Perishing seals !

[Alan Frame]

I have Avid BB7 mechanical discs on my Kona Sutra and have just noticed that the rubber cable seals where the cable attaches to the caliper itself are disintegrating. Pretty poor after less than 12 months' use.

I presume that the seals are designed to stop water entering the housing and causing corrosion to the brake cable, so I've dribbled some oil in as a temporary measure, but got to thinking that maybe a gobbet of grease might give a permanent solution ?

I can't find replacement seals on the web and doubt the replacements would be any better quality than the originals even if I could. So would grease be the answer ?

I freely and proudly admit to being tight.

 

[ianrauk]

The seals BB7's on my all year round, all weather commuter (more then 12 months old) are fine and haven't perished at all.

So weird yours have.
May be a faulty batch.

 

[ColinJ]

That's a relief - I thought this was going to be a thread about seal clubbing!

 

[Alan Frame]

The seals BB7's on my all year round, all weather commuter (more then 12 months old) are fine and haven't perished at all.

So weird yours have.
May be a faulty batch.

Seals have gone on both the front and rear calipers.
Unfortunately, the supplier's customer service is appalling, as evidenced by a previous complaint over a broken pannier rack boss on the fork [as supplied from new], which got me exactly nowhere. I therefore don't hold out any hope of them supplying replacements.

I think I'll go with a blob of grease and replace it every time I wash the bike, but maybe once a year won't be enough.