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Weak hydraulic disk brakes

Old 07-15-20, 09:58 PM
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tdilf
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Weak hydraulic disk brakes

I just bought my daughter a fairly new hybrid bike (Giant Escape). It comes with faily cheap TRP hydraulic disk brakes. The brakes feel very weak - is there any way of making them feel more like the Shimano XT or Ultegras that I am used to. They don’t feel spongy like they need a bleed necessarily, just weak when engaged. Perhaps it is the non-branded hoses or the pads? What do you think?
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Old 07-16-20, 07:26 AM
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Probably need some bedding in? I have Tektro hydraulics on mine and they work just fine.
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Old 07-16-20, 10:16 AM
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They'll work better after 30 or 50 miles of riding (or just a lot of hard stops to bed the pads). You need that pad material transferred to the brake discs for them to work best. If they're TRP hydraulic brakes, they're the top of Tektro's line (TRP = Tektro Racing Products). TRP stuff is generally pretty good. Even basic Tektro hydraulic brakes should be fine, and able to skid at least the rear tire on dry pavement.
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Old 07-16-20, 10:21 AM
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Question

Weak squeezing the levers stopped or weak in function, riding, in stopping the bike from some rate of speed?
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Old 07-16-20, 12:07 PM
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I agree with Hokiefyd, if they don't feel spongy needing to be burped, then they just need to bed in.

BUT, I'm not sure how comparable these are to the Shimano XT or Ultegra brakes you are comparing them. It's possible they just have a different feel and may not brake as well as those much higher priced brakes do.
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Old 07-16-20, 02:09 PM
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Try larger diameter rotors and space the brakes out to accommodate the larger rotors.
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Old 07-16-20, 05:49 PM
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It's brand new, and still needs to be broken in.... Like others said, miles and stops will cure that.
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Old 07-16-20, 05:54 PM
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If you want to bed them in quickly, squeeze the front one while pedaling on level ground until you grind to a stop. Do the same with the rear. You are done. TRP is Tektro's higher end. They are reasonable brakes. I have a set of TRP road brakes, and my kid has a set of the mountain ones. He likes his better than XT. I think mine are about 80% as good as Ultegra brakes (which have XT calipers). They shouldn't suck. If they still do, they might need to be bled, in which case make the shop do it.
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Old 07-16-20, 09:14 PM
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Thanks guys. This is a year old, used, bike so i am thinking the brakes are bedded in. However this bike was stored in a shed and a few of the steel bolts had a light dusting of rust including the rotors. I wonder if some rust transferred to the pads. I should try taking the pads out and thoroughly cleaning them along with the rotors. If they need to be bled, I can do that assuming I can use a shimano bleed kit. The only reason I called the brakes cheap was the levers feel like very thin aluminum or plastic and have some play at the lever pivot point.
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Old 07-17-20, 08:01 AM
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I would thoroughly clean the rotor surfaces with alcohol, and lightly sand them if rust is present. I'd also take the pads out and scuff them with sand paper as well. I don't think a Shimano bleed kit (with the funnel) fits on Tektro/TRP levers. Tektro seems to use the dual syringe method. I prefer Shimano brakes with the funnel -- lever bleeds are very easy with the funnel and very effective as well.
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