they are hope mono 4 calipers from 2002, with a hope mini lever 2002 on a 2002 marin wolf ridge. I bought the bike used and it was apparently well maintained from the previous owner when I took it to a tech he said they were supposed to be like this
things I've tried
1: new pads, switched from metallic to resin, no difference
2: bled brakes. fresh oil did nothing. removing some oil (overfilled) helps a tiny bit, but removing anymore than that tiny bit renders the brakes inoperable
3: changing disk size. these are 203mm NATIVE direct mount, so there's no way to size down
I just want the brakes to have more gradual activation, I want to be able to use my brakes to slow down rather than having the brakes violently stop from no pressure. I'd like that stopping power but only if I squeeze hard
I need some help with the free stroke on my brakes. No matter what I do there's almost no travel on the levers and entirely too much bite
byu/amzeo inbikewrench
by amzeo
9 Comments
Looks good. It’ll feel different once the wheel is on the ground.
Did you reset the pistons before you bled the brakes?
How do they behave when your weight is on the bike? Stopping a 3 pound wheel is a different story than stopping a 160+ pound body on a 20 pound bike at 20mph.
Ride it and get comfortable with it. The brakes are very grabby, as are Shimano, Magura and most other brands.
1 and 3 have no effect on lever travel. Lever travel is down to cylinder size and the gap between the pads and disc.
Push the pistons back and pump the brakes to reset the pad gap. The old hopes only had two modes on and off you’ll have to get use to it, in time you’ll adjust and be able to modulate the brakes.
Are the pistons fully retracting?
Essentially, you’ve got two options to create free stroke once the pistons are fully retracted. Either thin the rotor or thin the pads. Either will give you more travel before the pads contact the rotor, but this will only matter if the pistons then retract that whole amount.
I’d also suggest running the lever a little closer to the bars (because that is adjustable) this won’t change your free stroke, but will give you better ability to control your braking with the ol’ finger-modulator
I wish I had this problem.
Just open the bleed screw, and let all the fluid out. Fluid slows your braking down. Needs more air in it! For aerodynamics of course. 😉
To confirm, when you bled the brakes was it with a bleed block or with the caliper clamping on the rotor? If you did it in the rotor it may have left insufficient clearance under the caliper.
There are a bunch of templates in hopes site for 3d print or you can likely get one at any local shop that sells Hope
https://www.hopetech.com/open-source-tools/