I have to admit to not having any idea if they are resin or sintered - i guess it never really makes much difference on a set of Avids or Hopes if they are organic or sintered - they all seem to work well (just some are slightly better than others, performance-wise). OK, first stop (geddit?) I'll stick some sintered in and give them a go.
I think the guy before me had them on a SC Chameleon, so I'm guessing he was not exactly mincing around on them - how he ever managed to brake for anything I'll never know!
The older Shimano resin ones were cack in the wet but fine in the dry - perhaps he just didn't ride in the wet, or maybe it explain why he sold them to you... If you get really desperate, I have some sintered spares sitting in my kitchen
When I went riding with the Hayfield lot last week, there was a guy I thought I recognised from a past ride, the conversation went:
Me: "We've ridden together before haven't we?" Him: "Yeah, you brought along those crystallized ginger and dark chocolate biscuits didn't you?" Me: "I expect so" Him: "Have you got any more? They were lovely."
It's so nice to be remembered for my entertaining and stimulating conversation ;(
Gavin, agreement from over here with the pads hypothesis, whether it be the compound type or contamination. Whack some new pads in, don't forget to de-grease the discs and you'll be right as rain. If they're feeling solid at the lever you'll not need to re-bleed.
I bought a second hand brake earlier in the year and had the same issue that was just contaminated pads - which can't be fixed without new pads.
If that fails, my next recommendation would be to try moffing the shafter of course
Ah, of course, I've heard that moffing the shafter is the recommended course of action for many bike-related woes. I'll keep that in the reserve tank for now though, and proceed with Plan A (some new pads).
I was just a little worried that after buying these brakes, I would get the advice (accompanied by sucking air through teeth) that 'XTR brakes are useless round here unless you only go at ?? mph'. They do look nice, just a pity I nearly had a pretty major stack as a result of them not working. Funny though, I just kinda assumed they would really slam on, did my usual line/speed down Coldwell Clough, which normally involves blatting over the drainage bars until you get to about 20m from the first sharp lefthander - pulled hard on the back and progressively harder on the front........and nothing happened.......!
It was nice over this way. Rode some new secret singletrack, which would be lovely in the dry but was sort of draggy in the wet, scared some cattle, scared some sheep, found some interesting new rain damage, tried some not very good lights, nearly had a whopping crash coming down from the cross thing above the golf course - one of those puddles is feckin' deep, avoid - climbed the diagonal field in a clean, flawless stylee when everything worked, ate food, went to sleep, had a dream where I got a first in theology from Cambridge
!
