My Juicy 5 rear(HT) and Formula K18 front(FS) have become very grabby.
Both have sintered pads.Both fairly well used.

Any ideas why this happens?
Pads are not worn out and both were bedded in well.

I'd try cleaning the rotors and then look at the pads, if they look glazed try a mild rub down with fine glasspaper and see if that makes any difference.

wots glass paper ? lol wont it scratch the rotars.?

Don't pull the levers as hard?

Glasspaper is what most people call sandpaper and if it's a fine version 120 grade it'll just remove the glaze from the pads just re-read my post and I didn't make it clear it's the pads you de-glaze not the rotors. 😳

i'm with Glen on this, it sounds like they're working properly.

Also you could use wet and dry on the rotors (again fine grade) but in my experience if the rotors are grabbing it's because they are worn out. The rotors are usually steel so the glasspaper/sandpaper/wet and dry would only remove the surface contaminants and if you look at a used rotor is already scratched way more than you could achieve with glasspaper etc.

Anyways hope that helps. 😆

Leftyboy….Sorry mate but you're talking absolute balls!

Your disc's might be scratched but mine most certainly do not have scratches worse than 120 grit would cause! A wipe over with alcohol or meths would be a better bet.

i thought grabby brakes were a good sign?

Modulate your brakes with your fingers. Or put some air in the hose so its squish.

+1 Grabby is good.

Most people only complain when their brakes dont work!

I prefer my brakes to feel like theres oil on the disc, makes for a much smoother braking action. sheeesh
Methinks a bit of user finesse required.

If by grabby you mean you get intermittent power as you pull the lever back then maybe check the rotors are warped?

If on the other hand you mean they are sharp and have lots of bits when the pads first touch the rotor then perhaps you'd like to swap them for mine? 😉

LOL at Icj.

If the disc is worn out it'll certainly have scratches and they may well be worse than wet and dry would cause in my experience. A lot of the wear on rotors is dependent on the type of soil that you ride in, I've ridden in the peaks and seen noticeable wear on the rotors after a weekend of very wet muddy and gritting riding.

By "grabby" I mean they are difficult to regulate the amount of braking power you are applying. They are like an on/off switch.
Its nothing to do with the amount of power that is available(loads)its just difficult to brake gently.

A little bit of air in the system sounds like it would work but also sounds dead wrong to me.

What would be on the disc or rotor that would INCREASE the friction to such an extent?

Surely its a mechanical problem?

Just to turn this around, any tips for making my brakes MORE grabby? I have some Hope 6ti units and the rear is ace but the front ave no grab, could the pads be glazed?

if you want grabby brakes, buy hayes. if you don't, buy shimano

A little bit of air in the system sounds like it would work but also sounds dead wrong to me.

Loving my XT brakes now they have bedded in, great power and modulation.