So I have this 2002 marin wolf ridge Enduro MTB. It comes with hope hydraulic v1 brakes with 203mm rotors. The issue I have is the lever travel is SO short, and the braking is either 0 or 110%.
What is normally do is apply a little rear brake to slow down before a turn, etc, but if I even breathe on my rear brake lever the wheel is locked up.
They work great as emergency brakes, but terribly to control speed. This isn't like the hydraulics on my ebike, or any mechanical disk I've used.
So is this just a skill issue? Do I need to use these brakes differently?
Is there anything I can do to set it so the braking is more gradual?
Potentially weird question, but how can I make my brakes LESS good?
byu/amzeo inbikewrench
by amzeo
11 Comments
Did you forget to oil your disk?
jk, you can sandpaper off the edges on the pads and that helps smoothen the initial bite. Make a mellow chamfer.
Nice try. Who are you trying to sabotage and why?
Have you tried adjusting the distance of the brake pads from the rotors by pushing the pistons back into the calipers? Thinner brake pads, perhaps with a different material ? Metal brake pads are well known for taking a while to heat up and start working and they last very long. The only other thing that I could think of is switching out the levers for something that offers less psi pressure to the rotors 🤷🏼♂️ but these are 23 years old. Who knows what would even work with that technology now.
You can change brake pad material to make them less bitey.
Also, you mentioned this is a 2002 bike. Locking up your rear could be a symptom of an old, terrible rock hard tire that doesn’t grip. Think about changing your tires so they put more grip to the ground, so you can use the power instead of doing skids.
Do you need 203mm rotos? 180 in the rear should be more than enough. Even 160, but that depends more on the frame tabs.
160 or 180 rotors. Resin pads
Replace the break lever piston spring with a stiffer one. From looking at the video, I can lock your breaks using my pinky finger
Question is, why the free stroke is so short? Looks like the system is overfilled. Or if the brake has free stroke settings, I would advice to make it longer so the lever is closer to the bars. Other advice, move the lever away from the grip so when you have your hand comfortably on the grip so you can reach the lever only with the index finger.
WD40
Wait. Can’t you simply sip out a tiny bit of oil to make them worse?
My lobster is too buttery and my steak is too juicy!
Skill issue. You’ll get used to it after a few rides. And when you will be thankful on long descents when your hands don’t hurt since you don’t need to pull the brakes as hard.