spirit4earth

Hi everyone, I have a Schwinn Super Sport DBX with these brakes, and I have the same (mtn) brakes on my mountain bike. They feel really mushy on the Schwinn. Is this because of the road levers? Is there anything other than the obvious (adjusting pads) to make them feel strong and reliable? Thanks! spirit4earth

Old School

Hmm, "mushy" feel with mechanical discs sounds more like cable stretch or adjustment, not a problem with the levers.

i_r_beej

I have a set on my MTB with a drop bar and Cane Creek SCR aero levers. No mushiness. They aren't quite as solid as the hydraulic brakes that they replaced.

I'm using Avid Flak Jacket cables.

Are your cables new? Are they in good condition?

operator

You need a travel agent to use road levers with mtn disc brakes.

BikeWise1

+1.

You won't believe the difference.

phidauex

Spirit4earth, you don't really make it clear whether or not your Schwinn's Avids are the ROAD or MTN version. It says on the side of the caliper, if you aren't sure.

If it is the road version, then ignore the levers problem. If it is the mountain version, then operator is right, you'll need a "travel agent" to use them with road levers.

If I were you, I'd look up the setup instructions for the Avids, and go through the setup from the beginning, just to make sure it was done right. Also, check for any sharp cable housing bends, or damaged housing that could be causing drag.

-Sam

mtnbiker4791

Most manufacturers put regular cheap brake cable housing on the road disc brakes which compress quite a bit. Switching out to something like avid flack jacket housing or anothr compresionless housing made for brakes makes a big difference. Road disc brakes need all the mechanicle advantage you can give them so pay the extra for the top quality cables and you wont regret it.

spirit4earth

The Avids are definitely the "road" version. They just don;t seem to modulate as well as the ones on my mtn bike. When I get the money, I'll upgrade the cables and see if that helps.

What about truing the disc itself? Is that hard (or risky)? Thank you!

spirit4earth

Do you have any experience with truing the rotor on the Avid mechanicals? Thanks!

i_r_beej

You'd need to true the rotor if it's wobbling so badly that it affects braking. It won't make your brakes feel mushy.

jimmythefly

I've found that in-line barrel adjusters help to get the Avid road discs adjusted well. They are very sensitive to pad position, and the closer you can set the pads to the rotor the better. They still feel a bit more squishy than my mountain bike ones, I think that the cable pull ratio for the road ones isn't worked out as well as it could be. That's been my experience, I've got around 4500 miles on them. When you have to replace your pads try the organics. They seem to provide better stopping power and much less noise in the wet.

jimmythefly

PS make sure your cable housing is very tight against your bars under the bar tape -squeezing hard on the brakes makes this length of housing want to straighten out, which can feel mushy. Using tight wraps of electrical tape at multiple points is a good idea.

Ray Dockrey

Also make sure that the caliper is aligned correctly. If not the pads won't hit the rotor square and you will get the mushy feel as they try to align flat with the rotor. I hope this makes sense. I think on most calipers you loosen the caliper bolts, squeeze the lever so the pads contact the rotor, hold the lever and tighten the bolts up.

operator

Yeah. It's akin to having excessive toe-in on v-brakes. Same feeling - very mushy.

spirit4earth

Thanks everyone! I do think part of the problem is slightly warped rotors, which affect how close I can get the pads. How can I true the rotors??

jimmythefly

A large crescent wrench can be used to bend the rotor. It's easy to over-do it, go slow and in small steps. Hold a white peice of paper or 3x5 card behind the rotor as you look at it and the pads, this helps to see the gap you're working with.

Metaluna

The user's manual for my BB7 Road brakes warns against using the barrel adjuster to tune the pad position. They want you to use it just to take up excess cable slack so there's no play in the lever. By the book, you're supposed to use the pad adjuster knobs exclusively to change the pad position. But like you, I found that I had to use the adjusters in combination with the knobs to get good braking. I agree that it certainly seems like they have the cable pull ratio off a bit, at least for my Shimano brake levers.

ch9862

I have ROAD version on my bike (front brake only), but no experience with any other disc brakes. Feels fine to me, I don't perceive any mushiness - but as I said, I only have rim brakes to compare them to. I'm using it with Shimano road flat bar lever.

maddmaxx 

The typical job of running the housing on a road bike under the tape allows for a lot of slop. Try to tape the housing very tightly against the bar and before the bar tape is put on do a really hard pull test after the brakes are hooked up. If the housing flexes coming around the bend in the bar, then it isn't tight enough.

Mechanical control runs have always been alergic to many turns and twists and the average road drop bar routing is one big turn and twist. When you combine this with disk brakes that are subject to pad clearance issues problems arise. Use high grade housing (lined) keep it tight and the brakes will work better.

spirit4earth

i'll try the wrench and the index card when i get a chance. i've actually got my bikes entangled in the chaos of trying to move back to seattle! i think i'll either switch to flat bars, or try to sell the bike there.

spirit4earth

would i be able to switch to a flat bar and still use the 105 derailleur that's on the bike?