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Best Way To Adjust Brakes?


Anjow

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I am busy hating trying to get my HS33s set up right.

I keep finding that one pad is rubbing on the rim. When I pull the lever, one pad engages before the other. Regardless of how many times I try and make it so it doesn't, it keeps happening. I have tried setting them both an equal distance away at least 5 times in the last hour, but it seems when I pull the lever on one STILL manages to engage before the other, as though pulling the lever on moves one of them within the mount, even though they're both done up tight.

How do you adjust your brakes? Am I doing something wrong?

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Shouldn't need to adjust the brakes if the bike is new...

Magura brakes can rarely be set up to make one piston hit before the other, there's too many variables - if one piston is a little tighter fit than the other, spring rate... plus the hose goes to one cylinder first (yes I'm aware the pressure throughout the system should be the same, but on all the HS33s I've seen the cylinder with the main hose attached to it always seems to move first).

As long as both pads are hitting squarely and are the same distance from the rim that's all you can ask for (Y)

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I tried it the way TomR suggested, it seemed fine at first - they were both an equal distance away and neither caught. Then after a few more squeezes of the lever the piston that the hose goes to first starts catching... It seems like I just CAN'T have a decent biting point on the lever without either of the pads catching because whenever I set it up it seems to change within a few minutes!

I set it so that they are both equidistant from the rim, tighten up the mounts, spin the wheel to see if they catch (they don't), squeeze a few times - it's still fine, squeeze a few more times and the pad that the host comes to second has somehow moved in towards the rim and started catching.

Is the first piston the hose goes to called the master and the other one the slave?

Edited by Anjow
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I tried it the way TomR suggested, it seemed fine at first - they were both an equal distance away and neither caught. Then after a few more squeezes of the lever the piston that the hose goes to first starts catching... It seems like I just CAN'T have a decent biting point on the lever without either of the pads catching because whenever I set it up it seems to change within a few minutes!

I set it so that they are both equidistant from the rim, tighten up the mounts, spin the wheel to see if they catch (they don't), squeeze a few times - it's still fine, squeeze a few more times and the pad that the host comes to second has somehow moved in towards the rim and started catching.

Is the first piston the hose goes to called the master and the other one the slave?

Then set it up using no tpa (it wound all the way off) then the pistons aren't able to move back in ect meaning the brake won't keep changeing.

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Maguras ARE a pain in the arse to set up correctly. Listen to Adam, he knows best. It is a bit of an art, and if you've done it a few times you definitely get the knack for it. I wouldn't really recommend the way TomR said, just because if your pads don't retract normally then you'll have problems with the TPA wound in like he said.

If you're really stuck, a very easy way is to take the tyre off and put the wheel back in, that way you can adjust the maguras without the tyre being in the way. Wind the TPA all the way OUT (pads furthest from the rim). Use some 2p coins between the pads and the rim, they're the right sort of thickness. Then adjust it so everything's nice and parallel and do everything up tight.

The good news is that once you set them up properly, if you do the bolts up nice and tight, you shouldn't need to touch them ever again.

P.S. From what you were saying in the other topic about the back brake being quite spongy - have you got the same pads front and rear?

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I don't know what exact pads they are since they just came with the bike on Saturday, but they look the same - all of them are red, I think (colourblind).

I THINK I have got it sorted, at least for now. I did try using something between the pad and the rim, I had a go with both a very thin pedal spanner and some folded card. The pads aren't catching, the bite point isn't too close to the handlebar and it still feels moderately spongy, though I do expect that will diminish when I fit a booster tomorrow. And that means setting the brakes up all over again. Yay.

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I find the way which works for me is to wind the tpa all the way out, then push the cylinders in so that that the pads are firmly on then rim, lightly tighten the bolts (so the cylinder can move with a little pressure) then pull the lever to the position you like most and then let go. Tighten up the bolts and you should have the pads hit both at the same time. (Y)

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My booster arrived today and I fitted it with the help of my wench (god knows how you're meant to do something that fiddly on your own...) - it seems to have had the desired effect, they don't feel as spongy any more (though I haven't ridden it yet).

The only thing now is I think my chain is a bit tight.

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The point was I was having trouble getting it right. When it seems right, after a bit of riding it gets looser.

Chains do stretch a bit when they're new. Not sure you'd notice it this quickly though, so it's probably the wheel moving in the dropout.

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Yeah, I think that is it - the rectangular bits of the tensioner that fit in the slot of the dropout are a really tight fit, so I think the effects of loosening or tightening them don't show until the wheel has taken some impacts.

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Yeah, I think that is it - the rectangular bits of the tensioner that fit in the slot of the dropout are a really tight fit, so I think the effects of loosening or tightening them don't show until the wheel has taken some impacts.

I am having exactly the same problem and it only shows after i have have either dropped a few things or gapped something and when it happens it is a bugger to fix.

Jack

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for magura setups, invest in a long 4mm alen key (Y) (short ones just make it so annoying with the tire in the way of the fingers)

a long key makes it all very easy to bolt/unbolt (the L shape is clear above the tire and the cylinders won't move accidentally during tightening)

Edited by TrashZen
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i just undo one side abit, push it so it touches the rim, then gently pull the lever so its perfectly straight and a t a distance i like. then do it up and do the same with the other side, other than that, just whack the tpa on it

Tis the way i do it too once i've gotten annoyed by them.

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