[mellow_sparky]

<sigh>

So the rear piston seal was leaking on my Hayes Carbons. Took the bike into the LBS for a caliper rebuild and bleed and new pads. I picked it up today and the lever throw seems to be veeery long - I recall changing pads and the brakes would grab almost instantaneously - very little lever travel. The pads also don't grab super hard (i.e. I can't lock up the rear wheel).

The dudes at the shop pondered a bit and weren't sure - the mechanic that does this type of work wasn't in. They said take the bike and ride it and bring it back if it's still not right.

Is this normal? should I expect this to "self adjust" or is something probably not right?

 

[JRogers]

It may be that the bleed didn't go right or the mechanic just didn't get enough fluid in. Usually, the self adjusting part only takes a few pumps of the lever to set, so it's probably not like you are going to ride for an hour and it will be back to normal. It probably needs a quick rebleed, which the shop should do for you.

As for the pads, that is normal. New pads (especially Hayes, in my experience) take some time to wear in. If you do some sprints and hard stops and just generally drag the brakes a bit, they should get back to full power fairly quickly. That is, of course, unless the pads are contaminated with oil or something. But it's probably that they just need to wear in.

 

[mellow_sparky]

Thanks for the reply.

I did go out for a ride and nearly killed myself. Took it back to the shop and they acknowledged it needed a rebleed. The "cashier" tried to do it and spilled brake fluid all over my hub and rotor.

So I wound up leaving the bike there for they "real" mechanic to get back in. He called later in the day and said the bike is ready - that it did need a rebleed. Hopefully it's good to go.

 

[demo 9]

Thanks for the reply.

I did go out for a ride and nearly killed myself. Took it back to the shop and they acknowledged it needed a rebleed. The "cashier" tried to do it and spilled brake fluid all over my hub and rotor.

So I wound up leaving the bike there for they "real" mechanic to get back in. He called later in the day and said the bike is ready - that it did need a rebleed. Hopefully it's good to go.

should be, i wouldn't worry too much, a bleed is a fairly easy thing to do.