Brake lever pushes through: Help with a disc brake without power
If the braking performance of your brakes is poor, you should take action. Don't put off the repair because it can quickly become dangerous on the trail. Do you have to pull the brake lever of your hydraulic disc brake as far as it will go for it to decelerate at all? There can be three reasons for this problem. In the video, we show you the causes of the problem and instructions on how to fix it quickly.
An important piece of information in advance: A disc brake is a safety-relevant component. If you tinker with it yourself, you should know what you are doing and, above all, work thoroughly. If you don't have sufficient experience in tinkering, it doesn't hurt to go to a bike workshop and seek advice from experts.
This is why the brake lever of the disc brake can be pushed through to the handle
- In most cases, simply the Worn brake pads. If the pads on the backing plates are already heavily worn, the oil in the lever's reservoir is often no longer sufficient to generate enough pressure in the system. The easiest way to recognise whether the brake pads are badly worn is to look at the brake calliper from behind and see that the backing plates are already very close together. How to check the We show you how to change brake pads step by step in this article and video.
- If the brake lever of the disc brake runs empty despite new or still intact brake pads without the disc brake engaging, it is also possible that the Lever width set incorrectly is. On almost all MTB disc brakes, the lever width can be adjusted using a screw (usually a small hexagon socket). On many high-quality brakes, the lever width can even be adjusted without tools. With or without tools: If you turn the screw or the dial to the right, the lever moves away from the handlebars.
- If the brake lever can be pulled through to the handlebars despite intact brake pads and correct lever width adjustment, there is only one remaining source of error: Then the brake lever is in the correct position. Air in the hydraulic system of the disc brake. Because bleeding works differently depending on the manufacturer and brake model, you need special tools for this work and because the brake is a safety-relevant component, we recommend that you visit a specialist workshop in this case. In such a case, of course, it still helps to rule out the first two causes in advance. Another clear sign of air in the brake system is a spongy or constantly shifting pressure point.
Beware of defects in the MTB disc brake!
Two more important notes at the end: A disc brake quickly becomes extremely hot when riding downhill. This means that you should never start working on the disc brake on your mountain bike immediately after a descent, but wait until the brake has cooled down. As the brake on the mountain bike is also a safety-relevant component, you should always check on the flat before the next descent whether the brake really works again after the repair.
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