REVIEWS DEALS BIKESHOPS TRAILS

Avid XX World Cup R

590 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by laopadak, Oct 18, 2021

laopadak

Discussion Starter · Oct 18, 2021

New to the MTBR world and am starting to ride to keep my young kids active and interested in a variety of sport. Brought up mountain bikes to an old colleague and mentor of mine and he offered one of his mountain bikes to me for a great deal. He's a little older now and mostly uses his road bike and new e-bike so this bad boy has been sitting for the past 2 years, in his office while they remain remote. He always said he didn't have much growing up so he takes good care of his belongings and this is no exception, it's super clean and hardly has any marks. However, it does need some maintenance (front brake lever fully depresses, doesn't engage brake).

Bicycle Tire Wheel Land vehicle Bicycle wheel

I picked up an Avid brake bleed kit and attempted to bleed the front brakes yesterday, using instructions I found on youtube. The fluid was dirty and I attempted to get out all the air bubbles. However, towards the last step, re-pressurizing the lines at the caliper- I'm hearing some air getting through the area around the red valve adjustment. After several bleeds, the lever is just dead, doesn't hold any pressure.

Am I correct in thinking the lever needs a rebuild? The S-Works is a 2012 Stumpjumper Carbon 29 SRAM. I found this kit- Avid 2012 XX Lever Service Parts Kit

I found the brake service manual as well but before I buy the kit and/ore decide to rebuild or find a reputable shop to do it, wanted to get some opinions on whether the lever needs a rebuild.

Thanks-

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p0is0n0ak

· #2 · Oct 18, 2021

If the fluid came out very black, then it's very likely that the internal seals have broken down. The rebuild kit you linked to looks like the right kit. I have only done the rebuild once - on XO levers of the same generation. Overall, the job was really easy.

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kevine1785

· #3 · Oct 18, 2021

First off.. you got yourself a hell of a bike!!!... Secondly that fork looks a bit off. It should have 100mm of travel and it looks to be only around half that. I would double check the air pressure and maybe to a lower fork service and change the oil and seals. Its also not all that hard, and a kit + suspension fluid is only about $40

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laopadak

Discussion Starter · #4 · Oct 18, 2021

kevine1785 said:
First off.. you got yourself a hell of a bike!!!... Secondly that fork looks a bit off. It should have 100mm of travel and it looks to be only around half that. I would double check the air pressure and maybe to a lower fork service and change the oil and seals. Its also not all that hard, and a kit + suspension fluid is only about $40

Thank you sir. I think you're right on that front fork, just looked and seems low. I have a shock pump (borrowed from in-law) and might try that first. Since I'm new to MTBR, semi-handy but never did any bike maintenance, I might just have to get a local shop / mechanic to do all this work. I'm in the Denver metro area if anyone knows / can recommend a personal mechanic. Thanks.

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r-rocket

· #5 · Oct 18, 2021

Are you sure you went through the brake lever "snap" process, and had the brake lever in the right angle when bleeding the lever? These levers were notoriously tough to bleed, and would be spongy or pull all the way to the bar if the air was not completely bled out of the system.

From the sounds of it, if you are certain on the bleeding, then it is likely the bladder is the problem, and rebuilding the lever should fix it. Your issue sounds worse than the normal headaches that people typical ran into with that vintage of XX brakes that gave them their bad reputation.

That vintage of XX brake is known for having the brake lever pull to the bars whenever the slightest amount of air or moisture gets into the brake lever bladder, even when the bladder isn't leaking as bad as yours. SRAM completely redesigned their levers due to this problem. The new levers have bladders made out of a new material with a completely different shape. You wouldn't be too crazy to replace them with a completely different lever. If you decided to rebuild and keep those levers, just make sure to bleed them at least every spring before riding (the old bladder material would allow air/moisture into the system through the wall of the bladder as the bike sits over the winter).

Also avoid flipping the bike completely upside down, even for a short amount of time. That specific brake lever had a problem where if there was any air in the lever, it would go the the worst place possible in the bladder when inverted, and the levers would pull to the bars. If both front and back brakes had air in the system, both could pull to the bars at the same time. Keeping up with regular bleeding reduces the risk. Their re-designed levers don't have that problem anymore.

I saw your link was to the Planet Cyclery warehouse site. Planet Cyclery also has a local bike shop a few blocks away in Broomfield if you decide to go the bike shop route. They could probably do the rebuild.

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laopadak

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 18, 2021

r-rocket said:
Are you sure you went through the brake lever "snap" process, and had the brake lever in the right angle when bleeding the lever? These levers were notoriously tough to bleed, and would be spongy or pull all the way to the bar if the air was not completely bled out of the system.

From the sounds of it, if you are certain on the bleeding, then it is likely the bladder is the problem, and rebuilding the lever should fix it. Your issue sounds worse than the normal headaches that people typical ran into with that vintage of XX brakes that gave them their bad reputation.

That vintage of XX brake is known for having the brake lever pull to the bars whenever the slightest amount of air or moisture gets into the brake lever bladder, even when the bladder isn't leaking as bad as yours. SRAM completely redesigned their levers due to this problem. The new levers have bladders made out of a new material with a completely different shape. You wouldn't be too crazy to replace them with a completely different lever. If you decided to rebuild and keep those levers, just make sure to bleed them at least every spring before riding (the old bladder material would allow air/moisture into the system through the wall of the bladder as the bike sits over the winter).

Also avoid flipping the bike completely upside down, even for a short amount of time. That specific brake lever had a problem where if there was any air in the lever, it would go the the worst place possible in the bladder when inverted, and the levers would pull to the bars. If both front and back brakes had air in the system, both could pull to the bars at the same time. Keeping up with regular bleeding reduces the risk. Their re-designed levers don't have that problem anymore.

I saw your link was to the Planet Cyclery warehouse site. Planet Cyclery also has a local bike shop a few blocks away in Broomfield if you decide to go the bike shop route. They could probably do the rebuild.

Good stuff- Appreciate the input. Didn't realize Planet Cyclery was local and I just got off the phone with them. I'm not sure if the lever needs a rebuild and neither are they. However, I am dropping off the bike to them this week and they're going to have a look, rebuild if needed, bleed and make adjustments/tune this new beast.

Unfortunately I placed the order this morning and it has already shipped. I should be able to bring the items with me and if they're not needed, I can return.

Thanks!

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Avid XX World Cup R

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