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This kept happening to my brother's Magura brakes when his suspension cycled it would ratchet the banjo bolt loose. I'm never working on Magura brakes again, they're not worth any of the headaches.
The feeling when you finally bleed the Magura's perfect is maybe the best feeling in the world!
And then you strip one of the plastic parts of the master cylinder and throw them away.
Luckily I already have a set of used RSC's hanging around, although I wouldn't be against a new set as mine have done their fair share of descending and given the price of seal kits, it's not really worth it to me to replace if they do go out. There's a few sets of takeoff Code silver/ultimates hanging around for $300-450 CAD and RSC's for $250-350, I'd buy the stealths if there was actually a difference.
Unless you look like this, and use common sense /torque, stripping of threads are not a problem
Pretty sure you just posted a picture of a mountain biker...
That can't be me because I only use power tools on my bike.
I know most of y'all don't care too much about Code series brakes but just in case anyone was wondering, SRAM states that there is no difference in the swinglink profile of the newish Stealth series Codes and the older RS/RSC models. According to the email I got back, "There are some subtle differences between a Code RSC and Code Stealth lever assembly, though these relate to geometry changes for the Stealth design/routing and won't affect the actual feel or performance of the brake".
Having owned both Code Ultimate stealth and Code RSC with carbon levers, I can attest there is no performance difference. Just a stupider hose routing design in the stealth series.
Impact drivers i assume? That's the best to be sure everything is tightned 100%.
Just tighten it to the point where the bolt clicks then back it off a quarter turn. Should be fine.
On a tight budget? Try crossthreading.
Natures Loctite.
I've never stripped the threads from a Magura master, but I just serviced some Magura brakes which were handed to me off the bike. Replaced the lever blades, cleaned and exercised the pistons, installed new pads, bled the system. Some might say it was the best feeling in the world... Unfortunately, after all that upon reinstalling it turns out the plastic threads in the lever clamp were already stripped so the master cylinder went in the trash. Yay!
The fact that they use a deep Torx head on the screws perplexes me, Torx signals "I can take high torque, have a go bro!". A #1 Philips head seems more appropriate with the torque spec debossed on the clamp, maybe a shallow 2.5mm hex.
One of the first carbotecture brakes I got to work on had a nagging issue of losing the bleed after half an hour or so of use. Turned out one of the clamp posts loosened up, allowing air ingestion. And I just thought what a silly way to do a reservoir. Then the bleed screw's head popped off when I was securing it and I just thought this experience has pretty much turned me off of em for my own rigs. I mean, I didn't think that I was hamfisting things since I was using a thumb and forefinger only on the screw, but....
I recently bought a bike with SRAM Level T brakes. Bleeding them should never be this unpredictable / random / hard. WTF SRAM.
What seems to be the struggle with them?
Probably cause you’re supposed to bin them straight away
I think the thinking was "one tool to rule them all" as even the pad pin is T25. Honestly I can't fault them at that logic, jumping between different Allen and torx keys to service a brake (or to move bar controls OR remove the stem) is a pain in the ass. But yeah, using a "wood" screw in plastic with a T25 hole is a recipe for disaster.
Indeed. Having recently bleed both a Shimano and a Magura set, bleeding Sram brakes is the best thing that can happen to you. Easy and clean. I almost spilled mineral oil on my head bumping the bike and spilling it from the cup when bleeding one of the two above.
At the turn of the last century, having purged imperial sized hex keys from our tool boxes, the bike world enjoyed peace in the form of The Metric System (SHCS edition). But complacency set in and some unnamed evil force introduced Torx, like Sauron they poured their cruelty, malice and will to chafe knuckles into this tool.
You wouldn't have to jump between Allen and Torx keys if here were no Torx. Resist! Fight evil! Fault them at their logic! Say no to Torx!
Also, what's up with Sram using Torx everywhere except to remove Dub cranks where ∞Nm is often required? I'm not a fan. </rant>
There are stems that have a 3 mm Allen for the handlebar and a 5 mm Allen for the steerer. There are still bikes that have a 5 mm Allen for the rear axle and a 6 mm for the front axle (though for that one I cannot fathom why we ditched QR through axles, so much so I had an UDH compatible Maxle made).
It's not a problem jumping between torx and Allen, it's about jumping between different sizes primarily. I never know if the pad pin on sram brakes is 3 mm or 2,5 mm (it's 2,5 mm) because I am SURE it used to be 3 mm. Calipers are 5 mm. Shimano brake levers are 4 or 3 mm. Shifters are 6 mm??
If I have to choose allen vs. torx, I'd choose torx though. I know it will probably be an unpopular opinion, but it's just better. Much less prone to stripping. Why 2,5 mm Allen key pedal pins can't be torx is beyond me. I get most people don't have torx keys, but if you don't have eirher it's all the same. </rant>
God I hate needing three or four different tools to install one component. the 10 speed era shimano brakes were the worst. How did it go? 2mm to pop the stupid latch for the lever clamp open, 2.5mm for the bleed port in the lever, 3mm for the brake pads, 4mm for the lever clamp, 5mm for the caliper bolts? Something like that.
Edit: Oh yeah, plus a T25 for the damn rotor bolts.
Did you work on the Level Ts though? No bleeding edge port on the caliper, shitty access of the lever reach bolt, generally way messier on both ends than all other brakes I worked on apart from the Hope master cylinder shenanigans when you unscrew the syringes. The whole spiel with two syringes and need of vacuum is just silly IMO, plus even the expensive SRAM bleeding kit leaks air from the hose assembly when pulling it and the clamps are hard as fuck to operate. I had to drop the caliper to the floor and angle the bike to get a semi-decent bleed and even after three tries, there's still a small stubborn bubble somewhere that rears its ugly end while riding randomly.
They shall be binned after the winter season is ovah.
For sram brake pad pins you can use the same T10 that you use for taking the lever bleed port cap off. (Learned it directly from Sram at one of their tech clinics)
I’d love it if bikes completely switched to Torx, it’s a much better standard. My Husqvarna 300 has a ton of them and I’ve really grown to like them.
Anybody have any suggestions for a "pro level'" syringes for a reasonable price? Almost $200 cad for the pro mineral oil SRAM kit seems excessive when all I want is the syringes and fittings.
this looks decent for the price
SRAM WORKSHOP BLEED KIT - MINERAL MODELS – Essential Cycles
Holy fuck $110 for two syringes and few pieces of plastic?
this is canadian pesos, so probably $20USD lol
https://soshanger.ca/en/home/5563-bleedkit-sram-workshop-mineral-edition-bk-90051.html
this one is slightly cheaper for sram mineral with decent syringes.
Surprisingly enough you are supposed to read the manual to find out torque specs not just guess based on what type of head is on the fastener.
Post a reply to: Nerding out on Brakes shall we? Not another tech deraliment