Hydraulic Disk brake hack or legit maintanance?

pete1336
pete1336 Posts: 86
edited January 2021 in Workshop
Bought my first ever disk brake bike recently, never owned a bike with disks before. On picking it up from LBS, mechanic said to me that the brakes were bled and set up properly. However, on taking it for a wee spin around the estate I noticed there was (what to me seemed) too much lever pull before the brakes touched and stopped wheel. The levers dont actually touch the drops at max pull but they're not far from. Ive already adjusted the lever pull/travel but that hasn't made much of a difference.
I saw this on Youtube the other day and it grabbed my attention for obvious reasons:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=brLF56banjs&list=PLCKLYvwbraYen0P1YbPDPtG1ViDRunacs&index=36

Oz shows this lever travel issue can be easily resolved in this video but having read the comments, several posters claim this is a hack and can make fluid emerge from the reservoir nut in the lever itself, indicating this procedure should be avoided.

So, my question for those knowledgeable on this subject here is this 'Is this a safe procedure or an unsafe hack which should be avoided?'
Thanks all.
Pete

Comments

  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,702
    It's a hack. It's probably not unsafe, but you're overfilling the system and forcing the pistons out. If you have any wear on the pads, you may find that you can't get new ones in when it's time to replace them. You're also far more likely to get disc rub because the pistons can't retract as far as they're designed to, and any tiny bends in the rotor will be a lot more noticeable.

    As long as you can get full travel of the lever and the lever feels firm at the end of the travel, I would leave it as is. If it feels spongy, then the system probably isn't correctly bled.

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