[Closed] Avid bleeding

They are a pain in the arse.

You are a numpty.

Avid's youtube channel is your friend.

There's a 3 step method to solve Avid brake issues:
1. Remove brakes from bike.
2. Throw brakes in bin.
3. Buy some Shimanos.

I did it, and have never looked back.

Used Avids for years now never had an issue with them.

Use the Pro Bleed Kit - way way better than the standard one. Can be had for the price of the standard one if you shop around.

Jesus, they are so bad that the standard bleed kit is not good enough?. There must be two avid factories, one which build utter shite brakes, and the other one which builds great brakes, as most people have either experienced the shite ones, with a few experiencing the great ones (generally people who still have them).

Avid brakes are the spawn of the devil, and should be burned.

Avid brakes - you will love them until the they fail or break at which point you will want to smash them with a lump hammer.

Avids are a pain in the arse and you are a numpty for using them.... 😉

Piece of piss. Just ignore the bit in the video about setting the bite point, halfway to all the way in works better

I hate bleeding my avid elixirs, they were rubbish and I had to bleed them about once a month for 6 months.

Then I used the Epic kit, ble them properly without air getting sucked in round the seals and I'm only now thinking about bleeding them again like 9 months later.

Just take your time. Once you get a good bleed you'll be rewarded with great brakes.

Just take your time. Once you get a good bleed you'll be rewarded with great brakes.

I bleed mine less than once a year so I agree I guess it's very much down to user error. Just ordered a new kit and pads thanks to this thread as I've lost my kit.

For a while I had Shimano brakes on two bikes and Avids on the other. The Avids were supposedly the super awesome fancy Ultimates. Compared to the Shimanos they were useless in every way, bleeding included. I am now Avid free and proud.

There are a lot of mixed reactions when people talk about Avid brake bleeding. In my experience it isn't too difficult if you follow the steps in the video.

If you prefer you could use our online [url= http://www.epicbleedsolutions.com/blog/how-to-bleed-avid-brakes-like-a-pro/ ]guide for bleeding Avid brakes[/url]:

http://www.epicbleedsolutions.com/blog/how-to-bleed-avid-brakes-like-a-pro/

I've not tried the Pro bleed kit. I've heard a few people say it's better than the standard one but I can't see it being worth the expense unless you're using it day-in day-out.

Bleeding them is easy, its the brakes themselves that are shit, well not shit, but the build-quality is shit.

Seal (lever) went on sometime around the 6 months mark.

The set before that went were the same.

I Have cr's on one bike and must be really really really lucky as there a piece of cake to bleed and super powerful.
Am i the chosen one. 😉

Both Juicy and Elixir and no problems bleeding here nor any issues with build quality. Sorry Robhughes, after your title... 😉

I'm not a master mechanic and I have bled both Juicy's and Elixir's with no problems so I can only assume most of the STWers that have problems are numpties 🙄

I bought some spare seals for mine about 3 years ago now. I've still got them in the packet somewhere as never needed them.

Oddly enough I bled my juicy 7's yesterday for the first time in a couple of years (in fact completely renewed fluid), took 20 mins and worked perfectly. I've never had any problems and the brakes are years old now and work really well, easy to modulate and no lack of power. Follow the you tube instructions and you'll be fine.

My juicys have been fine, bled them once in 5 yrs, but my mates were a 'mare. If mine get like that I wont persist with them.

Just put some new pistons and seals in my Juicy 7's last month and rebled and now on my new built commuter. Work fine. They must be 6yrs old and seem better than a set of minis I have on another bike. Sharpest and strongest brakes are on the wifes singlespeed. 160mm discs on Elixir 3's, weirdly. Better than 5 sets of disc brakes of different models including shimano and Hopes, although I haven't bedded my new Deores with sintered pads yet !!

Avid (SRAM) produce 1000s of set of brakes every year, they are easily the largest provider of brakes for OE customers (complete bikes)since taking this business away from Hayes brake

this means cost cutting to meet pricepoints for OE customers, and since QC suffer when cost cutting, and producing 1000's of brake sets, more badly manufactured sets get out into the "world" (i.e. you and I...)

I've been working on Avid brakes since their first disc brake.

The original Juicy brakes were solid, as their business model shifted to more OE customers the QC on further Juicy models really suffered

however, the later Elixir model with its "taperbore" Master Cylinder introduced a new level of problems in terms of QC

its usually not an issue of "bleeding", I have years of experience bleeding hydraulic disc brakes of all brands, but when you do a very solid bleed on an Avid brake and its instantly sucking air due to a fault in the MC or a leak in the caliper, its not a technical issue as much as a QC issue, and that is only solved by SRAM's excellent and timely warranty department!

Fwiw the Juicys I had came on a complete bike, the Elixirs were full retail versions and not OE.
Seals knackered on both.

FWIW the Juicys I have on my Heckler, the 7 Extremes were full OEM version and not retail. Seals are still going.

Then I used the Epic kit, bled them properly without air getting sucked in round the seals and I'm only now thinking about bleeding them again like 9 months later.

Jesus, bleeding every 9 months is good? I have some XT brakes which are 9 years old and have never been bled and still work perfectly.

Had a load of problems a while back, spending a lot of time degassing the liquid before it went in helped a fair bit

Jesus, bleeding every 9 months is good? I have some XT brakes which are 9 years old and have never been bled and still work perfectly.

Mineral oil based brake sets don't need to be bled annually like DOT brakes do. 😉

So we have about 50% satisfaction rate on this thread for Avid brakes.

So chances are if you buy a pair, one will probably work. What's folk moaning about...

Found this thread on a search and thought I'd ask about my avid problem in here rather than starting a new thread.

Got a pair of Elixir Rs on a bike I've just bought, they both need bleeding which is obvious as the levers come back to the bars with much sponginess, but there's a lot of in and out play in the levers before it feels they actually start actuating the pushrod. How do I get rid of this play? Is it something to do with the bite point adjuster?

Never had an issue with bleeding elixirs, so easy in fact that when I did the wife's, which are set up normal and mine are continental, I managed to put one end if the bleed kit in the rear lever and the other end in the front caliper. Didn't seem to be working but worked out some sure took it all off and brakes felt much better, only realised after the fact that I'd done it wrong. So they are officially twice as quick to bleed as other brakes.

I have successfully managed to bleed Hope, Shimano, Hayes, Brembo, and my Combi Boiler, but I never managed a successful bleed on Avid Elixir, I watched lots of contradicting videos on You Tube.

Elixir R brakes on the my GF's Cube where perfect from new, and after a pad change they continued to be faultless.

I suspect if you think they need bleeding and there is't a good reason for them to have air in they're probably knackered.

I would love to have a go at bleeding these brakes that suddenly can't be bleed. I have shimano brakes now but I have to say a WELL bleed avid works much better.
The difference I found is that you can cut a Shimano line, get air in the pipe and it will still work very well. An elixir will fail or me rubbish with a tiny amount of air in the line.
How I bleed them.....
Remove wheel and put a spacer in the pads to open up the calliper fully.
level brake at handle bar use a level so the bleed hole is level not the brake, they are a funny shape.
Remove brake bleed hole on handle bar.
With the back of a rubber handle screw driver,tap the brake calliper to get air to go up.
Attach bleed kit at brake lever end, keep plunger up so no air can reenter.
Close bleed kit so vacuum has formed, otherwise when you remove the calliper screw air will suck in.
Attach calliper side bleed kit and hold plunger up same as other one.
Open bleed kit, push bottom plunger until 70% of liquid has passed through.
Close bottom bleed and pull top plunger to remove last of the air.
Push through a little more fluid from the bottom, never use all of it.
Now the important part.
Close bottom bleed kit,
Remove bleed kit from top and reinsert screw.
Remove bottom bleed kit, reinsert screw.
Remove pad block.

shimano bleed.
Remove reservoir cap
Squeeze oil from bottom till level.
Close.
Done.