Rival HRD excessive lever travel
01-20-23, 05:11 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Rival HRD excessive lever travel
I have a road bike with Rival 22 hydraulic brakes with mechanical shifter. They brake decently enough, but I've been having issues with them since new (who could guess it being SRAM brakes?). The bike, and it's brakes, are 3 years old and have been ridden for 11.000km.
The problem is that after a bleed or pad replacement, they start out well, but develop too much lever throw after a while, to the point that the shift lever slightly rubs the bar tape when braking hard, with the reach adjustment already being at the furthest position from the bar (so it's effectively useless). After it reaches that point, it won't go worse, but it's really uncomfortable. Strangely enough, If I press the lever twice in quick succession, the second brake application seems to have less travel than the first one. However, if I wait for 5 seconds between brake applications, the excessive travel is there again.
The master cylinder piston is not sticking (I've disassembled it). Pistons on the caliper are also not sticking. I've bled them a lot of times in the last couple of years to no avail. They move out instantaneously when pressing the lever, and also retract instantaneously when releasing it. Also there's zero play in the brake lever, which seems to be relatively common with this brakes and it indicates a sticking master cylinder piston. If I bleed them, the brake returns to a more normal feel for a while, but I usually find there's no air in them. It's simply like they're compensating for pad wear too late on the lever travel.
I've found a couple of temporary solutions:
- First one is to remove the wheel, press the lever a couple of times, and reinstall it. After that, lever travel becomes reasonable for a while, until the pads wear down and, obviously, the excessive travel reappears. While this kind of works, it has several drawbacks: it's a PITA, it's only a temporary fix that doesn't really solve the problem, and it leaves the pads so close to the rotor that they rub unless I mess with caliper alignment for half an hour.
- The second solution is to remove the wheel, separate the pads on the caliper using a tire lever, reinstall the wheel, and press the lever several times until travel becomes normal.
The end result of both fixes is, obviously, the same: the problem eventually reappears. I think I have never been able to wear a couple of pads without having to mess with the brake at least three or four times.
I have a friend with a bike that has Force AXS brakes and, after a few months, his lever seems to also hit the bars when braking hard, so at least it seems I'm not alone. Is there something that can be done beyond replacing the brifters and drivetrain with another brand, which is, obviously, too expensive?
The problem is that after a bleed or pad replacement, they start out well, but develop too much lever throw after a while, to the point that the shift lever slightly rubs the bar tape when braking hard, with the reach adjustment already being at the furthest position from the bar (so it's effectively useless). After it reaches that point, it won't go worse, but it's really uncomfortable. Strangely enough, If I press the lever twice in quick succession, the second brake application seems to have less travel than the first one. However, if I wait for 5 seconds between brake applications, the excessive travel is there again.
The master cylinder piston is not sticking (I've disassembled it). Pistons on the caliper are also not sticking. I've bled them a lot of times in the last couple of years to no avail. They move out instantaneously when pressing the lever, and also retract instantaneously when releasing it. Also there's zero play in the brake lever, which seems to be relatively common with this brakes and it indicates a sticking master cylinder piston. If I bleed them, the brake returns to a more normal feel for a while, but I usually find there's no air in them. It's simply like they're compensating for pad wear too late on the lever travel.
I've found a couple of temporary solutions:
- First one is to remove the wheel, press the lever a couple of times, and reinstall it. After that, lever travel becomes reasonable for a while, until the pads wear down and, obviously, the excessive travel reappears. While this kind of works, it has several drawbacks: it's a PITA, it's only a temporary fix that doesn't really solve the problem, and it leaves the pads so close to the rotor that they rub unless I mess with caliper alignment for half an hour.
- The second solution is to remove the wheel, separate the pads on the caliper using a tire lever, reinstall the wheel, and press the lever several times until travel becomes normal.
The end result of both fixes is, obviously, the same: the problem eventually reappears. I think I have never been able to wear a couple of pads without having to mess with the brake at least three or four times.
I have a friend with a bike that has Force AXS brakes and, after a few months, his lever seems to also hit the bars when braking hard, so at least it seems I'm not alone. Is there something that can be done beyond replacing the brifters and drivetrain with another brand, which is, obviously, too expensive?
