Now then…

Was gonna go for a quick Pootle this mo but had to replace rear pads on juicy 5’s. Instead I spent well over an hour in the garage trying to manhandle the new pads into the calliper! What an earth are avid thinking, that pad retaining clip thing is bizarre. Any one got any pointers??

– are the clarks pads just shite?
– there seems to be too much material on the pads?
– I’ve no idea how to get the pads in with the spreader clip btwn them?

Any pointers would be gratefully received as I’ve already removed quite a bit of flesh from my knuckles/fingers…

I hate changing Avid Juicy pads for the reasons described. I’m afraid I found the easiest way if all else failed was to get one of the bleed syringes, pop a bit of DOT fluid in it and attach to caliper. This allows you to push the pistons right back and make fitting the pads possible. Quick bleed of the caliper then remove.

They are an absolute pain in the asre. Don’t know about the Clarks pads but it can’t make it much harder than using the Avid ones. Obviously, take the wheel out and the retaining clip at the back of the brake. Then with the old pads still in, use a flat blade screw driver to push the pistons back in. I often give them a bit of a scrub with a toothbrush in a useless attempt to help. Once the pistons are back in, slot the new pads in with the spring between them. Check that the new pads are sitting flush against the sides of the calliper. Now comes the fun bit. For some reason, I always, always need to re-align the calliper to the disc. Good luck. When you spin the wheel, if the disc catches only on one bit, use an adjustable spanner centred over one of the disc spoke things and bend it back into shape.

Keep trying. That is, until you say sod it, put in some old pads with a little less material on them and go for a ride.

Never had an issue – push pistons in – place pads together and place spring round them. Hold the pads rtogether at the grip bit and pop em in.

get a tyre lever, push the pistons back into the caliper as far as you can. put pads into spring clip, squeeze together and push into caliper. They should clip in. Make sure they are the right way round. You might need to use the tyre lever to push across the pads to seat them properly, make sure they click in

I use clarkes pads in my juicy7 no problem.

good luck

There is a knack tho, do it as alpha says.

Re-centrering would suggest the piston seals are going, either need a service/replacement or just worked out a bit and cleaned up with some dot fluid. If you do this before you push the pistons back it’s a good idea.

Same as willber. They’re simple to replace.

8)

All the above is right. If there’s not enough space to get the pads in, the pistons aren’t pushed in far enough. Attaching a syringe with brake fluid in and opening the bleed nipple is an excellent idea as it releases the pressure and allows you to push the pistons that all-important bit further.

Their new top loading callipers makes this much easier, if Avid hadnt made this change I wouldnt never have bought a set of their brakes again.

… and (neil) kinda proves they were badly bled

I find it a heck of a lot easier if you take the caliper off the bike. Once both pads are halfway in then you can use the tyre lever to force them home.

I unbolt the caliper & mount upside on the outside of the mount, two screwdrivers in scissor action to spread the pads. New pads in an your done. Will be doingt the syringe thing next time. Good tip that man. Elixirs are far easier.

i watched a mate nearly get sectioned trying to get clarks pads into his j5 callipers, he gave up in the end, i think there still embedded in the wall 😉 I think there crap. ive used goodridge, ebc, superstar and avid with no issues and thats with J5, J7 and codes

Thanks for all the posts everyone! So the silly retaining metal thing on top of the calliper. Do I leave that seated whilst pushing pads in? Or remove it, replace the pads then put it back in?

leave it in place, the pads will (eventually!) clip into it with a definate snap

Nice one, thanks everyone!

I did my rear caliper recently – Juicy 7s I think….

It wasn’t going well and after a while I realised that one of the pad wouldn’t sit into the circular protrusion on the piston. The backing plate wasn’t quite right to allow it to sit in…erm, these were Superstar pads. This is the first pair I have had any problem with in 4 or 5 years. Weird though, as the other pad was fine.
I ended up taking the pad to work and getting 0.5mm machined off one edge of the square cut out in the back of the pad. That sorted it.

Have you managed to do it now, nickewen? Check that you can get the pads fully seated on the piston. Even if you do it one side at a time without the retaining spring, just to check they sit flat.
If they do, then I would do as suggested above…..push pistons back with tyre lever. If they won’t go back all the way, remove a bit of fluid as described above (connecting syringe) and they should be OK. I ended up doing this to mine before realising that it was the pad that was faulty…..I just undid the bleed screw, pushed the caliper back, closed the screw & wiped up the fluid; it was only a tiny dribble. But, connecting a syringe is perhaps a better way of doing it….

Oh, and some clarks pads in my Js no problem.

When I did my TCL award the instructor said “Everyone take your pads out and put them back in. Unless you have Avids in which case go and help someone else”

some of the aftermarket disc brake pads have paint or excess material on the backing plate of the pad, that stops the pad spring fitting properly onto the brake pads and stopping you from making the “pad sandwich” Avid talk about in their literature

you will see the pad spring start to “flare” when trying to fit to these pads, only when cleaned off, will the pad spring sit flat alongside each pad

take a flat needle file and file off any excess paint or material so the pad spring fits correctly onto each brake pad

push your pistons home with the ring end of a 10mm ring spanner, if you cannot get them to seat you need to reduce fluid volume; open the bleed port on the MC (brake lever) and then push the pistons flat each side with the ring spanner, you will see a little DOT leak out of the port

reinstall the bleed port on the MC, you should have no trouble fitting the pads, but watch out for the caliper’s pad spring plate, as this can move when refiting pads

often it helps to firmly grip the new pads’ mounting tab (the bit that sticks out the top of the caliper) with pliers and wiggle / SNAP the brake pad into place, you will hear it click home once located

if you cannot get this snap, you need to reset the pistons flat into the caliper body, or reposition hte caliper pad spring plate, as this often moves when messing around with the brake setup!

agentdagnamit – Member

Their new top loading callipers makes this much easier

I did LOL when I saw this marketed as an exciting new development… “You know how we’ve been doing this wrong for ages? Well, we’ve stopped doing it wrong! We rule! Buy our stuff!”

Eventually you will do as the rest of us have done, and dump them for something decent.

The best place I found them to change them was in my garage, when I had plenty of time – and the worse place was in the pi55ing rain on the Roman Road…

Imagine my joy as Pit Gimp at the puffer when 8 of the riders I was looking after turned up with these last two year in the frozen slop….. this year was easier though….

“that pad retaining clip thing is bizarre. Any one got any pointers??”
Yes, get rid of the pad replacement clip. Its a faff and you don’t*
need it, the spring clip between the pads will keep the pads up against the piston’s

*Unless the pad retention tabs on the pistons have worn/broken off, in which case the pad retention clip is worth using

“Never had an issue – push pistons in – place pads together and place spring round them. Hold the pads rtogether at the grip bit and pop em in”
tbh, most of the time, even with the clip on the back, I’ve managed with them fine too

I posted the same question a few years ago when I first had to replace the pads in my juicy 7s. Some helpful soul told me just to ram the pads in very hard with the clip in place. Lo and behold, it works! Never had a moment’s trouble since, even with SS pads.

push your pistons home with the ring end of a 10mm ring spanner, if you cannot get them to seat you need to reduce fluid volume; open the bleed port on the MC (brake lever) and then push the pistons flat each side with the ring spanner, you will see a little DOT leak out of the port

This – it’s easy to end up with too much fluid in the system, especially if you bleed the brakes when the pads are worn. I solved this on mine by just letting a bit out of the caliper – loosen the screw, push the pistons back fully, tighten the screw, clean up the mess.

“if you bleed the brakes when the pads are worn”

The avid bleed kit comes with a ‘bleed block’* (to be used instead of pads) so you have exactly the right amount of fluid in when bleeding, so fitting new pads isn’t a problem

*though mine came with 2 juicy bleed blocks, a fatter one which bleeds upto a brake that doesn’t work, and a narrower one that works fine. Have yet to try to elixir or code bleed blocks

Clarks pads are thicker than avid ones. Only a little bit, but enough to notice.

Start riding in winter in the peaks. Three pad changes per ride soon hones your skills ;o)

Bin the clip, the spring works and I’ve never lost a pad even transporting with wheels off. However I never had a problem when I did have the clip just made the pad sandwich popped it in and pushed it home until it snapped into place. Dead easy.

Start riding in winter in the peaks. Three pad changes per ride soon hones your skills ;o)

This sort of statement continually amazes me. Have you really had to change pads 3 times in a ride? What pads?

Cheers for the continued suggestions people!

Sitrep = pads still not in! Arrrggghhhh again!

Stumpy as you mentioned one of the holes in the back of the pads does not line up with the circular protrusion on the piston. Weirdly this is the inboard pad only. The outboard one is fine. Had two sets of pads and it’s the same situation with both of em.

Currently trying to borrow a dremmel of someone to remove some material.

Spin ~ Weird thing about many Peak District riders is they seem to try to make out they are tough for riding such tough conditions but from their constant whinging about pad life seem to be afraid to let go of their brakes

Pads now in but so tight the wheel no longer spins freely…. Time for another bleed I reckon.

Never again will I buy Clarks pads and the Juicy 5’s will be getting replaced as soon as I have the funds.

Thanks for the help everyone. The last 2 days have been an immensely frustrating learning curve…

Pads now in but so tight the wheel no longer spins freely…. Time for another bleed I reckon.

Just bang a spacer in there to force them back, red one that came with them, or the black wedges hayes used to supply are good too.

+1 for pain in the arse.

Lats time I had to do this with my Juicys, I ended up clamping the caliper in a vice and levering the pistons back using the largest screwdriver I could lay my hands on. I’ve also used a G-clamp in the past too.

As soon as my Juicys show the first sign of imminent unservicability, they’re going to be swapped for Deore or SLX. Thankfully the Juicys came with my old Marin Rock Springs and were quickly swapped out for M4s.

There is a knack tho, do it as alpha says.

Well, yes, but it’s not exactly hard. If you can’t do it in about 30 seconds & 2-3 attempts you’re a right back-handed gibbon
🙂

I said this in the car park at a Swinley forum ride once, to be told there was someone right at that second struggling with his pads. So I put my money where my mouth was and did it second shot I think, after only ever doing it once or twice….. 🙂

You’ve condemned yourself now to change any and all avid pads needing doing in your vicinity 😉

Agreed, Juicy pads are a right PITA (except for when inserting in BB7s), with that hole needing to line up with the circular protrusion on the piston. A bit of forcing back of the pistons does seem to do the trick though. Magura a whole lot easier; Shimanos and Hayes also pretty straightforward.