Sram Force hydro brakes
11-27-18, 09:36 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Sram Force hydro brakes
Hi all,
I’ve recently built up a Cutthroat with Force hydro brakes. I’ve bled them exactly over the Sram video and have had moderate success so far.
I’d like to be able to have the brakes engage sooner. Now I need about half the lever travel to get them to engage. On my wife’s Rivial setup which is identical, these engages right away. I know I can adjust the screw under the brake lever, but that moves the whole lever further from the bars. Any other ideas? Thanks
I’ve recently built up a Cutthroat with Force hydro brakes. I’ve bled them exactly over the Sram video and have had moderate success so far.
I’d like to be able to have the brakes engage sooner. Now I need about half the lever travel to get them to engage. On my wife’s Rivial setup which is identical, these engages right away. I know I can adjust the screw under the brake lever, but that moves the whole lever further from the bars. Any other ideas? Thanks
11-29-18, 01:54 PM
#2
Senior Member
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do the pistons start moving as soon as you pull the lever? Is the caliper centered on the rotor? Does it feel spongy even after the pads start to contact?
12-05-18, 11:15 AM
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
redlude97,
Thanks for the reply. I need to pull the levers in about 1/2" before the pistons start engaging. I feel a little resistance on the first 1/2" of pull and it feels like it is starting to work. This is consistent with both the front and rear. The pads are biting in great to the discs, and they stop good. No sponginess whatsoever. The caliper is centered on the rotor very good, and the pads pull in centered on it for the front and rear.
Any other suggestions out there to get these to engage with less lever throw?
Thanks for the reply. I need to pull the levers in about 1/2" before the pistons start engaging. I feel a little resistance on the first 1/2" of pull and it feels like it is starting to work. This is consistent with both the front and rear. The pads are biting in great to the discs, and they stop good. No sponginess whatsoever. The caliper is centered on the rotor very good, and the pads pull in centered on it for the front and rear.
Any other suggestions out there to get these to engage with less lever throw?
12-05-18, 01:57 PM
#4
Banned
Call SRAM office on the telephone, ask them.. ?
Never owned that specific brake
Generic.. auto pad wear adjustment kicks in when you pull the lever..
if you pull the lever with the wheel out, the caliper fills in the gap..
Feeling Lucky?
try that ..so Maybe,
disc barely fits in the space between the pads.
risk is you may not get the wheel back in at all .. and have to reset the pistons..
On my car when I replaced the disc pads,
I used a big screwdriver as a prybar.. pushed the pistons apart.
then put the new , thicker, pads in..
(I've only personally recently owned a set of TRP Hy Rd Calipers ,
inserting a Plastic Sharpie spreads those pistons, with pads removed..)
(.. and Magura Hydraulic Rim brakes. 10 years on those)
[Much more Life-riding-time spent on cable-rim brakes]
...
Never owned that specific brake
Generic.. auto pad wear adjustment kicks in when you pull the lever..
if you pull the lever with the wheel out, the caliper fills in the gap..
Feeling Lucky?
try that ..so Maybe,disc barely fits in the space between the pads.
risk is you may not get the wheel back in at all .. and have to reset the pistons..
On my car when I replaced the disc pads,
I used a big screwdriver as a prybar.. pushed the pistons apart.
then put the new , thicker, pads in..
(I've only personally recently owned a set of TRP Hy Rd Calipers ,
inserting a Plastic Sharpie spreads those pistons, with pads removed..)
(.. and Magura Hydraulic Rim brakes. 10 years on those)
[Much more Life-riding-time spent on cable-rim brakes]
...
Last edited by fietsbob; 12-05-18 at 02:19 PM.
12-05-18, 04:07 PM
#5
Senior Member
Hi all,
I’ve recently built up a Cutthroat with Force hydro brakes. I’ve bled them exactly over the Sram video and have had moderate success so far.
I’d like to be able to have the brakes engage sooner. Now I need about half the lever travel to get them to engage. On my wife’s Rivial setup which is identical, these engages right away. I know I can adjust the screw under the brake lever, but that moves the whole lever further from the bars. Any other ideas? Thanks
I’ve recently built up a Cutthroat with Force hydro brakes. I’ve bled them exactly over the Sram video and have had moderate success so far.
I’d like to be able to have the brakes engage sooner. Now I need about half the lever travel to get them to engage. On my wife’s Rivial setup which is identical, these engages right away. I know I can adjust the screw under the brake lever, but that moves the whole lever further from the bars. Any other ideas? Thanks
I’m not a SRAM expert but for road levers, I think only the newer Red eTap levers have contact point adjustment.
On my Shimano ST-R8070 levers, I just decided to get used to it. Those levers do have a free stroke adjustment, but my understanding is that they come from the factory set to the earliest possible bite point anyway, so that’s as good as it gets. Once the pads are broken in a bit though, there is a ton of stopping power and good modulation, so I’ve never had a problem or felt like I was about to bottom out the levers on a steep hill, and I weigh 220lb. Now when I ride my other bikes with mechanical brakes, the bite point feels too early.
12-09-18, 10:58 PM
#6
Senior Member
I recently set up two bikes with SRAM force 1, and I’ve got a couple of bikes in my maintenance stable that are Shimano hydros. From what you’ve said here, I’m guessing two possibilities:
1. It’s normal.
I don’t know how much you’ve ridden full hydraulic brakes, but compared to rim brakes, they just don’t bite as early – it’s the nature of the hydraulic piston technology. I realize you say your wife has Rival hydros and they bite sooner, but if you are getting a very solid, stiff lever at only halfway down to the bars, that sounds like a good result with hydraulic road brakes.
2. You’ve not quite bled them fully.
You say you followed the SRAM video. Did you also read the SRAM Force 1 hydro manual? I ask because the steps to bleed these brakes with the syringes is a bit involved, with a dozen or more steps. And at each point of the way if you make a small mistake you can loose pressure in the system. Steps 4, 5, 7, and 9-11 all make for a much stiffer lever that bites sooner, and no following any of those closely will leave more air in the system.
The reason I give those answers is because I have found the SRAM Force 1 hydraulic brakes to bite MUCH sooner than my Shimano’s.The syringe bleeding system allows you to get EVERY tiny air bubble pulled out of the system from both ends, and tha leads to a really stiff and quick-biting lever. On my bikes, the SRAM Force 1 hydros bite a LOT sooner than any of the Shimanos.
One other note: as far as I can tell, there’s no free stroke adjustment on the SRAM Force 1, just reach adjustment for both the brake lever and (on the right lever) the shifter paddle.
1. It’s normal.
I don’t know how much you’ve ridden full hydraulic brakes, but compared to rim brakes, they just don’t bite as early – it’s the nature of the hydraulic piston technology. I realize you say your wife has Rival hydros and they bite sooner, but if you are getting a very solid, stiff lever at only halfway down to the bars, that sounds like a good result with hydraulic road brakes.
2. You’ve not quite bled them fully.
You say you followed the SRAM video. Did you also read the SRAM Force 1 hydro manual? I ask because the steps to bleed these brakes with the syringes is a bit involved, with a dozen or more steps. And at each point of the way if you make a small mistake you can loose pressure in the system. Steps 4, 5, 7, and 9-11 all make for a much stiffer lever that bites sooner, and no following any of those closely will leave more air in the system.
The reason I give those answers is because I have found the SRAM Force 1 hydraulic brakes to bite MUCH sooner than my Shimano’s.The syringe bleeding system allows you to get EVERY tiny air bubble pulled out of the system from both ends, and tha leads to a really stiff and quick-biting lever. On my bikes, the SRAM Force 1 hydros bite a LOT sooner than any of the Shimanos.
One other note: as far as I can tell, there’s no free stroke adjustment on the SRAM Force 1, just reach adjustment for both the brake lever and (on the right lever) the shifter paddle.
02-03-22, 04:03 PM
#7
Member
Hi all,
I’ve recently built up a Cutthroat with Force hydro brakes. I’ve bled them exactly over the Sram video and have had moderate success so far.
I’d like to be able to have the brakes engage sooner. Now I need about half the lever travel to get them to engage. On my wife’s Rivial setup which is identical, these engages right away. I know I can adjust the screw under the brake lever, but that moves the whole lever further from the bars. Any other ideas? Thanks
I’ve recently built up a Cutthroat with Force hydro brakes. I’ve bled them exactly over the Sram video and have had moderate success so far.
I’d like to be able to have the brakes engage sooner. Now I need about half the lever travel to get them to engage. On my wife’s Rivial setup which is identical, these engages right away. I know I can adjust the screw under the brake lever, but that moves the whole lever further from the bars. Any other ideas? Thanks
My levers had some free play at the beginning of the stroke, and in order for me to reach the levers in the drops, I would bottom out the lever.
Turns out it was an issue with the master cylinder, and a known problem with SRAM Hydro brakes where the cylinder runs dry, doesn't slide smoothly, and in turn reutrn to where it should, which causes excessive free stroke.
The fix is here. SRAM does now sell the master cylinder as a separate part (probably because they know this is a design flaw with their shifters). Would essentially need to do this process every time you bleed your brakes, which admittedly shouldn't be more than on an annual basis if you ride fairly regularly.
