Make Hydro Brakes Sharper?

ste123

hey,
i was wondering if i could improve the sharpness of my avid juicy 3 brakes. Any Help would be much appreciated.Thanks

nicklouse

what do you mean by sharper?

How long have you had them?

ste123

well the brake doesnt start to really "bite" until the lever is virtually 3/4 of the way in. and only about a month and a half

Anonymous

first off i would adjust the reach, this is done with the 2.5mm allen screw behind the lever. 3 or 4 clicks (clockwise) should make a difference without moving the lever too far away from the bar.

other options are to replace the pads with sintered ones and maybe even fitting a larger font disc.

check the lever reach first and report back if that helps.

smackmypitchupǃ

Juicy 3's come with ORGANIC pads as stock don't they? mine did on the S Pitch. In which case, buy some SINTERED METAL pads and you will have way more bite.

Organic pads are shit.

omegas

SmackMyPitchUp! wrote:

Juicy 3's come with ORGANIC pads as stock don't they? mine did on the S Pitch. In which case, buy some SINTERED METAL pads and you will have way more bite.

Organic pads are shoot.

Organic pads have a softer compound, & will have a little more power, but wear out quicker, especially in the wet.

Sintered pads are a harder compound & will take a little longer to bed in and don't have quite as much power as organic pads, but last a lot longer in wet conditions.

That’s what the manufactures tell you, the performance between manufactures is very noticeable and you can not generalise on pad material and performance.

smackmypitchupǃ

Define power?

My experience with discs is limited, and I do need to acquire more knowledge here and there. However, my experience so far is that sintered offer more BITE, if by BITE you mean grabbyness. Grabbyness which I have translated to equal power. I have found that sintered feel grabbier, hence I perceive them as more powerful. I equate organic to modulation, if by modulation you mean half-arsed. IME. Always happy to be proved wrong.

omegas

SmackMyPitchUp! wrote:

Define power?

My experience with discs is limited,

I think everyone can already see that ……lol

maximus69

i agree with sheepsteeth, adjust the levers out before you do anything else.

organic are great for a 10 minute ride in wet gritty conditions and when i mean 10mins i mean 10mins!!

sintered pads is all you need unless you want to spend spend spend on organics.

brakes might need bleeding also?

another little trick is to take the wheel out and carefully pull the brake lever a little bit whilst watching the pads. the idea is to bring the pads slightly closer to the discs. you only need to slightly squeeze the lever though.

omegas

Back on topic, article 7 explains the reach adjustment with a pic of the grub screw and lever.

http://www.sram.com/_media/techdocs/95-5013-109-000.pdf