Squishy breaks

lumberjack21

How do everyone,

So I bought a used marin pine 1 mtb a few weeks back. Iv been riding it and iv noticed the breaks don't feel right. I can pull the levers almost to the bar and they feel like they've lost power.

Could this be the pads or do they require bleeding? Or any other things?

Thank you,

Sam

First.Aspect

Are squishy breaks a perk of working from home?

JBA

It could be either or both.
It's an easy, quick job to remove the brake pads and check them for wear.
If they are ok then a bleed is the next thing to try.

steve_sordy

If you pump the levers, does the braking power return for a very short while? If so then you have air in the system. If not it is something else.

It is odd that both front and rear have gone at the same time. Maybe the pads are contaminated? Maybe the previous owner failed to bed the brake pads in properly.

The "disco inferno" will fix both the above problems.
Remove one set of pads. Then one pad at a time, spray or pour a little iso-propyl alcohol (or brake cleaner) onto the pads than put a blowlamp onto them. Keep at it with the blowlamp until the edges of the pad start to glow red. at about this time you should see black smoke as the contaminants burn off, then flame. Leave the pads to cool. Lay some medium grit sandpaper onto a flat surface and then firmly rub the pad over it in a circular manner for 10 seconds or so. You may have to pause and blow off the black dust. Once you have two pads, refit. Repeat for the other set.

Wipe over the discs, both sides with the IPA or brake cleaner. Then bed in the brakes (check YouTube for the process).