Scared of hydraulic brakes - any advice

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Dirk

If 6 Was 9
Location
Watchet
I did by it new and had it serviced, though not ridden it much in those 6 weeks due to injury. Mentioned it to the lbs then and they were the ones who told me to pump the brakes.
Two questions:
1.What is your braking technique - do you use mainly back brake, mainly front brake, both equally hard or one more than the other?
2.Did you bed in the pads properly after you got the bike?
 

Jody

Stubborn git
If set up properly they should all have enough power to stop you with one finger and without pumping.

What make of hydro brake are you running.
Do they work properly after you pump them.
Is the lever spongy with more travel until they are pumped up.
When you are going down long descents do you drag the brake for the whole descent or use them in sharp bursts.
Is there any brake pad residue visible on the discs
Do you take care to avoid any contamination on the discs from spray lube etc.
 

Levo-Lon

Guru
I'd hazard a guess the lbs said Bleed the brake and not Pump?

If any pumping of a hydraulic system is required it's .
A low fluid
B moisture water ingress
C air.

So you need to simply bleed and check fluid level is ok. Water is more an age poor service issue
Any lbs will do this simple task.

Disc brakes are king ..
 
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areyouactuallymoving

Well-Known Member
Location
Stroud
Two questions:
1.What is your braking technique - do you use mainly back brake, mainly front brake, both equally hard or one more than the other?
2.Did you bed in the pads properly after you got the bike?

1. I normally use both brakes equally
2. Not really sure what you mean, the lbs didn't say anything about needing to do this

I'd hazard a guess the lbs said Bleed the brake and not Pump?
The lbs told me to pump the brakes, i.e.quick sharp bursts of the brakes rather than holding the brakes on when going down hill. Maybe pump the brakes is the wrong term, but that is how they descibed it to me.


If set up properly they should all have enough power to stop you with one finger and without pumping.
Without pulling too hard the back wheel seems to lock up/skid, but if I use a lighter touch it doesn't feel like I get enough braking power - these are steep hills, you pick up a lot of speed quickly. No problems on the hills with my road bike which has mechanical disc brakes.
 

Jody

Stubborn git
Your defenition of pumping the brakes up is whats throwing things slightly. Pumping a brake would be where the lever has excess travel and is spongy, then you pump the lever a few times and the travel reduces and they feel more solid. The LBS is telling you not to drag brakes on long descents which is right.

Most hydraulic brakes require very little effort to increase the force and some can feel very on/off until you get used to them.
 

glasgowcyclist

Charming but somewhat feckless
Location
Scotland
How would I porperly bed them in?

See attached pdf file with explanation and instructions>>>
 

Attachments

  • HDB_burn_in_procedure.pdf
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areyouactuallymoving

Well-Known Member
Location
Stroud
Your defenition of pumping the brakes up is whats throwing things slightly.
OK, they said actually said the phrase pump the brakes to mean short sharp bursts on the brakes

You would tend to use more force on the front as your weight transfers. Using both equally will give you a lot greater chance of locking the rear.
Ah, OK, I'll have to try using the front more.
 

Jody

Stubborn git
Can’t someone from the local LBS take your bike for a spin and let you know what they think?
 

Alan O

Über Member
Location
Liverpool
OK, they said actually said the phrase pump the brakes to mean short sharp bursts on the brakes

Ah, OK, I'll have to try using the front more.
I can see there has been some confusion as to the meaning of the term "pumping" here, and it is used for both meanings - (a) Repeatedly pulling on the brake lever to make a spongy disc brake firm up, and (b) On/off action downhill rather than dragging the brake (often used with rim brakes to minimize brake block overheating and brake "fade").

It sounded at first as though you weren't getting any braking power and that (a) was meant, but it now seems more likely that the LBS meant (b) and was not suggesting your disc brakes need to be pumped to actually work.

Anyway, it does sound like you are over-using the back brake if you're getting it to the point it skids, so more use of front brake seems to be in order. To try to determine if the front brake is actually problematic, here's a couple of questions...

* Can you bring the bike to a hard stop using the front brake with only modest pressure on the lever? (Try it at low speed on the flat, not tearing down a hill)

* When you apply the brake, do you feel a slow and even increase in braking power through the range of movement of the lever, or does it feel like there's a "bite" point at which the resistance hardens up.

In my limited experience (having only used hydraulic brakes on one bike, my MTB), hydraulics are better at getting a quick stop (and for stop/go off-road descents), and the cantilever rim brakes on my touring bike are better for finer control of slowing on long paved downhills.
 

aegis

Senior Member
Could it be that you're used to less powerful mechanical disk brakes and you're pulling the hydraulic brakes too hard?

Hydraulic brakes require less effort both initially and ultimately than mechanical brakes (rim or disk) which takes a bit of learning to get the subtleties of control right.

Ask an experienced rider to watch what you're doing. Or ask them to ride your bike and provide a second opinion. It could be the pads and rotors aren't burned in which is why the shop was asking you to pump the levers to burn in. It then gets less grabby and more consistent.

It would be unlikely as a new bike that the brakes needed bleeding or that there was air in the system. That's what a decent shop is supposed to check before sale and at the first service.
 
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