Hi.

Whats the consensus on Juicy 7s, please ?.

A friend of mine has them on his new bike, a trek fuel EX 9.

The rear brake has worked the banjo-connector loose, or it came from the shop that way, and being DOT fluid we fear that air/moisture has got into the fluid.

The lever does feel a bit long now.

Also, the CPS system doesn't seem to be all that, as on the rear brake, spoke side pad contacts the rotor unevenly.

So, I was just wondering whether I might recommend he change his brakes.

Also, the bike has SRAM, X-0 I think, shifters which share the brake lever handle bar clamp.

Were he to remove his brakes, would that mean he would have to change his shifters too ?.

Ta.

Solo

Juicy 7 brakes are very good brakes, once bled and set up properly they are excellent good stopping power from cold and good modulation, mine faded a bit on the steepest fastest down hilly rides but I am 16 stone and I don' do them often enough for that to worry me. I used to get terrible squealing from the rear but a G3 rotor sorted that out.

The banjo shouldn't have came loose, it must have not been installed properly, depends how loose it was, did you loose any brake fluid? if so you will need to get them bleed, probably wouldn't be a bad idea to get them done any way, I personally think they are the easy-est brakes to bleed.

If he purchased the bike recently Id be taking it back to the shop and get them to sorted it out

Craig1975.

Thanks for your post. I reckon the shop he bought it from was probably a bit shonky and didn't properly check the entire bike over. Its been my experience that few bike shops complete a full check on a bike, nearly always something gets missed. I found that all the lever bleed screws were loose and the bleed screw in the rear caliper was loose too.

Its a bit too far for him to return the bike to the shop he purchased it from, but he did run it into Pedal Revolution, his local Trek dealer. They charged him £10. Yet when he brought it to me, as I mention, lots was loose on the entire rear brake system. So I wouldn't recommend Pedal Revolution to anyone.

I assume you've forked out the £35 for a bleed kit ?.

I noted that the brake lever resevoir caps state either DOT 4 or DOT 5 fluid. Does that mean that the two fluids can be mixed ?. Otherwise, how do you know which fluid to use when bleeding/topping up, etc ?.

Cheers

Solo.

Can I ask why you 'wouldn't recommend Pedal Revolution to anyone'? Your mate bought a bike in one shop. Then took it for servicing somewhere else. They are quite within their right to charge him for the work. His warranty is with the original retailer, not with Trek or any of their dealer network.

Err, cos they didn't fix a thing.

They charged him £10 to fix a rear brake issue, and when he collected it the bleed screws were loose and the banjo connector was also loose. So how is that worth £10 ?.

I've been there when customers have collected their bike for the second time, after it had to be returned cos they c0cked up the job in the first place.

I reckon they're abit shonky, thats my opinion.

Solo.

I'm no bike shop, but I set up a set of Juicy 7s for my mate and he's dead chuffed with em. I think they are very good brakes.

Haven't seen you round here for a while, mtbfix.

So, its worth sticking with the 7s, just get them bled.

I will pass on the STW wisdom.

Ta

Solo.

Solo – I had mis-read your post. Your comment is a valid one. My apologies. My 7s are great and the bleed kit was the best £30 I ever spent on brake care after a few months frustration with air creeping in.

DezB – I got out of the pond for a bit of a breather. Back now though.

I really rate Juicy's. They are a bit faffy but I don't mind that.

The CPS washers do work but again they can be faffy.

The performance of 7's are fine IMHO – bleeding is easiest with the bleed kit and pad changes bit more fiddly than hope/shim etc.

does sound like a bit of a 'cokup'! Just because something is serviced by a bike shop doesn't mean its done right or well in my experience – not dissing BS's altogether!

I don't pretend to have much experience with different brands and models of disc brakes but I did recently upgrade my Juicy 3s to 7s. I am seriously impressed with the extra stopping power, and some pad-contact tweaking now means I can confidently pull on both levers simultaneously as much as I want however fast I'm going and however steep it is. This may sound minor but it was a revelation to me. They cope fine with my 14 stone, were as cheap as chips on Merlin and I'd really recommend them to anyone.

You can use dot 4 or 5.1 in your juicy brakes, but don't mix 4 with 5 or vis-versa, best thing to do is choose what dot fluid your going to use, i would recommend halfords dot 5.1, then flush out the old stuff then bleed your brakes with fresh fluid.

Juicy's are fairly striate forward brakes to bleed, if you have them it's well worth learning how to bleed them, it's also well worth getting the bleed kit, must have saved me a fortune in the long run. How much does a LBS charge for bleeding brakes these day's?

How to bleed Juicy's

Excellent feedback, thanks.

Mtbfx. no worries, cool, looking back, my post could have been clearer. 😀

Mk1fan. I took the washers apart and found white chalky and brown corrosion/stuff. So I cleaned with wire wool and dropped the tiniest drip of oil on them just to facilitate movement when seating. As per the install instruction, etc.

Foxyrider. Yeap, Not all Bike shops are created the same. I've yet to find a good one, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist.
🙂

Oops, pressed enter mid post.

Craig1975, thanks again. Yeah, I've seen the youtube vid. Seems straight forward enough and much better than reading a set of instructions, but if he wants the brakes bled I reckon he is better off buying the kit as I suppose you could blow £35 at your, not so good, LBS on the same job, just once.

My thanks to all.

Solo.

Any extra tips for bleeding Juicy's? My wife's Spec Safire has Juicy 5s and the levers move a long way before any bite, almost back to the bars. I bought the Avid Bleed Kit, watched the video, read the instructions in the box and followed them as closely as possible. End result = same as before. :o( Pads have lots of life left, but I put new ones in anyway, but that didn't help.

Burts – What the vid doesn't show iirc is that you need to force fluid back into the system prior to detaching the syringes.

As you know, I'm not an owner, so not that experienced. However, I believe that Juicy 5s and upwards have a pad contact adjuster.

Have you adjusted that yet ?.

Solo.

Cheers nuke, I'll have another go.

Not sure about that Solo, I thought it was just the Juicy 7s that have a pad adjuster? Will have to check later.

Juicy5 has a lever adjuster for a better hand fit but that doesn't seem to make a difference to the lack of bite. Should I be winding this all the way out before bleeding?

Nuke, now you mention it, I can't recall that either.

I would assume that one forces the fluid from the caliper end, while slowly extending the plunger in the syringe connected to the lever, yes ?.

Solo.

Err, Ok, we need a Juicy 5 owner here. I thought that the 5s had the red star on top of the lever, which you rotate to adjust pad contact.

The screw you need to use an allen key for, is as you say, just to adjust your reach to the lever.

Solo.

Ok, I just checked wiggle, and the picture they have for the 5 doesn't show the contact adjuster.

So, sorry, me taking from the wrong end on that one.

Best go with what Nuke says.

But if no joy, come back to the Forum, we'll sort. 😀

Ok, I just checked wiggle, and the picture they have for the 5 doesn't show the contact adjuster.

So, sorry, me taking from the wrong end on that one.

Best go with what Nuke says.

But if no joy, come back to the Forum, we'll sort it. 😀

Solo.

Burts.

In my experience, no, you don't adjust lever reach, when bleeding the brake.

Solo.

Juicy 5's don't have a contact adjuster, 7's, carbon and ultimates do, if you have a model that does have the contact adjuster make sure it's wound all the way back in before you bleed them.

What ever brakes you bleed, for me i find the trick is to get the air out of the fluid prier to bleeding, If you can do that then your onto a winner, also try and make sure you have got all air bubbles from the system when your bleeding. I found the syringes you get with the avid kit to be a bit on the small side so I upgraded mine with bigger one's which helps getting the air out the fluid and the system, just be patient when trying to get the air bubble out, they will stop eventually. I agree with nuke, you need to push fluid back into the system prier to detaching the syringes

Just to clarify that you can mix DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 fluid BUT DOT 5 fluid is an entirely different fluid and you shouldn't be using it in the brakes.

Yeah, the CPS washers need to be clean and lightly lubed to work propoerly.

I would assume that one forces the fluid from the caliper end, while slowly extending the plunger in the syringe connected to the lever, yes ?.

Yeah, sorry, was to busy making diner and should have been clearer in my response: after you've removed the syringe from the caliper and replaced the bleed screw and then finished bleeding the lever, force fluid back in to the system via the lever syringe before removing it.

You shouldn't mix any Dot fluids, you can use dot 4 and Dot 5.1 in Juicys with no problems, but flush the old stuff out before the bleed.

I'm pretty sure you can NOT use Dot 5 brake fluid in any of the Juicy range, I think dot 5 is a silicone based fluid where DOT's 4 & 5.1 are Mineral based but I'm not 100% sure on that, I do know that Dot 5 is a different type though

I have some and I think they are a bit shit. Compared to my other bike, which has formula oro K18s on, they are very good.

The Juicys have had much less use and feel spongy, like they need bleeding, when I first get on the bike. Then after riding for a while they get really grabby, almost no modulation.

Avid bleed kits are now £35!?!?!?!

They were only a tenner a few years ago.

The instructions say to hit them while you're bleeding them. I find this very satisfying. They deserve it.

Nuke.

Thanks for clarifying. Added little tips like that really help. The You tube vid is good, but theres still nothing like discussing it with someone whos got the experience. 🙂

I reckon its probably best to just replace the old fluid with some new stuff and not to mix. I'm not sure how much DOT fluid costs, but it must be worth just sticking to one type, with just the initial flush through.

DJG. Not sure if we're comparing eggs with eggs there. I was always under the impression that Formula Oro was just a higher level/quality of brake. A bit like comparing a Vauxhall with an Audi ?.

I recall reading a brake test somewhere a year or two ago and the Formula brakes got to a higher temp, but still resisted boiling, and gave a greater braking force, they performed great in every test.
I also recall at the time looking at the prices and they were significantly most costly than other brakes.
As you may know, there are many pressures on OEMs to get the correct balance of kit onto their bikes, including component costs, but also as importantly, component availability.
The SRAM family products, to my understanding, have become so prevelant partly due to the fact that alternative manufacturers just haven't always been able make enough gear sets, brake systems, etc, to supply all the bike Manufs.

Anyway, my friend collected his bike last night and is happy with the tweaks I've made, including tightening up the loose fittings on his rear brake system. He reports that the rear brake is much improved. I would still feel happier if he invested in the bleed kit. The lever felt a bit "long" to me. But then again, one has to take into account hydro line flex, etc, I suppose. My XTR DCLs have a slightly longer feeling rear brake than the front (Perhaps it something to do with the length of hydro line to the rear caliper ???).

I pasted on the comments from this thread and I think he'll keep the 7s, and when/if he gets round to bleeding the brakes, the few jewels of advise from this thread will be most helpful.

Thank you all very much. 😀

Solo.

"he is better off buying the kit as I suppose you could blow £35 at your, not so good, LBS on the same job"

red dog racing have bleed kits for £21.50