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Guide brakes......sticky lever/not returning


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Seems to be a common problem with all of the Guide brakes. Plastic plunger inside the lever swells slightly/enough with a little heat to cause it to hang up inside the master cyl. The amount of heat it takes to make this happen is so small the brakes worked great indoors in the ac and after sitting outside for 20 minutes felt like absolute shit. Did a little research before I started chasing my tail trying to find the cause of this and found several youtube vids explaining the fix for this problem/defect.

 

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Yeah, looked into that last year with new bike that had 2018 Guide RS. I think they had fixed the issue by then, and I've not had any issues with them. From day 1 they have a greatly different feel compared to the newish XTs on older bike, but they work ok.

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1 minute ago, jcarneytx said:

Yeah, looked into that last year with new bike that had 2018 Guide RS. I think they had fixed the issue by then, and I've not had any issues with them. From day 1 they have a greatly different feel compared to the newish XTs on older bike, but they work ok.

I think these are 2016 or 17.

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25 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

Looking at that video, it looks like the quicker solution is some XT brakes. My guides are pretty weak, but that looks like too many small parts for me to keep track of, I think I would screw this one up big time.

The hardest part getting the snap ring out and back in.

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I rebuilt my old Juicy levers due to the same issue. It's very sensitive to which grease you use to lubricate the gaskets on the plunger. I had done it before but the grease I used caused the rubber to swell ever so slightly. The stuff I used this time worked perfectly.

...and yeah, that snapring is the hardest part of the operation.

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I actually have a set that I swapped out for Maguras two years ago and started researching recently to see what the deal with them was, whether SRAM was covering them, if there was a fix, etc. Came across that (or a similar) video. The guy that posted a video will fix them for a reasonable fee. I wondered if a kit containing the internals would be a good option as well and seeing @circuitbreaker post, I'd lean that direction prolly.

They felt great until this issue. Best brakes I'd ridden even if XTs are so reliable. 

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7 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

I can't believe people still tolerate SRAM brakes. If I bought a bike that was 99% perfect but came with SRAM brakes, they would go in the trash and be replaced before they could cause and problems for anyone.

yup, they are the only mistake on my new bike. I don't get it. Maybe SRAM has a deal with other manufacturers as a way to get more immediate sale dollars on new bikes??

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13 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

I can't believe people still tolerate SRAM brakes. If I bought a bike that was 99% perfect but came with SRAM brakes, they would go in the trash and be replaced before they could cause and problems for anyone.

I've been tolerating the Guide RS brakes that came on my newest bike, and truthfully I don't even think about it that much when I'm out riding. As soon as I get back on my bike that has XTR brakes though, the difference is immediately clear. Still, I'm just not willing to throw something away that isn't keeping me from having fun. When it comes time to spend money fixing or servicing them however, they will very likely get replaced. 

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On 5/9/2019 at 6:30 PM, mack_turtle said:

I can't believe people still tolerate SRAM brakes. If I bought a bike that was 99% perfect but came with SRAM brakes, they would go in the trash and be replaced before they could cause and problems for anyone.

Going forward this will be my treatment as well.  Bought a Diamondback release 5c a year ago and have already had to bleed the brakes three times.  Peddler's was cursing my brakes the last time I took it in.  

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My buddy went to outerbike moab a year or so ago, and had to wait on multiple occasions for bikes to have their guide brakes serviced before being demo'd. 

 

Trying magura this time around

Edited by ATXZJ
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10 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

My buddy went to outerbike moab a year or so ago, and had to wait on multiple occasions for bikes to have their guide brakes serviced before being demo'd. 

 

Trying magura this time around

Hahahahahaha

I always laugh when someone says "Sram has a really helpful warranty dept". They get lots of practice.

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I had a pair on my first trip to Moab back in like 2010, I didn't really know what was wrong with them, I replaced the pads while I was there and kept playing with them but was basically scared shitless the entire time as I never knew if/how well I was going to be able to stop. Of course some of those trails are SUPER steep too, I was always looking for a runout if need be. XTs since then FTW. Hard to believe they still suck.

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Moab is not a good place to find out your brakes don't work.

My only experience with Avids was riding with a buddy who had them on his Giant.  They would squeal like a stuck pig in all weather, all the time.  I hated those damn things but they made him faster because he never wanted to use the brakes.  Maybe that's the Avid game plan??

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My only experience with SRAM brakes is replacing them with parts bin brakes on my buddies bike after they failed/got stuck. What's the downside to Shimanos? I've heard people say they are grabby? Notchy? I dunno, it's all I've ever run, from entry level to SLX, seem great to me. 

Edited by RedRider3141
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