Spongey brakes

[Ootini]

Hi

The brakes, especially the front, on my XBow feel quite "spongey" if that's a real descriptive term. I have Shimano Tiagra levers attached to mini v-brakes (I'm not too sure of the specific model, sorry). They stop me OK, but if I apply a decent amount of pressure I can get the levers to touch the bars, which is a bit disconcerting as it feels like the cables are stretching. Is this just my imagination and nothing to worry about? as I say they appear to be effective.
On my old MTB I could get the lever about 75% of the way through it's travel and it would all tighten up and go no further, which felt much more "robust" and less "spongey".
I've taken a look at the cable and tightening it up but there seems to be no way to do any fine tuning, unless I'm missing something.

 

[Globalti]

With most brakes it will be possible to squeeze the lever hard enough to distort various components including crushing the rim slightly. In use, that amount of squeeze would have locked the wheel solid so as long as the brakes work, stop worrying. Just make sure the brakes are set close to the rim and the blocks are contacting the rim square on and in line with the braking surface and haven't worn themselves into an L shape and dropped off the braking surface..

 

[ScotiaLass]

That's a good question!
The brakes on my new bike (hydraulic disc) feel so much different to the disc brakes on my other MTB. They feel 'softer' and there's more travel...is that normal on hydraulic brakes?
PS Sorry for hijacking your thread @Ootini !

 

[Ootini]

With most brakes it will be possible to squeeze the lever hard enough to distort various components including crushing the rim slightly. In use, that amount of squeeze would have locked the wheel solid so as long as the brakes work, stop worrying. Just make sure the brakes are set close to the rim and the blocks are contacting the rim square on and in line with the braking surface and haven't worn themselves into an L shape and dropped off the braking surface..

Hi, thanks for the response. I think the blocks are fine, they set close to the rim and the whole bike is only a few weeks old, about 40-50 miles on it so far. I guess I'm just being a bit heavy handed(fingered) and paranoid about the feel of them. Thanks again.

 

[Ootini]

That's a good question!
The brakes on my new bike (hydraulic disc) feel so much different to the disc brakes on my other MTB. They feel 'softer' and there's more travel...is that normal on hydraulic brakes?
PS Sorry for hijacking your thread @Ootini !

Hijack away

 

[Globalti]

That's a good question!
The brakes on my new bike (hydraulic disc) feel so much different to the disc brakes on my other MTB. They feel 'softer' and there's more travel...is that normal on hydraulic brakes?
PS Sorry for hijacking your thread @Ootini !

Different makes of hydraulic disc brake will have a different feel and characteristics. If the piston in the master cylinder is thinner it will need longer travel to pump the same amount of fluid to the slave cylinder so will feel more squeezy. It's a little like the difference between a fat mountain bike track pump where you get a shortish stroke with a big volume at low pressure and a skinny road bike pump where you get a longish stroke with less volume but more pressure.

 

[PpPete]

Shimano Tiagra levers attached to mini v-brakes

That, I suspect, is the OP's problem.
Tiagra levers are optimised for dual-pivot brakes. They don't pull enough cable for V brakes. Mini-V are *supposed* to be OK with the shorter cable pull but are not great.
Big wide cyclo-cross style cantilever brakes are a little more fiddly to set up, but when equipped with decent pads, give phenomenal stopping power with levers designed for dual-pivots. Tektro 720 are a popular recommendation.

 

[Deleted member 22722]

That, I suspect, is the OP's problem.
Tiagra levers are optimised for dual-pivot brakes. They don't pull enough cable for V brakes. Mini-V are *supposed* to be OK with the shorter cable pull but are not great.
Big wide cyclo-cross style cantilever brakes are a little more fiddly to set up, but when equipped with decent pads, give phenomenal stopping power with levers designed for dual-pivots. Tektro 720 are a popular recommendation.

It depends on the type of Mini-V's. I have a pair of TRP CX-9 Mini V calipers on my cross bike and these are fully compatible with Shimano STI's out of the box.

In my experience of using these brakes with different types of pads, some feel spongier than others as the OP has found out even though they all stop the bike really well. It may be worth the OP trying some pads with a harder compound.

 

[Ootini]

I'll check the exact model on the brakes later. As I said they actual work fine, I can slam on and stop very well but they just "feel" odd. Maybe it's just something I need to get used to and stop being such a ham fisted muppet.

 

[PpPete]

Yes - but you shouldn't need to have the levers all the way back to the bars before they stop you.

 

[Ootini]

Sorry, the brakes will actually stop the bike around 75% of the way through the travel, but I can carry on squeezing until they touch the bars, which is kinda freaking me out. They don't "lock" so to speak, the way my MTB brakes do. They clamp the wheel and go no further, the Tiagra STIs will go all the way back even after clamping the wheel solid in place.