My 4 month old E4s are rubbing the rotors, I noticed the 2 outboard pistons were much further out than the inboards so I did the whole Hope reset bit and they now come out equally.

Problem is there is no clearance between rotor and pads, the brake is constantly slightly on.

I’ve stretched out the pad return spring and let some fluid out the caliper in case it was overfilled but no difference, any ideas what I might be missing?

I would try lubricating the pistons next.

the spring is not a return spring – its merely an anti rattle spring. Lube and reset pistons

Good shout thanks but not it. Now lubed up and moving freely but still just resting on the rotor, any other idea

Both brakes or just one?

push the pistons right back in and start again? They need reseting further in.

Mine were doing the same, a new seal kit sorted it out.

I had this after a month. One very very wet muddy gritty peak ride saw sticky pistons, new pads and to stop the problems you describe, both brakes bled. The oil was black and full of air bubbles. The stories of hope brakes not requiring a bleed for years must be fairy tales…

All brakes should be bled every year or two. Get that manky old fluid out

I now have a specific routine post muddy gritty rides on my hope x2`s

After washing my bike paying attention to the calipers, Remove pads and wipe off, pull a rag through the caliper and make sure its nice and clean, take an old tooth brush dip it in a bottle of brake fluid and give the inside of the caliper another brush through, again pull the rag through the caliper, replace the now clean pads and using a narrow bladed gasket scraper lever the pistons back into the calipers, job done.
It seems like a bit of a faff especially after a grueller of a ride but it works for me. Not had any brake issues since I started this.

Looks like a bleed is required then.. If the seals are gone after a couple of dozen rides that is pretty bad, I thought I’d finally found some brakes that actually worked 🙁

So which brakes to replace them with?

If they are 4 months old, speak to Hope – they are very helpful and will happily give advice. Ultimately, they may want them back to fettle (aka rebuild) them.

I used to get this and ultimately used to service them once a year – i.e. strip the lever and calipers, clean thoroughly and then rebuild with new seals. It’s an evening’s work, and needs a bit of patience to do, but there’s no magic needed.

Oh, and Castrol Red Rubber Grease on the pistons too 🙂 (although recently, I’ve heard that you shouldn’t use anything on them at all as it just attracts the grit into the seals – this makes a lot of sense, actually)

They just need the pistons pushing back and resetting – sometimes when you do the hope way of centralising if you are unlucky you end up with this. Push the pistons right back in all of then then gently reset ie pull lever – check all moving freely then pull lever on – if one side has moved more than the other push that side back in a bit.. If you were near me ( Edinburgh) I could do them for you.

Seals have not gone, nothing is wrong with them I bet.

Seals have not gone, nothing is wrong with them I bet.

Maybe, but I’ve pushed pistons back and reset the brakes many a time only to have them stick on the next ride out :-/

thats a dry seal or a corroded/ dirty piston. If a seal fails it leaks.

thats a dry seal or a corroded/ dirty piston. If a seal fails it leaks.

The seals do dry over time and certainly get contaminated with dust and dirt, eventually becoming sticky. Ultimately, the only proper way to fix it is to remove the piston and clean / re-lube the seal, at which point you might as well stick a new seal in it as you have it in bits anyway.

Also, the newer phenolic pistons don’t corrode, but the old alloy / steel ones were buggers for it. I’ve got a bag full of them somewhere as the first thing I would always do when I saw an older set of brakes would be to put new pistons in 🙂

Bled them last night, the fluid was pretty murky but the new fluid made no difference at all

Speak to Hope. They have sorted any issues I’ve had without question.
For what it’s worth my 10+ year old M4s are still going strong, just put a set of E4s on my other bike and expect the same. They are built to last.

That’s what I was hoping, I’ll give them a ring at lunch.

Have you tired winding the lever reach out a touch? The lever reach adjusters can rattle out which brings the lever closer to the bar and the pistons closer to the rotor.

The levers are set where I want them so not keen on moving those

Hope have suggested silicone lube. When I said it’ll just flush out they said I should be taking pads out, resetting pistons and lubing after each ride which seems ridiculous, I don’t have to do that on my car

I was under the impression that during normal operation the pistons do not slide on the caliper seals, but the seals elastically deform (a.k.a.
rollback). The only instance when the piston slides on the seal is when it needs to compensate for pad wear / excessive distance.
So greasing the piston would reduce the rollback action, rendering the brake useless…

Or am I wrong?

Shimano patent here:
https://www.google.com/patents/US6347689

See where it says Hope in the title, and see where it says Shimano patent on your image….

Right, because Hope brakes are oh so special and they operate on different principles…

although recently, I’ve heard that you shouldn’t use anything on them at all as it just attracts the grit into the seals – this makes a lot of sense, actually)

Really??

Hope’s videos on youtube show using Hunters Silicone Lubricant on the pistons, which is why I bought some and never had any problems with my E4s.

As I said earlier I had been having the same problem, my brakes were over a year old. No amount of lubing or resetting the pistons made any difference. A temporary fix was new pads, the old ones being half worn.
I have since rebuilt the caliper with new seals and pistons and the problem has gone. Over the year I had been lubing the pistons which I won’t been doing now, since I think caused excessive wear by attracting dirt. If mine had been 4 months old I’d have warrantied them.

tjagain – Member
All brakes should be bled every year or two. Get that manky

Really? I’ve never bled a brake on any bike I’ve owned – all shimano bar one set of sram on the cx and only ever had one fail on a bike that had been left for a year or so.

So I’ve lubed them up and now the pistons have gone back to coming out unevenly. No amount of lubing and resetting gets them moving properly so looks like a warranty job. I’m going away in 2 weeks though, what’s the turnaround like at Hope?

Bled them last night, the fluid was pretty murky but the new fluid made no difference at all

And

The levers are set where I want them so not keen on moving those

In my experience they’re not bled properly now anyway. You need to wind out the lever and piston to the max then carry out the bleed.

This might be harsh, but seems like you don’t know how to set them up properly and are blaming the product. You’ll prob find you have this every time you fit new brake pads

I had the sticky piston thing on my 2 month old E4’s. took out pads reset everything, re aligned them on the rotator, refitted pads and set each pad up so they all come out the same. Yes it took a bit of time but patience is a virtue.

If you think the lever reach affects the pistons in some way I think you may be the one misunderstanding the product, it’s just a bolt that determines how far the lever is from the bar, it does’t affect any hydraulic actuation as far as I can tell

I didn’t say it did. I know it doesnt affect the hydraulic actuation, but in my experience for the sake of resetting it, why not? It’s only a 2 second job to reset it anyway.

Because it makes no difference. However when I ring Hope tomorrow I’ll ask them, you may well be right