SRAM Guide rebuild

ozzybmx

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
Oldest sons Guide R rear brake lever was not returning, a bit of a GooGle and its a common problem.

Stripped the lever down to get a look, the plastic piston (below) has been rubbing but when I tried to remove the 2 seal rings, one just fell apart.

So, has anyone rebuilt Guide levers ? Buy the seal kit ? But a new internal rebuild kit ? or grab a chi Ti piston from eBay or the likes.

I know my preference would be to buy Shimano brakes but its easier and cheaper to fix these.


373345
 
ozzybmx

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
I can get the 2 rubber seals from eBay (Sydney) for $12, or the whole replacement piston for $21. Looking at the piston and rings, that plastic one is just shit.

www.ebay.com.au

Titanium Alloy Bicycle Disc Brake Lever Piston Repair For SRAM Part Guide | eBay

Long piston for SRAM DB5, level, level T, level TL, level TLM, level ULT, guide T, guide R, guide RE, guide RS. Short piston for SRAM Guide RSC, Guide ultimat. This product is made of titanium alloy, with super light, high density, corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance and other...
www.ebay.com.au
 
link1896

link1896

Mr Greenfield
Buy the ebay parts and rebuild. The sram instructions are pretty straight forward. Just be aware the bleed syringes are borderline, to get a good bleed you need a shit load of fluid to flow through, one syringe full really isn’t enough.

Sram went away from recommending sram butter (or castrol red rubber grease) on the lever pistons for some reason. All the sram brakes I rebuilt with red rubber grease have been fine for myself and a few mates

@BoomKing are your RCS still ok too?
 
ozzybmx

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
Cheers @link1896, just ordered it from the seller who says 26th March delivery... Kids are impatient and he has his eye on a set of new Shimano brakes I have here as spares... then I will end up with a spare set of fucked Guides.

Got a couple of older SRAM syringes here that hold about 60ml. Have some rubber grease here too.

Thanks for your help.
 
treble

treble

Likes Dirt
I’ve rebuilt a number of guide and guide R brake levers with replacement plastic pistons from SRAM. All have since failed again or re-developed symptoms that lead me to rebuild them. I’d be interested to see if these eBay TI are a more reliable replacement, as I’ve got at least 3 sets of guides sitting in a box I can’t be bothered fixing again.
 
ozzybmx

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
treble said:
I’ve got at least 3 sets of guides sitting in a box I can’t be bothered fixing again.
Click to expand...
Cheers @treble, I would like to just replace them as I have had my fill of SRAM, I hate their gears with a passion, X0 and above are great BTW but all their brakes are shithouse... ok when they work but very labour intensive to keep them working and bleeding is not straight forward either.

SRAM have cheaped out in every item they make now unless you are paying for X0/XX1 and even then, their brakes have been shit since forever.

The issue with X0/XX1/AXS is who can afford to smash off a $1200 AXS derailleur ?

Both my sons bikes have Guides, if I can get them working again, its a bonus. Will keep you updated on how the chi-ti piston works.

Thanks
 
Boom King

Boom King

downloaded a pic of moorey's bruised arse
link1896 said:
Buy the ebay parts and rebuild. The sram instructions are pretty straight forward. Just be aware the bleed syringes are borderline, to get a good bleed you need a shit load of fluid to flow through, one syringe full really isn’t enough.

Sram went away from recommending sram butter (or castrol red rubber grease) on the lever pistons for some reason. All the sram brakes I rebuilt with red rubber grease have been fine for myself and a few mates

@BoomKing are your RCS still ok too?
Click to expand...
Yeah, don't get much use but still work fine.
 
link1896

link1896

Mr Greenfield
I might be interested in buying or trading services/parts for some non working guides, too far down the rabbit hole to jump away from guides.

Send me some photos if keen.
 
treble

treble

Likes Dirt
ozzybmx said:
Cheers @treble, I would like to just replace them as I have had my fill of SRAM, I hate their gears with a passion, X0 and above are great BTW but all their brakes are shithouse... ok when they work but very labour intensive to keep them working and bleeding is not straight forward either.
Click to expand...
I havent had any luck with SRAM brakes since they changed from AVID. Weirdly, I have a set of 2012 AVID Code R's on my hardtail that have been on a number of bikes over nearly 10 years now. Other than the occasional bleed, they have been maintenance free.
 
D

damo666

Likes Dirt
2 x sets of RSC's here have been running the $12 alloy pistons without an issue since (over a few years) - def worth the time to replace the shitty plastic ones.
 
ozzybmx

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
Just had a pair of 3-4 year old Guide RS levers replaced for new ones by SRAM. Didnt even need a proof of purchase - just had to leave the Trance at Pushys for a couple of weeks, as they wanted to remove and replace them.

So its always worth a shot asking for new ones first...
 
Oddjob

Oddjob

Merry fucking Xmas to you assholes
Haakon said:
Just had a pair of 3-4 year old Guide RS levers replaced for new ones by SRAM. Didnt even need a proof of purchase - just had to leave the Trance at Pushys for a couple of weeks, as they wanted to remove and replace them.

So its always worth a shot asking for new ones first...
Click to expand...
Doesn't address the underlying shittiness though.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 
Boom King

Boom King

downloaded a pic of moorey's bruised arse
Oddjob said:
For anyone jack of SRAM shittiness I really have to reccomend Cura 4s. Excellent modulation, scary power with sintered pads and very good value for money especially from ze germans.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
The two pot Cura are fabulous too and even better value.
 
beeb

beeb

Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
Oddjob said:
For anyone jack of SRAM shittiness I really have to reccomend Cura 4s. Excellent modulation, scary power with sintered pads and very good value for money especially from ze germans.
Click to expand...
If only they had bite point adjustment on the levers, and proper bleed nipples on the calipers...

But yeah, the power is mental.
 
Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
Oddjob said:
For anyone jack of SRAM shittiness I really have to reccomend Cura 4s. Excellent modulation, scary power with sintered pads and very good value for money especially from ze germans.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Having reintroduced myself to the nice feeling Shimano brakes, I’m also reminded of their on or off style of modulation... Option C is certainly being considered!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top