Bicycle Mechanics - avid disc hard to pull

Hey i recently rode a friends bike and he has the same avid mechanical disc brakes as me, but his levers are so much easier to pull than mine. I am able to use one finger and it feels like a hydralic brake. So needless to say my brakes dont work this well and i cant figure out why. At first i thought it was the cable/housing. i was using the Avid full metal jacket system with regular brake cable. Today i replaced the housing/cable with avid Flak Jacket with the nylon coated cable and im still having the same issue, i have to use atleast 2 fingers pull the lever.

So i reluctanly took the caliper apart( i remember it being a little difficult to get back togather) and to me it seems like the spring is a little on the strong side and may be the reason it is so difficult to apply the brakes. Anyway is there a way that i can get a more hydralic feel from these mechanical disc brakes?

Also i am having the same issue with both front and rear brakes and they are both different years. i think one is 2003 and one is 2002.

Thanks,
Karl

Could be your levers. On my XT levers, I remove both plugs to increase the brake feel on my Avid mechanicals.

Could be your levers. On my XT levers, I remove both plugs to increase the brake feel on my Avid mechanicals.

What do you mean you removed both plugs? can you post a picture/link of what are you describing?
Thanks

I assume you have what Avid calls 'Ball Bearing' brakes. If so, then it appears that there is a tension adjustment on the caliper for the brake return spring. Is your caliper adjusted the same as your friends? It sounds like your brakes are set up with a higher tension than his.

Failing that, check your cables and housings. Perhaps you need to pull the cables and clean/grease them or replace the cables and housings depending on how long and where you've been riding.

I have XT 750 levers with the 3 step Servo Wave for tuning the brake action. Each lever has removable adjustment blocks so you can adjust the sensitivity of the brakes. With no blocks removed, my brakes were very hard to actuate and no modulation. With one block removed, they are perfect. Just a light touch actuates the brakes and the modulation is good also. To follow up with what supcom asked, what type of Avids do you have?

Im pretty sure they are ball bearing mechanical because when i took the caliper apart i saw three ball bearings in there. Also i have avid speed dial 7 levers so i will try playing with the red knob on the end. I will let you know how everything goes. Thanks for the help