XTR disc brake pad retraction problems

I am having problems installing XTR discs on my new bike. The rear went
fine, but the pads on the front seem to be unwilling to retract, and it is
making the setup difficult. I have heard that this is a common problem, and
have seen comments to that effect in Bicycling magazine and on Velonews.com
(Zinn's column).

Is there a recommended solution to this problem? Changing brands is, at this
point, not a solution I am willing to undertake. I was sort of hoping that,
since it is a common problem, someone out there knows the cause and can
help.

Thanks in advance,
Bill _/)_

"Chris Phillipo" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
says...

I am having problems installing XTR discs on my new bike. The rear went
fine, but the pads on the front seem to be unwilling to retract, and it
is
making the setup difficult. I have heard that this is a common problem,
and
have seen comments to that effect in Bicycling magazine and on
Velonews.com
(Zinn's column).

Is there a recommended solution to this problem? Changing brands is, at
this
point, not a solution I am willing to undertake. I was sort of hoping
that,
since it is a common problem, someone out there knows the cause and can
help.

Thanks in advance,
Bill _/)_




Push them back in manually with a screwdriver.
--
_________________________
Chris Phillipo - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

This happened to me with the XT's too, once you push them in, they settle in
and work fine.

- CA-G

Can-Am Girls Kick Ass!

The problem is continual and will happen while riding. In other words, the
next time the lever is pushed in, the pads will fail to retract. So I'm
getting a lot of brake rub and that's not very fast. I've heard that this is
often a problem with these breaks. Is this some kind of break-in issue or
something? It is the outboard pad that doesn't want to retract.




"Chris Phillipo" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
says...

I am having problems installing XTR discs on my new bike. The rear went
fine, but the pads on the front seem to be unwilling to retract, and it
is
making the setup difficult. I have heard that this is a common problem,
and
have seen comments to that effect in Bicycling magazine and on
Velonews.com
(Zinn's column).

Is there a recommended solution to this problem? Changing brands is, at
this
point, not a solution I am willing to undertake. I was sort of hoping
that,
since it is a common problem, someone out there knows the cause and can
help.

Thanks in advance,
Bill _/)_




Push them back in manually with a screwdriver.
--
_________________________
Chris Phillipo - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
http://www.ramsays-online.com

They are brand new brakes. This is apparently a common problem, at least
according to Zinn in Velonews, and also Bycicling Magazine. Finally called
shimano on it, they acknowledged it as being common on the outer piston and
gave me a fairly hairy proceedu

(1) Remove the pads
(2) GENTLY press the lever to push the piston out, but NOT far enough to
push it all the way out.
(3) Clean the piston with a light brake parts cleaner. They recommended
Motor-X if you can find it, but anything from the local auto parts store
will likely do just fine.
(4) Push the pistons in all the way and let them stay that way overnight.
(5) Ride the bike and repeat the process.

Apparently it's a break-in issue and they don't seem to have a handle on why
some brakes do it and others don't.



"Chris Phillipo" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
says...
The problem is continual and will happen while riding. In other words,
the
next time the lever is pushed in, the pads will fail to retract. So I'm
getting a lot of brake rub and that's not very fast. I've heard that
this is
often a problem with these breaks. Is this some kind of break-in issue
or
something? It is the outboard pad that doesn't want to retract.



Are these new? Any chance someone put brake fluid in them? Sounds like
the piston seals might be binding. The pistons are not supposed to
retract all the way back in, just enough to clear the rotor, check that
the caliper is properly centered. The XTRs I have worked on didn't rub
any more than anything else does.

--
_________________________
Chris Phillipo - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
http://www.ramsays-online.com

I could do without it too. It's a real pain and it would be nice if shimano
sorted this out. Apparently, they will do a warranty replacement if the
problem is ont resolved. The one thing they said NOT to do was apply lube to
the piston. Apparently that does solve the problem temporarily but for
obvious reasons isn't what you really want to do. They won't honor a
warranty if the breaks have lube in them.

Other than the above problem the brakes are pretty nice. The modulation
isn't as good as my hope minis on the other bike but I like the integrated
levers and the new shifting (most people who actually have it seem to like
it, and you can now count me in those ranks). They have plenty of power but
the front is a touch grabby compared to the Hopes. Good overall package and
the weight is hard to beat.



"Chris Phillipo" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
says...

They are brand new brakes. This is apparently a common problem, at least
according to Zinn in Velonews, and also Bycicling Magazine. Finally
called
shimano on it, they acknowledged it as being common on the outer piston
and
gave me a fairly hairy proceedu

(1) Remove the pads
(2) GENTLY press the lever to push the piston out, but NOT far enough to
push it all the way out.
(3) Clean the piston with a light brake parts cleaner. They recommended
Motor-X if you can find it, but anything from the local auto parts store
will likely do just fine.
(4) Push the pistons in all the way and let them stay that way
overnight.
(5) Ride the bike and repeat the process.

Apparently it's a break-in issue and they don't seem to have a handle on
why
some brakes do it and others don't.


I could do without that hassle. Sounds like you might need to get a new
piston seal to get this completely sorted out.
--
_________________________
Chris Phillipo - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
http://www.ramsays-online.com