I have read about this previously, how do you do it?

I have a pair of Mono Minis and the lever feel is not great even after a bleed, I remember some technique where you tie the levers back overnight and then just top up the reservoir, is it really that easy?

keppoch

Tieing back the levers opens the ports in the master cylinder and allows any bubbles in the lines to escape thru the master cylinder. It is no substitute for proper bleeding but might allow a tiny bubble or two in the lines to come out

Hopes always have a soft lever feel compared to other brakes

lever feel is not great even after a bleed

bleed it right then ….. no excuse for a bad lever feel after a bleed unless brake needs seals or you have the caliper badly lined up on disk !

yes and sometimes you dont even need to top up

bleed it right then ….. no excuse for a bad lever feel after a bleed unless brake needs seals

Unless you have Formula brakes… I paid to have them bleed by the importers & it still took bleeding thumbs to put right, all brakes are not created equal, but then Hope brakes are beautifully simple.

Tieing back the levers opens the ports in the master cylinder

No it doesn't. If squeezing the lever opened ports how would the brake work? Reservoir ports are opened when the lever is released.

It works by allowing time for any air to settle against the master cylinder piston, such that when it is released the air is sucked into the reservoir.

p.s. of course a properly bled brake doesn't have air in the reservoir either – it's bound to get into the rest of the system at some point.

so do I just tie them back for the night and expect better come morning or do I need to top up with fluid?

lever feel is good but not great, I know how to bleed them OK it just doesn't seem to get a perfect result every time – and I am picky.

keppoch.

I have never really understood the idea behind this. You squeeze the lever to the bar to press the fluid down to the pistons to operate the brake, right? So how can this work and open up the port in the master cylinder? If the lever was squeezed and anything fluid or otherwise could return to the master cylinder, how would it hold enough pressure to work the brake? I reckon all this does is compress any air into the fluid in the same way co2 is saturated in a pop bottle. It just delays the inevitable need to bleed imho.

Looking carefully in my Hope m/c the open system has a port that allows fluid into the line to be compressed only when the lever is released, hence the brake compensates for pad wear as opposed to a closed system needing manual adjustment..

Take your time, bleed it carefully and Hope brakes can have a good lever feel. Stendec 5.1 synthetic fluid works for me and the lever feel is not spongy on my brakes.

My Mono Mini's were expertly bled by myself 😳

bleed all sorts of brakes during the working week and using the same technique on like model brakes i can produce a lever feel that is as close to the same as your gonna get across the board.

If it doesnt – i then start fault finding on the brake.

I cant see what your doing during bleeding to produce a different lever feel with each bleed !

😳

Was meant to say that recently the front one has started 'sticking' before then engaging if that makes sense. You pull the lever and get resistance but very little braking, then it kind of pulls through and get max power.

Any ideas?

first port of call would be to lube the brass cam in the lever.second would be to lube the main pivot and check its not over tight ….

if that failed its , strip down rebuild time.

Check the pistons move freely , if not strip down , clean – check for pitting , replace if neccesary + seals , lube and rebuild.

and replace the mastercylinder internals.

thats basically all the moving parts so youd have effectivly a new brake !

wont stick no more

FWIW its a new / 2nd hand caliper (as in it was hardly used before I got it). I then connected it to old lever assembly. I replaced the brass pivots last year. So only real difference is me adding a newer caliper to the lever set up and then bleeding. Worked fine for the first few weeks then developed this problem, no other changes.

Is this just 'one of those things' that happens every now and then or is it an underlying problem that for one reason or another has exacerbated?

glenh – Member

"Tieing back the levers opens the ports in the master cylinder"

No it doesn't. If squeezing the lever opened ports how would the brake work? Reservoir ports are opened when the lever is released.

It works by allowing time for any air to settle against the master cylinder piston, such that when it is released the air is sucked into the reservoir.

Oops 😳