Brake Help - D Brakes on Oracle

General
1

Okay I’ve been fiddling with the brakes for awhile. The issue is that when I got them (not too long ago) the braking power was too hard, as soon as I pull on the brake lever, it would completely stop the wheel and I really didn’t want that because it could throw me off if I ever use it.

So I was trying to make it so that maybe the brakes can just slow me down gradually and assist the braking I’m doing with my foot (for steep hills and such). I tried unscrewing some stuff and it doesn’t seem to do anything until I accidentally unscrewed the (forgot what it’s called…where the brake line from the brake lever meets the disc brake itself) and some oil came gushing out. I quickly tightened it again to prevent more oil from coming out. Now, I don’t know why, but when I pull the brake lever all the way (whereas before I would just pull it a little and it would stop the wheel completely), it now only sorta slows the wheel down. I’d be happier of I knew that it was on purpose, but it was on accident and I tried poking around there, but it did nothing.

Tried googling and youtubing and it wasn’t clear enough or the info jumbled up so a little help.

There’s like a star shaped screw (torx screw) but I don’t have one that big so I can’t try it but wanted to make sure if that’s it before buying something to open it up.

I’m not bike/unicycle savvy like you guys.

2

You have a hydraulic brake, you lost some fluid when you opened it up, you might have also introduced some air to the system.

Hydraulic brakes work by pushing oil or other liquid from the lever to the calliper pushing on the pads.

Either you lost so much oil that the brakes won’t engage completely or there is now an air bubble in the system which is much more compressible than the oil dramatically reducing the brakes power.

3

So what do I do about it?

And about the other question of adjusting the power of the brakes, how?

4

You’re brake will need to bled. When you unscrewed the line, air got in the system and is compressible unlike the oil. There are some good bleeding tutorials out there, but it may be something you want your LBS to do. You may also need to top off your brake fluid once/while bleeding.

As far as braking power, I’m not sure if there’s anyway to dial that in with that set up other than different rotor or pads. I run a TRP and have no issues with modulation.

5

I just want to say thanks for the advice, have a nice Thanksgiving.