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I have an old pair of Hayes Stroker Carbon disc brakes in the garage that haven't been used in over 5 years, they were just sat on a bike that never got ridden.
I'm now thinking of getting said bike rolling again but the brakes feel like they're full of syrup rather than DOT5.1. Is it likely a good bleed will sort this out or am I looking at a full strip down & replacing all the seals, etc?
Or are they beyond help?
Try bleeding them and see how they are before you start spending money on them.
I'd bleed them and see what happens.
Brake fluid doesn't damage the seals in brakes - the seals and the fluid are designed to be together with no degradation over time other than water absorption. Not that that's an issue for brakes on a mountain bike 🙂
I’ve had a few sets of Strokers. The levers di seem to lose their springiness but I’ve still got a set on my station bike that have been doing daily service like this for years. If you’re after premium performance I’d get new brakes; if you just need something to stop your bike then I reckon they’ll be worth a bleed.
My old Strokers get stiff levers if I leave the bike sitting for any length of time (its a backup bike so that could be months), they free up with vigorous pumping and then work fine, I think it's the seals getting a bit stiff and sticky.
Cheers folks, I think I'll give 'em a bleed then, see how it goes.
If that doesn't work it's go great loss really as I've found a couple of cheap replacements.
Thanks.