Went out for a ride in the rain yesterday but it was cut short by my Avid Elixir CR9 brakes (OEM) starting to drag really badly with a resulting ‘pumped’ feeling at the lever. Lever throw was reduced to about 50%. Looking at the rear caliper I can see that only one pad is moving toward the rotor when I squeeze the lever — I assume the same is true at the front (both levers feel the same, but i’ll admit I didn’t check it out too thoroughly — it was p*ssing down). Scouring the interweb reveals this is a fairly common issue with disc brakes (even new ones: my bikes only 6 weeks old) although I never experienced it with the Hope Minis on my last bike. I’ve seen a simple sounding solution (take the pads out, push the pistons back into position, repeat until both are moving well). Does this sound about right to the Singletrack Collective Intelligence?

Thanks in advance…

Doesn’t sound too far off the mark, but i’d suggest cleaning them first, and lubing the pistons with silicone lube.A good bleed probably won’t go amiss either, there’s usually lots of air in them, even from new, and make sure the calipers are perfectly aligned too, if the pistons are trying to push at even a slight angle then there’s a good chance they’ll cock in the bore and stick(try pushing them back in from just the one side to see this in action).

Thanks for the warning. May be going to back to the shop on this one. Hasn’t had it’s ‘free first service’ yet…