Hi all,

New pads time, and I’m having trouble getting the pistons to fully retract. Tried the screwdriver twist, but I can’t get both sides to go right back, although both are moving freely.

Do I need to take some fluid out (they’ve not been touched/bled/topped up from new), or is there something I’m not doing or don’t know about?

TIA

Try working the pistons in and out a couple of times by pressing the lever then pushing back (ideally with the red plastic block thing) on the old pads.

Don’t use anything hard like a screw driver on the pistons themselves, you’ll trash the pistons.

If they aren’t retracting fully after that, you may have to take a drip of fluid out. I’d do that by getting the lever into a position such that the lever bleed screw is facing vertically up, then loosening it off before pushing gently on the pads as before. Then nip the screw up again obviously.

Once you’ve done that you may find you need to advance your pads to get a good lever feel.

How far did the pads get worn? I had exactly the same problem after I allowed the friction material to get almost to the metal and found that the pistons had extended just a bit too far and would not go back in through the seal properly, even though there was no leak and the pistons moved freely. Apparently (so i was told by the LBS where I bought the kit) if the pistons move fractionally too far, the square edge of the seal can get folded inward slightly and get nipped at the back of the piston and prevent it from retracting fully. I had to buy a seal and piston kit and this solved the problem. The kit isn’t expensive and I also leaned how to bleed the brake properly so it wasn’t’ a complete disaster. I also now change the pads when 2/3 worn.
Edit:
The above may just be a case of the LBS seeing a retail opportunity of course- but it did cure the problem

They are a pain in the arse. My rear brakes will fully retract but my front won’t. Tried everything, tried swingblings method includnig putting a bit of fluid on the piston to ensure it was lubricated. I end up only changing one pad in the front at a time otherwise it gets too tight!

I wore my pads down to the metal last week. Removed them, retracted pads with the red plastic thing, took a bit of fiddling to get them right back but didn’t take more than 60 seconds. New ones went straight in.

Guess I got lucky.

I found letting a bit of fluid out at the lever end (as already suggested by swingbing)did the trick.

I should have said that my brakes were three years old and had just been through 2 laps of last year’s FOD enduro with someone else on the bike who had done the whole of the second lap with no pad material- as he told me when he finished- anyone who was there would know how crappy the conditions were and so this may have been the cause of the above

Brilliant – have a couple of things to try when I get back home later.

Thanks all!

The (highly experienced, well recommended) shop who serviced mine (a part of a whole bike service) believe there to be a problem with some of the rubber used in Elixir brakes and they have seen a lot of ‘bloating’ where the rubber never seems to retract. Go for the bleed option first as it might be enough.

Had the same – bleed sorted it – so probably the same as carefully letting a little bit of fluid out if you don’t need to bleed them yet.

Was having trouble with my Elixer R’s for a few months, kept getting air in them and wouldn’t bleed according to instructions, then the pistons wouldn’t return. I was told (by an LBS mechanic) that 2010’s are problematical, something to do with seals in levers and calipers. In the end I gave up and changed them for a set of 2012 XT’s from Rose Bikes, bargaintastic and the best brakes I’ve had.

Just swapped my pads in my elixir’s & it was 1/2 a nightmare – the rear one took about 30minutes of brute force, fiddling & ignorance before I could get the pistons all the way in. The front took about 30 seconds to change…. grrr…

I’ve had same problem with elixr’ on my last 3 bikes.Now changed to xt m785 “awesome” 😀