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Hi all,
I’m looking for some advice and tips on a maintenance project. When I was riding my local trails, I fell and my rear wheel came off, and one of my brake pads came out on the caliper piston side, thus leaking all of my brake fluid onto my rear disc and caliper.
The two bike shops I went to told me to get a new rear disc and one shop even suggested that I completely upgrade my brake system entirely. I have a decent background in dirt bike mechanics, but I’m pretty new to bicycle wrenching. I want to try to simply clean the disc with brake cleaner, replace the pads, and bleed the system.
My question is, have any of you done this and if so are there any tips or tricks do the project.
The caliper and brakes are Cannondale Helix 6’s and use DOT 4 fluid.
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Park tools and GMBN have good videos on all kinds of how toos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXQxLK6z5WA
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If you crashed hard enough to knock out the wheel and brake pad, you may have done some serious damage. Sounds like you might have busted a seal in the caliper hence the leaking fluid. You might have also bent your rotor disc, even if it looks straight. Fixing a seal in the caliper (assuming it’s even possible) would be costly if done in a shop which is probably why they suggested replacing it altogether. Sometimes rotors can be bent back straight but it all depends on the damage.
I would verify that the seal is not compromised before attempting to bleed, otherwise you’re wasting your time. Likewise put the rotor on another wheel and make sure it’s not bent. If that’s the case, a simple cleaning won’t cut it and unfortunately you’ll need to replace. Good Luck!
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Replace it. If it was a modern common caliper you can get a rebuild kit but when you can get a new loaded caliper for less then 50$ it’s usually not worth it. Now on your 6+ year old (and discontinued) brakes it’s definitely not worth it.
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