posted the Code and Juicy 7 exploded views, but the rest are in the manual.

Image
Image

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Last edited by his highness on Tue Oct 04, 2011 10:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 10:57 am 
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INDIGENOUS ASSHOLE
INDIGENOUS ASSHOLE
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Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2009 12:41 pm
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Location: Moscow, Idaho
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Bike(s): Nomad mk2, Giant Glory
Favorite Trails: the ones that go down, duh!
and yes....it IS that simple inside the lever.
if you are still hesitant to do this, trust me its VERY simple.

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:21 am 
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Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 9:45 am
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Bike(s): Santa Cruz Superlight
Favorite Trails: Par 4, Steel Bridge, Hollenbek
His higness. . . or to whomever may be informed:

I haven't taken my brakes apart yet but. . . oops, I accidentally got some finishline degreaser/lubricant on my brake pads. I still have the Avid Elixr 1 brakes that came on my Superlight with the DXC kit. When I found out that had happened I cleaned the rotor off with some rubbing alcohol and went for a ride. I thought a nice long ride full of braking might wear a new surface on the pads. . . but no such luck. The pads really don't bite anymore. It takes a lot of brake lever pressure to get full braking capability now. Can I just turn the pads inside out or is there a way to resurface or clean them? Or is it just time for new pads? Thanks for your help.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:29 am 
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INDIGENOUS ASSHOLE
INDIGENOUS ASSHOLE
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Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2009 12:41 pm
Posts: 4008
Location: Moscow, Idaho
Given: 2654 thanks
Received: 3665 thanks
Bike(s): Nomad mk2, Giant Glory
Favorite Trails: the ones that go down, duh!
my advice would be to replace the pads. once they are contaminated, they will never have the same bite/braking capacity that clean pads have.
also, a good bleed will make a HUGE difference....


i will say that once, and once only, i did accidentally get oil on my pads and was able to 'clean' them by holding a lighter flame to the pads and essentially burning the oil off....but it was never the same as before, i did still feel a reduced bite in them.
after replacing them and doing a fresh bleed, the brakes were back to normal.

remember to de-gas the fluid before doing the bleed, and using a quality fluid will reduce the amount of de-gasing you need to do, along with prolonging the life of the bleed. brake fluid brakes down over time, period. so if you have the stock fluid that came in your brakes, chances are it has lots some of its 'power'

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