Laurence--Trials Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 I managed to get hold of an avid elixir brake today, and LOVE the feel of the lever compared to my saint lever, and i was wondering if i could mix and match and use the avid lever on the saint caliper. My only concern is that because the avid is designed to be used with a 2pot caliper and the saint is a 4 pot, would the lever pull back too far if used with the saint 4pot? and would it retain the same amout or give more power when used with the avid lever? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 As a rough %age of your annual income, how much would you say you spend on brakes per year? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence--Trials Posted May 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 cupple grand I was waiting for some slating. But seriously this avid was in the bin and i just fixed it up, put it on to try it out and love the lever feel so wondered about swapping them over. Could i have some genuine help though please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinJI Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 I can see where you're coming from with the avid levers, I love the feel of them too. You need to measure the pistons in each brake and compare their areas. You could either just compare the master cylinders and see if they're about the same, or measure the caliper pistons and do the maths to see if there's going to be much difference. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezmtber Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 apart from needing to swop either the avid seals for mineral oil ones or the saint seals for dot4/5.1 seals it would work i guess you could try running the mineral oil on the avid levers as its the less corrosive of the two. although i would say you would be much better running 2012 deore levers on the saint calipers. or code calipers on the avid levers. every where i look it just says the seals will swell up if you introduce a different oil to the system. i would really love to try out a dot lever with brand new seals on a mineral caliper and hose. if i get a spare set i may give it a try. only because i am thinking the swelling may be caused by the original seals being contaminated by dot fluid, and putting the mineral fluid in mixes the two in the seals. but i may be dead wrong and the dot fluid seals could be specific to dot only.elixir master cylinder seals are £26 thou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sstein Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 if it helps i know rickshaw riders almost always use shimano calipers on motorbike levers (designed for dot fluid) with mineral oil and it does not cause any issues Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence--Trials Posted May 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 I think I'll bleed it with water to see if it works first then if it does I'll give mineral oil a go then report backI cant make sense of it in my head but (just in case i need to) how do i OVER bleed a brake? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sstein Posted May 9, 2012 Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 DO NOT overbleed a disc brake and DO NOT bleed it with water! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence--Trials Posted May 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 Too late. So I swapped the levers/callipers over to: Avid Elixir lever on shimano saint calliper bled with water on an 180mm rotor organic pads sanded so they have to bed in again – tested by me (Laurence) And Shimano saint lever on avid calliper bled with water on 160mm rotor sintered pads sanded to bed in again – tested by kenny The swap was really easy just whip the nuts off swap the hoses over and tighten up, and re-bleed using bath method. Avid lever shimano calliper: As soon as I tok it out (with unbedded in pads) it had more power than the full shimano brake which is what I like, I’ve had around an hours ride on it with no problems so its bedded in and the power is getting unreal not sure if its fully bedded in either. So from making the change I’ve made the brake lighter, more powerful, better looking (imo) and given it a better feel. Win. Shimano lever avid calliper: Not a lot to say about this brake, due to the bigger piston in the shimano lever its got a similar amout of power to the clarks skeletal disc brake. Will upgrade to the organic pads tomorrow though when I get them and will update this bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence--Trials Posted May 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 I've been doing some research to what i should bleed the brake with (as water was just to test with) and i've found out that if the incorrect fluid type is used in either brake then the seals will swell, this leaves me with a bit of a problem. I've heard of brakes being bled with other things the main two i want to consider is vodka or cooking oil. Opinions and help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.Wood Posted May 9, 2012 Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 For all intents and purposes vodka is just water and cooking oil is mineral oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence--Trials Posted May 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 oh.. Any other suggestions? Baby oil? Sex lube? Jizz? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukasMcNeal Posted May 9, 2012 Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 For the love of god get a decent hope and be done with it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostrider88 Posted May 9, 2012 Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 He´s never done with it and never will... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence--Trials Posted May 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 Hopes are shit to what i have now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlperkins Posted May 9, 2012 Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 (edited) what you have now is 2 mix and matched brakes. why wouldnt you just stick with the saint? it was nice. and waterbleed on a disc brake? c'mon laurence you work in halfords you should know this stuff.. oh no wait.. Edited May 9, 2012 by Carlperkins 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence--Trials Posted May 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 Yeah i said it was only to test to see if it would work, and its not like its going to boil on a trials bike is it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukasMcNeal Posted May 9, 2012 Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 Hopes are shit to what i have now You're doing it wrong. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamKidney Posted May 9, 2012 Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 Hopes are Amazing. My rear mono trial has always used the same disc (albeit it only rarely gets used) which has been contaminated twice, and rebled multiple times and its still incredable. Only had one new set of pads in the 1 and a half years in use too. The 'pro' pads are just amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezmtber Posted May 9, 2012 Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 i wanna see a video of you riding this frankenstein brake. i am intrieged Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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