I bled my rear Hope Mono Mini last week because it was getting pretty spongy. The sponginess is now utterly banished 😀

but has been replaced by a wheel that I can barely turn now I have put brand new pads in as well. In fact I can barely get the wheel back in 😥

So please advise: for the moment I have swapped out the pads for some older and more worn ones. And I guess I could have filed the brand new pads a bit to generate a bit of space for the rotor. But isn’t the problem that I have somehow got tool much oil in the system and I need to get some out?

All thoughts appreciated, especially helpful ones.

If so should that be with cap and diaphragm still in place or cap & diaphragm off?

Can you adjust the bite point 2mm (?) allan on inside of lever (*anticlockwise )

too much fluid in the system, not allowing enough flow back into the reservoir to let the pistons sit far enough into the calliper.
Not a bloody clue how you sort it cos I dont have hydro’s. I’m just pretty much sure that’s the issue.
You could take the reservoir cap off and push the pistons back which should push the excess fluid out possibly?

Adjusting the bite point – elegant, I like that solution. I’d always used that Allen bolt to bring the lever closer to the bars and accepted the fact that it moved the pads. Never occurred to me to think of it the other way around.
Doh!

You could take the reservoir cap off and push the pistons back which should push the excess fluid out possibly?

That. Take care to not spill brake fluid on the front brake caliper, though.

Level the reservoir, loosen it’s top cap, and then push the pads/pistons fully back. Excess fluid will spill from the top of the reservoir, so catch it with rags or similar, DO NOT do this on the living room carpet.

Hmmmm. So that’s three votes for the top cap off and shove pistons method…

You won’t have a bite point adjuster if they’re Mono Minis,just a reach adjuster. Neither actually move the pads anyway, reach adjuster just moves the lever position, bite point adjuster just backs the master cylinder piston away from the transfer port and gives more dead travel before closing it off and creating pressure.Only old C2/XC4 had actual pad adjustment.

Darn. You actually sound like you know what your talking about, too.

Subsidiary question: how did I manage to get too much oil in there in the first place? There’s nothing on the Hope video that mentions the possibility.

Probably bled it with worn pads(they self adjust to take up wear),the rubber diaphragm normally gets sucked down as fluid goes from the reservoir to push the pistons out.If you then bleed it with the pistons out, and seal it all back up with a full reservoir, the extra fluid has nowhere to go when you try to push them back.

So I should always bleed them with fresh pads and pistons fully pushed back?

Or just push the old pads back before sealing up the reservoir.

So I should always bleed them with fresh pads…

You should never bleed with fresh pads in. Old pads is fine as it doesn’t matter if you spill/drip brake fluid on them, but if you miss a spill on new pads they could be rendered useless in no time at all. Best practice is to bleed the caliper with the wheel out (to get the rotor out the way).

I prefer to let the pistons extend a little (pumped out with the lever), bleed, push a metal spacer (like this) between the pistons and fully extend them to make sure there’s no air left, then push the pistons back flush with the caliper with a plastic tyre lever. All the time you’re manipulating pistons, make sure that the master cylinder always has enough fluid in. If it runs dry, you’ll pull air into the line and have to flush it all the way through to the caliper.

Advice : measure and cut some small blocks of wood to replace the pads when you bleed. Keeps the pistons far apart, where they should be.

Works a treat, and I never have to worry about contamination during bleeding.