Anyone know anything about disc brakes?

You can adjust the free stroke (the point at which it bites) and reach (how far the lever starts away from your finger) of the lever. Think the free stroke is a hex underneath the bottom of the lever, the reach is on the back.

Thanks both. And throw was exactly the word I needed.

I’ve only ridden it around the block so I’ll do a longer ride and look for those adjustments tomorrow.

If that doesn't solve it, check there's plenty of pad left and that the rotors aren't worn.

If it was brand new out of the box I would be surprised at that!
But do make sure you bed the brakes in if it’s new.

Is it brand new? Irrespective of level throw and bite, you need to bed in the pads properly to get good quality braking.

Find a hill near you, descend down it dragging the brakes, to get some heat into the pads, then brake hard for a few seconds and release. Repeat this 5-10 times.

Ah, yes. My mistake!

Don't drag the brakes to do that, can glaze the pads, just brake hard as you can from as fast as you can repeatedly (and safely), one brake at a time and try not to stop or lock a wheel up, multi storey carparks are good for that, but just using them a bit should work too.

Thanks all, I did exactly that this morning on the first real ride on the (brand new) bike, and it seems to be improving a lot.

Related question … by the end of the ride there was movement in the front wheel where the thru-axle had undone a turn or two. Is this just that I didn’t tighten it enough (there is no torque written anywhere on them) or should I be using loctite?

Probably didn't tighten it enough, most thru axles I've seen have had 10-16Nm on them, maybe start at 10 and see how it goes, or just do it a bit tighter than before.

In addition to this ^ , I’d take a look at the threads on both the axle and the fork, just to be on the safe side. If nothing looks damaged you’re probably fine.

Hey all, is there a forum recommended guide to fitting, cutting hoses and then bleeding SRAM hydro brakes?

I’d like to give it a go myself, I’m guessing I will need a bleed kit and some sort of hose cutting tool?

Hose cutting tool = Stanley knife.

Current SRAM hydro uses Connect Magic (or something along those lines) of which the barb is threaded into the hose with the olive pretty much keeping everything in place.

EPIC bleed kit is what I'll recommend, have used and recommended them in the past and no issues.

Please bear in mind to clean the DOT fluid off any surfaces on the bike which it does come into contact with, nasty stuff.

Honestly - why am I so shit at disc brakes? Changed both sets of pads and now the rear has no bite at all. Why can't it just work?

Connect Magic

Wiggle now sells everything under Lifeline brand FYI. No need to trawl aliexpress.

EZ MTB Pro bleed kit on aliexpress is the one IMO.

Connectamagig?

You need to bed the new pads in. It should be easy with all the hills around you.

Yup!

Yeah - I know that. Lever for rear is pulling right to the bars though - front is as before the change. Will have a bit more of a fiddle, but from previous experience I'll just make it worse. Wierdly my attempts on my MTB have always been more successful.

Is there no power or does the pad not touch the rotor? If the lever throw is too big, then pull the wheel out, squeeze the lever 3-4 times and put the wheel back in. Should move the pads out a bit and reduce the lever throw.

Ta - Yes - too much throw. Will give that a go.

So I’ve just got a Bombtrack Arise that comes with Tektro Miras. The pads move in the callipers though - is this normal?

If you do the “headset set” - brake on, weight on the front, rock back and forth, you get a click/clank exactly as if your head race bearings are loose. But, no, it’s the pads moving a few mil in the callipers.

I had bb7s years ago (and various hope / xt hydros on mountain bikes): can’t recall seeing this before - though I realise miras are at the bottom of the pile

Yeah, it's normal, if you need to check the headset either squeeze the brake really hard, although that doesn't always work, or turn the wheel 90°.

Cool, thanks

Also, if you replace the pads with another brand other than stock Tektro, I've found this problem reduces a lot.

I have a problem with front rotor rub in the front. While riding in the Alps recently, I have noticed that on the descents front rotor starts rubbing, when riding flat or uphill rubbing disappears until another descent when it happens again. Bike is Genesis Equilibrium Disc 931 with QR, but I have 9 mm DT RWS thrubolt. Brake is R785 with finned metallic pad and rotor is RT70. Is the fork too flexy or rotor gets out of straight when it heats up?