Avid Mechs: An observation...

(Pete Cresswell) said:

Have Hope hydraulics on my FS.

Put Avid mechs on my hardtail a few days ago.

Initial impression: geeze!!!! these things are pretty good.

Yes indeed!

Quoted message said:

Tonite, I was playing around with swapping wheels on the bike with the Avids.

Turns out they're held in by a little spring steel clip.

Strange my Avid pads are held in magnetically. (2002 version) Wonder why they changed?

Peace, Bill The mind serves properly as a window glass rather than as a reflector, that is, the mind
should give an immediate view instead of an interpretation of the world.
:-]

RE/

Quoted message said:

Strange my Avid pads are held in magnetically. (2002 version) Wonder why they changed?

Dunno, but that would seem to explain what I noticed when buying Aztec replacements: Some packages
had the little spring clip and some didn't.

Same part descr/number: "PB8300 AVID HYDR & MECH"...
-----------------------
PeteCresswell

(Pete Cresswell) said:

Just tried installing the new pads and it looks to me like there must be a *third* variation.

I'm glad I had the foresight to purchase and carry _two_ spare sets in my 'Bak.... never
needed,them(yet) but they are there just in case

(Pete Cresswell) <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just tried installing the new pads and it looks to me like there must be a *third* variation.

The ones I just got have slot-like springs that fit over the nubs in the

center

Quoted message said:

of the caliper's anvil and the plunger - and it looks like they'll keep

the pads

Quoted message said:

from falling out as long as there's a disc/wheel in place.

But now there's nothing to make the pads retract when the plunger

retracts. The

Quoted message said:

ones I lost has a spring clip that went around the edges of each pad and

had the

Quoted message said:

effect of pulling the pads apart.

The new ones just sort of lay in there. When the plunger retracts, they

don't

Quoted message said:

want to retract with it. Net result is that if the brakes are adjusted

tight

Quoted message said:

enough to work, there's some *serious* drag going on down there...

If the nubs on the plunger/anvil had a groove cut around them, the springs

would

Quoted message said:

catch in the groove - like a "C" ring - and probably would retract with

the

Quoted message said:

piston...but they don't...

Oh well....at least they weren't that expensive (about $7.50 per set).
-----------------------
PeteCresswell

Shoulda bought some Hope hydros.

Shaun aRe

RE/

Quoted message said:

Shoulda bought some Hope hydros.

I've got C-2's on my "real" bike....

The Avids are on a bike that has S&S couplings, so I wanted a rear cable that could be split.

In retrospect, however, I'm wondering what the big deal would have been to just yank the Hope rear
brake lever if/when the bike was broken down...4mm allen key, a few turns...
-----------------------
PeteCresswell

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Just tried installing the new pads and it looks to me like there must be a *third* variation.

The ones I just got have slot-like springs that fit over the nubs in the center of the caliper's
anvil and the plunger - and it looks like they'll keep the pads from falling out as long as
there's a disc/wheel in place.

But now there's nothing to make the pads retract when the plunger retracts. The ones I lost has a
spring clip that went around the edges of each pad and had the effect of pulling the pads apart.

The new ones just sort of lay in there. When the plunger retracts, they don't want to retract with
it. Net result is that if the brakes are adjusted tight enough to work, there's some *serious*
drag going on down there...

If the nubs on the plunger/anvil had a groove cut around them, the springs would catch in the
groove - like a "C" ring - and probably would retract with the piston...but they don't...

Oh well....at least they weren't that expensive (about $7.50 per set).
-----------------------
PeteCresswell

those spring clips are in all versions that I have seen even if there is a supplemental magnet
holding the pads on. The clips get lost frequently which is why they are sold separately.
--
_________________________
Chris Phillipo - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia ramsays-online.comramsays-online.comOpen ↗

Another little warning with the Avid Mechs, make sure you trim off the excess cable at the caliper.
My buddy had a set of these and left a little bit of a tail on the cable. Not a lot but maybe an
inch of cable for future adjustment. We were out riding in a flat clearing and he endoed VIOLENTLY
out of nowhere. Turns out the extra cable was drawn into the pads and stopped the wheel dead.
Needless to say, he now trims the cables back as far as humanly possible.

Other than that, great brakes.

Tom

[email hidden] (Tom Walker) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Another little warning with the Avid Mechs, make sure you trim off the excess cable at the
caliper. My buddy had a set of these and left a little bit of a tail on the cable. Not a lot but
maybe an inch of cable for future adjustment. We were out riding in a flat clearing and he endoed
VIOLENTLY out of nowhere. Turns out the extra cable was drawn into the pads and stopped the wheel
dead. Needless to say, he now trims the cables back as far as humanly possible.

Other than that, great brakes.

Tom

They say to leave no more than 20mm, IIRC.

With new pads, if you set the lever cable length adjusting screw at one full turn away from full
lack, I think that you can actually move the actuating lever on the caliper through it's full range
of motion using just the brake lever adjusting screw. In addition, any pad wear can be accounted
for by the piston positioning knobs. I left 15mm, and crimped on an end - this allows you to loosen
the cable clamp screw to let it out to full slack - just enough to get the cable stop out of the
lever (Avid SD7s). Came in handy when I swapped the front brake lever from left to right.
(Motorcycle style.)

If you just dabbed a bit of epoxy on the end of the cable, you could probably get away with 10mm.
Just a guess.

Hope your pal didn't hurt himself or the bike. 🙁

Spider

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Tom Walker)

Hey Tom where you been hiding?

Spider said:

If you just dabbed a bit of epoxy on the end of the cable, you could probably get away with 10mm.
Just a guess.

Old School'ers would solder the end.

ClydesdaleMTB <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Tom Walker)

Hey Tom where you been hiding?

Spider said:

If you just dabbed a bit of epoxy on the end of the cable, you could probably get away with
10mm. Just a guess.

Old School'ers would solder the end.

Hard to do with stainless steel. I understand that super glue works too. There was a discussion
about this recently in rec.bikes.tech.

Spider

Chris Phillipo said:

those spring clips are in all versions that I have seen even if there is a supplemental magnet
holding the pads on. The clips get lost frequently which is why they are sold separately.

According to Avid:

The B3 Disc Brake Pads are fully sintered pads that hold up to extreme riding conditions. These pads
will hold up against anything mother-nature can throw at them without making a whimper. For 2002,
they come with a pad spreader.

Is what you're calling "spring clips" the same as the "Pad spreader"?

If so, I guess I'm missing mine.....guess I don't need it. They've never become unseated
at any time.

Peace, Bill The mind serves properly as a window glass rather than as a reflector, that is, the mind
should give an immediate view instead of an interpretation of the world.
:-]