Shimano hydraulic disc brakes / Free stroke

[Arthur Blackpudding]

Hi All,

I have a new bike with Ultegra Di2 groupset and hydraulic disc brakes. The only issue I have with it as that there is a lot of free stroke before the brakes engage, I have to pull them about half way to the handles before I can feel the brakes working.
I'd prefer it they were a lot more sensitive and I can feel the brakes working straight away with just a slight touch. On my other bike with rim brakes obviously this is easy to adjust by just tightening the cable, but I'm not sure what to do here.

I've tried adjusting the reach and free stroke screws within the shifter, but the difference is minimal. Is there a way to make the brakes engage with minimal free stroke? Or is that just what hydraulic brakes are like?

 

[Brandane]

Hi All,

I have a new bike with Ultegra Di2 groupset and hydraulic disc brakes. The only issue I have with it as that there is a lot of free stroke before the brakes engage, I have to pull them about half way to the handles before I can feel the brakes working.
I'd prefer it they were a lot more sensitive and I can feel the brakes working straight away with just a slight touch. On my other bike with rim brakes obviously this is easy to adjust by just tightening the cable, but I'm not sure what to do here.

I've tried adjusting the reach and free stroke screws within the shifter, but the difference is minimal. Is there a way to make the brakes engage with minimal free stroke? Or is that just what hydraulic brakes are like?

The only bike I have with hydraulic disc brakes is a Trek MTB, and bleeding them to firm up the "feel" (by eliminating air from the system) is straightforward enough, but when it comes to hydraulic brifters I really have no clue as to whether or not going down the route of bleeding would be effective, or even possible as a DIY job. However it is the only solution I can think of and may well be totally wrong!

Edit.... When you say "new" bike; just how new is it? Have you done enough miles for the disc pads to "bed in"? The brakes will feel a bit spongey until the pads have bedded in - but that shouldn't take too long. Maybe about 50 miles or so in my experience. Check the bike manual, as sometimes they recommend a set procedure for bedding in brakes.

 

[Sea of vapours]

My Ultegra hydraulics engage very rapidly; certainly far more so than you're describing. That's with the free stroke adjustment set to minimise free stroke and the reach adjustment also set to minimise reach. It does sound as if you could be lacking brake fluid and that bleeding them could well be the next thing to try; not least because there is little else to try.

 

[Arthur Blackpudding]

Thanks both for your replies. The bike is only 2 months old. Have probably done around 600km on it so far so from what you're saying @Brandane that should be enough for them to bed in.

I think I'll just take it to the local bike shop and ask them to bleed the brakes see if it has any effect. Is it common for new hydraulic brakes to need bleeding?

 

[Big John]

Firstly, I'm no expert with hydraulic brakes. I've got a number of bikes but only one with hydraulic disk brakes and it's not a road bike. However, I've had the bike for a few years now and never had to bleed the brakes. The brakes were good on day one and apart from replacing pads they've been good ever since. If I were you I'd resort to YouTube and get yourself a bleeding kit and some fluid or if you're not mechanically minded drop it into your lbs. It shouldn't cost much and at the end of it those brakes will stop you on a sixpence without too much play at the lever. Good luck 👍

 

[vickster]

Has it had it's ~6 week after purchase check? If not and you bought from a decent LBS, you really shouldn't have to pay for adjustment

 

[fossyant]

Brakes aren't hard to bleed. Only got MTB's but both the SRAM and Shimano brakes have about half free travel, just like I set my cable road bikes and other cable bikes. If both levers operate like that then I'd say they are fine.

Wait to see what other Ultegra hydro users say before dashing off to the shop.

 

[Kajjal]

Sometimes new bikes come with either too much or too little fluid in the brakes. Too much means little pad to disc clearance with lots of rubbing and too little has the symptoms you are experiencing. Epic bleed solutions do kits for bleeding or topping up brake fluid, have a read of the guides on the website they are very informative in general. This should not be an issue and I would take a new bike to the shop for them to sort out.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

My Ultegra hydraulics engage very rapidly; certainly far more so than you're describing. That's with the free stroke adjustment set to minimise free stroke and the reach adjustment also set to minimise reach. It does sound as if you could be lacking brake fluid and that bleeding them could well be the next thing to try; not least because there is little else to try.

Same here although I have poverty 105's.

Can't abide lots if lever movement.

 

[keithmac]

It doesn't sound right.

I've seen time and time again on Motorcycles where people have adjusted the pedal position but not the master cylinder rod, this means the master cylinder cannot self bleed or vent properly.

You should have a tiny amount of play before the lever pushes the master cylinder piston, if that has been adjusted out the m/c cannot operate correctly.

It seems at this point people keep winding the adjuster in to get a better lever (which sounds plausible) but in reality they are just making it worse.

I'd let a good LBS have a look and explaine what's what (same as I do), had a bike in on Friday with this exact problem.

On my MTB with Shimano hydraulics they are very firm, probably 5mm lever movement before braking starts.

I've actually bled my rear Shimano caliper that was bone dry by "burping" the air through the reservoir (same as I do on the Motorcycles), this proves the MC is working correctly.

One other thing to check is make sure as you apply the brake the disk isn't moving/ deflecting. If it is this will take a big chunk of lever throw to account for it (the disk should remain stationary).

It's possible the mechanic has cocked the adjustment up at a PDI to get a better lever and it's gone south from there?.

 

[g4drive]

Hi All,

I have a new bike with Ultegra Di2 groupset and hydraulic disc brakes. The only issue I have with it as that there is a lot of free stroke before the brakes engage, I have to pull them about half way to the handles before I can feel the brakes working.
I'd prefer it they were a lot more sensitive and I can feel the brakes working straight away with just a slight touch. On my other bike with rim brakes obviously this is easy to adjust by just tightening the cable, but I'm not sure what to do here.

I've tried adjusting the reach and free stroke screws within the shifter, but the difference is minimal. Is there a way to make the brakes engage with minimal free stroke? Or is that just what hydraulic brakes are like?

I had the same issue ... it turned out that I hadn't got all the air out of the brakes when I installed them. The brakes were working well, just a little too much travel and I could not adjust it out. I bled the brakes, adjusted the free movement screw all the way and then the reach screw to put the levers back to where they were and now all is good. If you haven't bled brakes before it really is very easy. Buy a bleed kit and watch a YouTube video. If that's not your thing then drop it by the LBS.