Poorly Brakes!

[1337 Trials]

Hello.

I come to my bike after its been in the shed for a while ( 6months ish). I squeezed both brake levers and fluid came out. On the avid juicy 5 the fluid came out of the "." on the "!" on the resevoir cap. On the avoid juicy 3 the fluid came out of the seal where the hose connects to the lever. Im guessing for the avid juicy 5 just a new resevoir cap/re-bleed will be ok but what do I need to fix the avid juicy 3?

EDIT: I just checked ebay and it may be just as good to buy an avid juicy 5 for the rear (upgrade from my 3) and then for the front just buy the resevoir cap/re-bleed for the front.

[Tomm]

For the Juicy 3, get a new olive or whatever you need to attack the hose, take the old one out and cut the hose down 1-2cm, put a new olive / attachment on and rebleed.

For the Juicy 5 - is there actually a problem with how the brake feels? The DOT fluid in the the brakes absorbs water over time and expands, sometimes this means the brakes have an excess of fluid and it might be hard to put new pads in. Mine need bleeding at least once a year for this reason. It might just be an excess of fluid escaping through a valve? Dunno. I'd try a bleed and if the brake feels nice, forget about it.

[1337 Trials]

Thanks Tomm. I did squeeze both brakes about 5 times and they didn't feel any different. I will try again tomorrow to see if the avid juicy 5 is actually poorly.