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My Avid Elixir Rs are in need of a bit of love. One of the pistons is a bit lazy, so the other is doing most of the moving. With my limited knowledge I am guessing the seals are a bit worn. I've already tried a good clean and a spot of brake fluid on the exposed sides of the piston then pushing them home. They both move freely, just one moves more than the other in use.
Has anybody with experience of servicing them got any recommendations. Should I do a seal service, or fit new pistons, or both? There seems to be a few more seals in the seal kit, but I'm not having a problem with losing pressure, just the sticky piston.
Thanks
(To all the Avid haters: I'm happy with Avids, I don't need Hopes 😀 )
Get a new seal and piston kit as soon as. I let mine go and go until eventually after four years it stuck completely with about 1mm of movement. I did strip it once to clean the seals and it helped but once they start going it gets harder to get them out.
http://www.bikegoo.co.uk/product.php/733/0
The square seals are more important to replace than the actuel pistons but from memory they come in the same kit anyway. Without trying to state the obvious have you tried the trick of holding back the over active piston and getting the slow piston to move more sometimes this is all it takes. Another nice trick recommended by Avid is to leave new pads in the brake then squeeze them without the rotor in place until they touch and then reset them back in the caliper it helps to lubricate the seals.. As you do this you can also train the lazy piston again by holding back the over active piston hope this makes senses.
Thanks guys. I've tried the squeezing them out a few times and re-lubricating them. I'll give it another go at the weekend and if it still doesn't improve then it's new piston and seal time.
I've seen red rubber grease suggested a few times on here. Is that a good idea to keep the pistons moving, or stick with brake fluid?
To me grease just looks a little too sticky,
I found the best way to "service" avid stuff is to go on Merlin Cycles Avid disc brake sale, order a whole new brake, and swap either the caliper or the lever and keep the rest as spares.
