Dammit’s adventures in mountain biking

I'd certainly have pied them off by now. I hate having something like that in the back of my mind.

Sounds like a defective pair, no? Can't claim magura make bad brakes.

I've had more problems with Shimano and Hope brakes than I have with any SRAM brakes...someone else will tell you the opposite. Its a free for all.

Would people blame me for giving in now?

Yes.
I admire your stubbornness, stick with them a while longer.
We all know how hydraulics work, the fluid must be going somewhere.

Warranty claim time? But the amount of time you'd be waiting for a warranty replacement means you'd probably need to buy another brake in the interim. I'm getting deja vu.

Is it time to disassemble the whole caliper if possible?

Get an MT5. Swap the calliper out. See if it works. If it’s still funky put the calliper back and swap the leaver out. Least that way you’ll know which bit is buggered.

Lever is new- from Rat Race after we discovered that the place in Morgins hadn’t given me the correct lever back after fitting the Zee.

Here’s the other thing- I last rode this bike a couple of weeks ago, rear brake was great.

Drove down to Winchester yesterday and set off down the SDW. No rear brake- contaminated pads.

A couple of long downhills where I dragged the brake bought it back a it - it’ll lock the rear tyre, sort of.

And it feels low on fluid.

However- mineral oil leaking into the pads from the pistons would bork them in a way that was non-recoverable I thought? I had assumed that I’d picked up some crap on the journey as the bike was on the roof.

Also, if oil was leaking out I’d expect air to be leaking in, and you can’t pump the lever up- although maybe I’ve got hardly any fluid in there. I can’t see a leak, is the issue with all of this.

had assumed that I’d picked up some crap on the journey as the bike was on the roof.

The only sensible solution here is a fully customised transporter.

I doubt that will solve the problem. I’ve just arrived for a days jump training.

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Just buy Shimano brakes and stop wasting your time.

Brakes don't work in the air anyway

Rob Warner is here, he’s just like he is on YouTube.

Calliper and lever are bone dry. Could the hose be nicked somewhere inside the frame?

Ok, system bled, no bubbles remaining.

System closed back up, bleed blocks still in.

Lever goes to the bars on a normal pull, won’t pump up, won’t change (lack of) bite point at all.

What’s going on?

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Bleed at the caliper isn’t exiting at the local highest point. You may have to unbolt it and rotate so there’s no effective dead leg while bleeding. Anything in the top pair of pistons is just going to sit there.
Earlier posters suggesting air still in the caliper were probably correct
(I’ve messed this up myself previously. Calliper is probably designed to be mounted behind the axle with the bleed port facing up)

Good point, I took the calliper off previously but forgot this time. Too tired now, will do it again tomorrow but with the calliper at a better angle.

Also: bugger

I did the Pro Ride MTB jumps and drops course yesterday- was a lot of fun.

Sessioning a couple of jumps is a very good way of taking the fear out and, with the coaching, allow you to approach full send without also risking Friday Fails.

FoD itself is huge, lots of trails, rapidly showed that I should have put the other wheels on with the DHR II’s, especially as I only had a front brake and the Hans Dampf I had up front kept losing traction on the steeper stuff.

I’d quite like to spend a few days in the area riding there, Afan, Cym Carn (sp?) and BPW- and maybe that will be my summer holiday this year.

Also, whoops

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I’d quite like to spend a few days in the area riding there, Afan, Cym Carn (sp?) and BPW- and maybe that will be my summer holiday this year.

Sounds fun, nice kebab leg there

Some amazing non waymarked trails in FoD, get someone local to take you round (fully rigid works well, a hard tail will be more than enough bike)

Ok, bled the brakes again, unbolted the calliper and tipped the frame in the stand to get as close as I can to a straight line from the calliper up to the lever.

Got all the air out (I believe) and whilst there is more lever feel it can still be easily pulled to the bars.

The front brake by contrast is very different.

I’m guessing there must still be air on there, but repeated pumping of the lever doesn’t make any difference to lever feel- what am I missing?

This is like when your mate keeps telling you all the awful things about his missus and their relationship but won't leave it. They think they can fix it, if they just do this, if they just do that....its guna hurt man, it'll feel shit at times but ultimately, it'll be a sweet sweet relief.

I just can’t stand not knowing why it doesn’t work. I didn’t bleed it correctly last night, as was pointed out. I think I’ve done it correctly tonight, being less tired helped there- but maybe I’ve still done it wrong?

Only one side of the pistons are self adjusting, which is a theme here. I am fucked if I know what’s going on with them.

Swap out the calliper. I bet it’s leaking. Frequent and mysterious contamination is a sign that all is not well.

I'm pretty sure this is @Howard offering to solve your life's woes