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Avid 7 springs wear out over time?

529 Views 1 Reply 2 Participants Last post by  noonievut
I currently have my rear Avid 7 spring tension bolts all out of whack. One is all the way in and the other is all the way out. I know my wheel is not out of dish (I checked it today) and I am planning on replacing all the cables and housing on my bike.

After my last race my rear braking fingers were worn out, I could barely use the rear effectively. I cannot reduce tension because that would cause my brakes to go off center.

Am I crazy for thinking the steel springs wear out over time? I know steel doesn’t lose its modulus of elasticity over time but I am worried that I may have pushed one of the springs to its elastic limit and now I am feeling the effects. I have a bad habit of bending the spring with my hand during races to adjust braking so a permanent deflection is not out of the question.

Any recommendations?
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I am by no means an expert, but I recently put those same brakes on my bike and after constantly fiddling with my previous brakes, I think that set-up is the key. The SD7's are set-up perfectly and now I'm never fiddling with adjustments. At worst I adjust with the barrell adjuster and make very minor adjustments to the spring tension screws, but not often.

My suggestion would be to take off the rear brake arms, unscrew the tension screws somewhat, but evenly, then put the brakes back on, same pin on the seat stay for each, make sure the pads are lined up evenly, then slowly make adjustments to the springs, untightening the tight side a bit, or tightening the other side a bit. I personally think it's rims loosing their "trueness" that impacts tension, so true them often...

If this doesn't work, then hey, maybe it is the springs.
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