sicklorkin

I am having issues fixing one of the pistons on my front caliper (Juicy Five).

I noticed after buying this bike used, that the piston on the left side of the caliper didn't
retract when squeezing the brake lever. I was easily able to pop it out by removing the
pads and repeatedly squeezing the brake lever until is came out. I checked that the
bushing/seals looked fine, and the piston itself looked clean.

I reseated the piston and began flushing the brake, once I got to the flushing lever
stage the piston popped out again. At this point, even though I don't see any physical
damage to the caliper, piston, or seals, I figured it's best to replace all of the things;
however, to my dismay they no longer carry Juicy Five seal/piston replacements.

Before I go out and purchase a new brake I'd like to know if anyone here has any
suggestions on what might be happening to my current brake, or be able to point me
to someone that might still carry these obsolete parts.

Six jours

Sounds like a tough brake.

sicklorkin

Yuppers

HillRider

Note to the OP: The comments below your posting are referring to your misuse of the words brake and break. A brake is a device that slows down or stops something like a bicycle or car. To break something is to damage it. If your bike won't stop you may have a break in your brake.

It's a common misuse and many posters here switch the two spellings but it's worth getting the terms right. It avoids a lot of ridicule.

sicklorkin

Noted, fixed, and thanks.

1 Miyata Biker

I searched for the "Juicy Five" brand of replacement brake parts and found quite a few links that may be helpful for you. Hope you can find the parts you need!

AOL Search

well biked

Speaking from having seen problem after problem and having worked on Avid hydraulic brakes quite a lot in my my bike shop, I would discard those brakes and buy some current generation, entry level Shimano hydraulics. The most entry level Shimano hydraulics, which should be available for around $100 for the complete setup (excluding rotors), will be superior in performance, and SO much more trouble free, than those Avids. Unfortunately, Avid has just never gotten hydraulic brakes right, and this is especially true of the "Juicy" generation of brakes. Bottom line: they suck.

HillRider

Good. I hope i didn't sound insulting or patronizing as this is indeed a common grammatical error.

sicklorkin

Not one bit, i've found myself making this mistake over and over, i blame it on muscle memory - my brain is thinking one thing, but my fingers are doing something else.

sicklorkin

Thanks for the advice! I had anticipated I would need to upgrade these brakes at some point, I am converting this bike to an electric, but I thought I could put this off until I got the bike up-and-running.

dedhed

As is peddle, petal, and pedal