Avid Juicy 5 lack of power

[mcstark]

Hey all,

I'm a newb to the DR forums, but been around bikes since 1990. I'm also the proud owner of an `07 Stumpjumper FSR Comp. It's my first dual-suspension, disc brake bike so I'm just starting my learning curve. I've searched the forums here and still haven't found an answer to my "problem."

My Stumpie is a large so it has a 203mm rotor in front and a 185mm rotor in the rear -- I believe those are the exact dimensions. The rear brake will lock the wheel without a second thought, but the front is underwhelming. The SD7 v-brakes on my old bike would stand the entire bike on it's nose with just one finger, so I'm a bit disappointed with the Juicy's performance. The lever is firm but the front brake just doesn't seem to have much power. What should I check?

A search of SRAM/Avid's site doesn't provide a "troubleshooting guide," so I'm on my own here. The lever isn't squishy, so I don't think they need to be bled. Could my pads be bad? I did break them in according the advice on SRAM's site, so I don't think that's it. They seem to be getting slightly better with time, but the bike is 6 weeks old and been ridden a good 15 hours on rolling trails with some decent descents thrown in.

Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

Mark

[rockyrider]

The pads are either contaminated or glazed, you could try washing them in alcohol and sanding them with 150 grit paper to rough them up and bed them in again. If that doesn't work just buy some new organic compound pads for the front.

[mcstark]

RR - I'll give it a shot and post back. I'm used to sanding down glazed pads, but haven't had to do so since before v-brakes.
Would you recommend that I clean the rotor with alcohol, or auto brake cleaner, as well?

Mark

[rockyrider]

Always a good idea to start with a clean rotor, so alcohol or carbon tetrachloride (Brake Kleen) works well. (just don't inhale).

[mcstark]

Cleaned, sanded and cleaned the pads. And then wiped down the rotor with rubbing alcohol. I started breaking it in tonight. After about 10 stops from 10-15 mph using only the front brake, it squeals pretty good.

I'll break it in some more this week and ride it this weekend. It grabs more than before...just hope the squealing goes away. Mine are definitely the standard pad material, so we'll see. They didn't make any noise before so my expectations are they'll quiet down once broken in.

Thanks for the tip!

[tryandgetme]

re-adjust the calipers. I find most of my squeel on avid brakes are caused by misalignment (or my F***ing broken axle causing misalignment). Sanding em might have put them off ever so slightly. chamfering the edges might help too.

[mcstark]

TAGM - I'll give it a shot. It looked like the edges were chamfered at the factory already, but I'll pull them out and recheck them. It's easy enough to do.

I appreciate all the advice...like I said, I'm new to disc's but learning fast. I have to say, I love the braking performance in the wet...a world of difference from v-brakes.