How do you adjust the brake lever on Shimano XT bakres?

[mrmojorising8]

Hi,

I have a bike with shimano XT brakes. The front brake lever is quite sensitive -- it requires only a tiny bit of motion before the brakes are fully engaged, and thus has a small full range of motion. The rear brake lever requires more motion before the brakes are fully engaged, and thus has a greater range of motion.

How do I equalize the range of motion between the front and rear -- what exactly do I need to adjust?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, i'm new to disc brakes.

[pelts79]

There is a dial in front of brake lever you turn, clockwise lessens range, counter clockwise increases it.

[nightofthefleming]

You are talking about adjusting when the pads contact the rotor, right? Not the reach of the lever?

If you are asking about pad contact, depending on what year your brakes are, there should be a little screw on the master cylinder that says free stroke underneath it. That is Shimano's adjustment for that. You can try playing with it, but I find that it does next to nothing. Good think that the new XT brakes are amazing and that adjustment isn't needed.

[mrmojorising8]

Do you adjust A or B in the pic below? These seem to be the only easily accessible brake adjustments, what do they each do?

Thanks.

[someoldfart]

A is lever reach. B is the rubber cover over the compression fitting. Not an adjuster. Plus there is a pad contact screw which doesn't seem to be very effective. That screw is just above the pivot in the photo.

[nightofthefleming]

Neither, do you see where it says free stroke right above the top of circle A? There is a screw there that you turn to adjust when the pads contact the rotor. Oh and B is nothing, it's just a cover. B is where you would adjust pad contact on Avid brakes, not Shimano

[budgie]

To equalize the rear, remove the wheel and give the brake lever a quick pump (about half the way to the bars. This will set the pads slightly closer to the rotor. Reinstall the wheel & make sure nothing's rubbing. If you can't center the caliper (by loosening the bolts a smidge) without getting rubbing, the pads have moved too far. Take the wheel out again, and gently pry the pads apart using something plastic like a tire lever. Then start the process over again. If this sounds like a pain in the ass, that's because it is. I wish shimano would develop a useful contact adjust, but once you get the brakes set up right they're great: very trouble-free.

One other thing: if you're finding the front too grabby, you can either pry the pads apart as described above, or adjust the lever to site closer to the bars. It's easier to apply gentle modulation if your fingers are more bent, at least in my experience.

[Gamontur]

This was great advise. Thank you. The problem now is that I went too far squeezing the brakes without the wheel and now I can't spread the pads apart enough and the rotor is rubbing. I did this to both front and back wheels :s

Thanks for your help!

Gabriel

[noapathy]

This was great advise. Thank you. The problem now is that I went too far squeezing the brakes without the wheel and now I can't spread the pads apart enough and the rotor is rubbing. I did this to both front and back wheels :s

Thanks for your help!

Gabriel

Plastic tire lever and gently pry/push the pistons back in and re-adjust till it's to your liking. Done.

[006_007]

For setting the pistons / gap check out this thread in the brake forum - in particular the post from rich (#54 I believe) - He took the time to use a feeler guage - pretty slick!

XT m785 free stroke too long