xt m775 discs Long lever travel.

duncancallum

Hi

I'm new to disc brakes as I have only just got back into the sport and when I was riding last discs where too expensive.

So to cut the waffle I cant seem to get a decent lever from these, they are very long and moveing the free stroke screw does next to sod all. If I throw the reach adjusters in to suit my dumpy fingers the lever pulls back to the bar.

The rear is worse and the other issue is they dont feel as powerfull as they should, I know pad choice is a big issue with them and they are on ceramics which do need some heat in them.

so any tips.

jimothy78

Are they new? If not, excessive lever travel could mean they need bleeding. That would also explain the perceived lack of power.

nicklouse

jimothy78 wrote:

Are they new? If not, excessive lever travel could mean they need bleeding. That would also explain the perceived lack of power.

sorry BOLLOCKS.

bleeding is the LAST thing that should ever be done.

first have you been out on the bike?

the pads need to 1 bed it and the piston position settle.

adjusting the lever reach away from the bars can speed up the piston position settling. then adjust reach to suit.

braking power will come with use as the pads bed in.

duncancallum

Ive been out on it,

after I bled the rear its brought the travel down but its still not as short as I would like it to be.

Im not getting a lot of heat into them so was wondering if dropping the ceramic and going for organic would be best?

Cqc

nicklouse wrote:

jimothy78 wrote:

Are they new? If not, excessive lever travel could mean they need bleeding. That would also explain the perceived lack of power.

sorry ****.

bleeding is the LAST thing that should ever be done.
.

Why?

cooldad

Because most of the time it's not the problem, and frequently people hash up the attempt and add to whatever issue they had in the first place.

Bleeding is only used to get air out of the system, and as the system is sealed, it's virtually impossible to get air in unless something is leaking out, in which case there's a bigger problem somewhere.

Squidginess is a sign of air, not lever travel, sticky pistons, or any of the other random things bleeding gets suggested for.

Rightarmbad

If you can pull the lever to the bar then it is more than likely in need of a bleed.

Having said that, a bad bleed on a shimano is rare out of the box and depending on where the reach is set, the free stroke can indeed feel as though it does very little.
Close into the bar and the free stroke seems to have the most effect, all the way out seems to do sod all.

Things that can effect the feel would be if you have not set up the caliper alignment and the disc is either being twisted or is way off centre.
Both of these would stop the calipers from setting their proper piston positions and could very well mean the lever hitting the bar if you run the reach very close.

So first up align the caliper and check that both pistons move freely and evenly and that the disc is sitting smack in the middle.
If the pistons seem not to be even, remove the pads and push them all the way back into the body.
Then pull the lever and see if they both come out.
If not, hold the one that moves to make the other one come out.
Pull the lever again and bring the pistons a fair way out, clean the sides of the pistons with alcohol and try again.
If this doesn't work, pump the pistons out again and get an earbud and wipe a small amount of shimano fluid around the side of the piston.
Push them all the way back in and test again.
Repeat until it all moves freely.

Push the pistons out again and clean off the fluid you put on there so as not to creep onto the pads.
Push back in, refit pads, align caliper.

If this still does not bring you the lever you want, then it will more than likely be a bleed problem.
The XT brakes, even when not on the resin pads should feel quite powerful out of the box and the lever should feel very solid.

The Rookie

Rightarmbad wrote:

If you can pull the lever to the bar then it is more than likely in need of a bleed.

Or the calliper not centred or the pistons not settled out and returning too far or the pads not bedded in.

See, you are proof of why bleeding should be the last 'bleeding' action.

Rightarmbad

Did you read my whole post?

The Rookie

Yup, but you started with "more than likely", which is wrong, it is much more likely to be one of the other issues than bleeding.