SRAM Hydro Road Lever Not Really Stopping Me -- Help?

[apple]

My SRAM Hydro lever, rear brake, is not really stopping me. It stops me some, but not if there is any real momentum to the bike. The lever really bumps up against the handlebars if you pull on it. Front brake is fine. I took it into the shop and they flushed and bled the system, and now it is no better. They confirmed no leaks in the system.

I have this system:

https://www.sram.com/sram/road/produ...-brake-control

Any suggestions? Is there an adjustment in the lever for this? It's behaving as you would think if there were air in the system.

As an aside, should one pay for a service that wasn't delivered? Service was to fix my brake, they bled the brakes, costing them time and money, but didn't fix anything. Now I'm out $35 and a little annoyed.

[Dave B]

Fair price to bleed the brakes. You might look at new pads as often times they can become contaminated or if the brakes are used then maybe you need new pads.

[vqdriver]

are the front and rear pads contacting the rotors at roughly the same point in the lever stroke?

check pads first. if contaminated, they don't do much, if anything. easy way to check this is to swap them front and rear. if the problem follows the pads, then there you go. always clean the rotors with alcohol each time you do this. it's a good opportunity to compare pad thicknesses as well. if the pads are contaminated replace them with new. don't try to "decontaminate" them
only alternative in this scenario is different rotor thicknesses. unlikely, but easy enough to check

if there's no air in the system, the reservoirs are full, and the rear is still wimpy, then could be bulging hydro lines. i just went thru this with a set of new xt brakes. the system won't necessarily leak, but a weak spot in the hydraulic line itself will give way to pressure. it was a bear to diagnose, but new lines made it golden.

[sales guy]

Sounds like air in the lines. You can bleed a brake and still easily have air in the lines. I've done it too many times. And it sucks.

That's my guess. And if you take it back to them and they pull the lever and it bottoms out, and they DONT say there is air in the line, leave. Cause they suck and don't care. I'd ask for my cash back but the chances of you getting it is slim. But clearly they don't care about their work OR their customers.

But i bet it's air.

[Ken Robb]

I know about car and motorcycle brakes but those for bicycles are probably similar when there is air in a brake line. On the systems I know pumping the lever or pedal will usually firm up the system and eliminate the extra travel but it's a temporary improvement and only really helps diagnose the problem. Have you pumped the lever 5-8 times to see if it firms up?

[bewheels]

In addition to air in the line, you may have a leak somewhere. And one that may not be able to see.

[DavidC]

I've had this EXACT same thing happen to me. Same brake issue, same shop issue. I even wrote Lennard Zinn about the brake part, and he published it on his VeloNews tech column last month. I bled and bled and bled the right brake, never could get the lever to NOT bottom out when squeezed enough to matter.

http://www.velonews.com/2017/06/bike...storage_440688

What solved the problem for me is what most people have suggested here: new pads. I didn't think it was needed since the pads still had plenty of life. I really can't figure out why that solved the problem, but it did. <<Don't the pistons just come out further as the pads wear?? I'd love insight from folks on this.>> Also, it now gets me wondering if I'm going to have to replace the pads every 2 months....

Same thing for me as well regarding the shop. I paid them $40 to fix the brakes. When I went to pick up the bike, it was identical to when I dropped it off! I ended up not making a deal out of it because they worked with SRAM to warranty the brakes. I figured $40 was worth that, since I didn't buy the bike from them. (To finish the story: When I got the new brakes from SRAM, I put the OLD pads in them. I thought they still had life in them! Then the new brakes didn't work, same as the old ones. Finally I changed out the pads and all is well.)

[ColonelJLloyd]

This is near impossible to reliably diagnosis something like this from afar.

Several things can cause the symptoms you're experience. There are many steps to properly bleeding hydraulic brakes. I only have a little experience at this point, but it's seldom a quick and simple job.

It's quite possible you need to reset/balance the pistons.

[benb]

The shop didn't do you any favors.. they should have replaced the pads while working on it.. what were they thinking doing work on it and then handing it back to you with a bill still not working.

Perhaps try bleeding with the master cylinder removed from the handlebar and the hydraulic line detached from the frame. Put the bike in the work stand and then turn it to get the caliper down near the ground with the line exiting the caliper pointing straight up.. Then hang the cylinder from something high so you get a nice straight line and bleed again. But maybe the shop already did this.

[stien]

Everyone who has disc brakes should have some alcohol on hand to clean everything well. I use IPA at work. Get the rotor and pads nice and clean. Really restores function. If that doesn't help, then look at air issues.

[benb]

Originally Posted by stien

Everyone who has disc brakes should have some alcohol on hand to clean everything well. I use IPA at work. Get the rotor and pads nice and clean. Really restores function. If that doesn't help, then look at air issues.

++ been doing this for years after an engineer at Hayes told me to do so. Alcohol does a great job and it's cheap too! Put it in a spray bottle and use it to flush the calipers regularly, then spray some on a paper towel and clean the rotor on both sides. Unlike brake cleaners and most stuff sold at the bike shop it won't degrade the caliper seals.