Having realised that I’ve been riding for a few hundred miles with the spring clip from the top of one of my calipers, just sort of bent in roughly so the clip can’t fall out, but not actually doing anything else, does it really need to be there ? It seems very unlikely that the pads could drop out with the wheel in place.
I’m sure it has a place, but what a faff it is. The bin is calling, any reason why it shouldn’t ?
Sensible only answers please, Health and Safety consultants and lottery winners needn’t reply.

you are likely to die from frustration with your awful brakes.

bin the whole brake set and buy some shimanos 🙂

Dave

Several folk have suggested this, but, I will stand up and be shot down again. They have been superb. I haven’t had stuck pistons, changing the pads is a doddle once you get the knack and they just keep going ( err, stopping.).
Hopes when the give up though !
It’s just this effing spring clip , which seems such a bloody afterthought in design.

The clip on the back/top of the caliper?
You don’t need* it, it makes pad removal a lot easier/normal by getting rid

*If you manage to snap off the raised knobble thing on the centre of the pistons, you do need it to stop the pads falling out
I managed to snap it off my wearing a set of part worn organic pads out in about half a ride, the rest of the pretty wet ride had be dragging it metal on metal and took the central thing off. Also put little metal lumps all over the rotor

In my experience, they can fall out without it. Well, not without it completely, but malformed enough to not hold onto the pads. In my case, the pad fell out because the prong in the middle of the piston is so damaged from years of screw-driver pushing back in that the end is mangled and no long sits in the recess in the back of the pad. If this prong is fully in tact, the pad can’t fall out with the disc in (it can dislodge a bit, but not fall out).

If like on mine they’re worn to buggery, the spring clip is doing just about all the retention. I squashed mine into shape a bit, so it’s a bit of a loose fit on the caliper, but the pads clip into it with a nice ‘click’.

there you go, two answers, pretty much exactly the same at exactly the same time… must be true 🙂

Thanks guys ! It’s been a couple of pad changes since anything nicely clipped into the clip.
Tiny dab of copperslip round the pistons then push them back with a modded plastic tyre lever has kept the piston side of things fine.
OK points taken.
“Ting, ting.” The sound of bent n buckled Avid clips in the empty wheelie bin 😉

I lost the clips off my juicy 5s about 3 years ago and I am still alive!

never run them on mine. but then I don’t brake.

Pook ! That’s the best way to avoid gettin’ the pad changing knack I’ve ever heard. Good work.

did not have them on on eof mine and worked fine
Never had a problem with mine eithe tbh and changing oads is no mor eor less faff than doing so on Hopes

Dont have mine on my 7’s and they work fine pads have never dropped out even with the wheels off for transportation. Makes changing pads lots easier too.