Used Shimano XT's for 4 years on my old Spesh not a problem apart from changing pads.

New bike has Avid Juicy 5's.

Noticed brake levers were unresponsive even though pads were newish so bought a bleed kit and during process identified a leaking seal on lever which I have fixed.

Therefore thinking all problems were resolved I bled brake again but brakes seem to be unimproved.

I did adhere to the intructions so could it be a problem with the calipers sticking. Any advice appreciated. Don't have enough cash to bin them and buy new anymore

What do you mean by unresponsive? I have some elixir's and if the calliper isn't in just the right place the lever has loads of travel before biting. Oh and the rear needed a bleed from new.

One trick for the bleed that it doesn't mention in the manual is to push fluid back into the lever after sucking the air out. if you don't, then the diaphram is partially collapsed.

The brakes are nearly back to the bar before they bite but when they do they are ok.

They caliper appears to be central to the disc. Both calipers don't want to return once engaged.

Noticed brake levers were unresponsive

I thought that was the point of Juicys?

Check lever reach is out enough

The curse of the Avid Juicy,just when you think it's safe to put the bleed kit away…..
Sounds like you've still got air in there, can take an age to get it all out and firm up the lever.If you're confident about stripping them, i'd suggest pulling the calipers apart and smearing some silicone grease on the seals and pistons, they appear to be assembled without any and this stops the pistons self adjusting, resulting in a long lever even when fully bled.

i have juicy ultimate's on my epic. they suck

You have the same problem I had, don't rely on loosening bolts, pulling brake on and tightening.
I had to watch as I slowly pulled lever and could see rotor flex as one side hit first, bit of shuffling calliper position so that both sides hit at the same time (didn't look as though it was central in the calliper though) and it was/is fine.
Took maybe 15 minutes but that was with me having no idea what was going on 🙂

Welcome to the wonderful world of Avid build quality 😐

ive had mine stripped with new seals, they still arent a patch on my £100 shimano lx's i use on my other bikes, fit and forget and rock solid everytime.

With Tracker on the pad alignment too, the tri-align system gives you the opportunity to get it wrong in three different planes instead of two.I'd be happy if I never have to fart around with another set for the rest of my life.(just to prove the point, I found a pad at Afan that was virtually untouched in it's top right corner and down to the metal in the bottom left. It's amazing how far out you can get the alignment, and it will affect the lever feel too)