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Re: [ST] More Brake Info...



Nate,

I agree, the cleaning makes a world of difference.  Unfortunatel, it 
only last until the first rainy days and some cruddy roads. 
Of course, if you don't ride in the rain......  But it is an English 
bike..  should be designed for it.  Or maybe the rider has to adapt.  
But I would be interested in an inexpensive fix if available.

Dave Bardell
Laid off and no job, but enjoying the riding :-)

Nathan Maher wrote:

>Listers,
>
>There's been a lot of discussion about brakes on this list in the past week
>(month, year, etc.) and the situation always seems to be somewhat similar, a
>spongy feeling lever or reduced feel or control.  One solution that's been
>discussed in the past but hasn't come up yet it this round of debate is the
>"dirty piston" scenario.  For those who are not familiar with this I'll give
>the short version, the brake pistons become dirty over time and stop moving
>in a smooth manner - essentially they get stuck.  The solution to this is to
>remove the calipers (while still attached to the system) and manually clean
>the cylinders.  Stephen McSpadden was kind enough to email me instructions
>on how to perform this little operation and given a beautiful Sunday this
>past weekend I decided to give it a shot.  The whole operation took a total
>of two hours (with a mowing of the lawn thrown in to give the calipers a
>chance to fully dry) and really was very simple.  Tools required: a T-55
>torx bit, a size 5 metric hex-key/allen-wrench, brake cleaner, plenty of
>rags and copper-slip type grease.
>
>Before the cleaning I had a dead spot of about a quarter pull of the brake
>lever, that is to say that the brakes did nothing for the first quarter of
>the brake lever travel.  When I removed the right caliper only one of the
>pistons moved smoothly, after cleaning all four would move with the first
>touch of the lever.  The left caliper was only slightly better with two of
>the pistons being really stuck and two moving fairly freely.  Again, after
>cleaning the pistons all four were moving.  If you'd like detailed
>instructions of what I did, let me know, but basically it's no more
>complicated than removing the calipers one at a time, removing the pads and
>then forcing the pistons to move out so you can clean them.  Care should be
>exercised when getting the pistons to move as if they are allowed to come
>out to far you can damage the seals and allow air to enter to system along
>with spilling brake fluid everywhere.  I'm a hack of a mechanic and I had no
>issues so basically if you can open a pickle jar this task is well within
>your abilities.
>
>After the cleaning all I can say is WOW!  The brakes feel like they did when
>the bike was new - tight, predicable pickup and most importantly, no dead
>spot.  I have a feeling that this cleaning will now accompany oil changes
>for me as it's just that easy and the results are so good.  I'll report back
>if the results do not hold up very long but my sense is that there was some
>serious dust build up that wasn't going to clean itself.
>
>Special thanks to Stephen for being kind enough to email me his
>instructions.
>
>Keep the rubber side down,
>
>Nate
>00SprintRS
>
>
>
>
>
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>
>  
>



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