I’m a bit quicker than I have been on the local downhill, but still dragging the front brake most of the time. The last two times I was out riding, I noticed that the front brake lever became a bit more resistant. Releasing the brake for a couple of seconds meant that the lever was easy to squeeze again.

Once upon a time, I had both my front and back hydraulic disk brakes fail (Hayes Sole, I think) going round a reservoir. The resulting slow speed off wasn’t serious, but highlights to me that I want to be sure the same doesn’t happen at greater speed.

Why do you think the brake lever became ‘pumped up’? Is it just a manageable build up of heat, or is some maintenance required? I’ve seen something about the hydraulic oil absorbing water, but I didn’t think water would be able to get into the system.

Cheers

If your dragging the brake then it’s more than likely heat build up. Try to cover the brake levers with your hands if your anxious about being ready to brake but just float your fingers over the levers don’t drag.

I wish we had descents around here long enough to over heat the brakes as that’s what it sounds like.
as I once said to Dan when he complained of squeaky brakes “don’t brake then”

When did you change the fluid/service them?
I found my old avids became much more heat sensitive with older fluid in. Mind you, it was only an issue on proper big Munro sized descents…

What brakes are they and when were they last bled? It can’t hurt to get them rebled with fresh oil especially if it seems like something odd is happening either intermittently or when they get warm.

Saying that, I had a set of Avid somethings on a brand new test/demo bike and both brakes seemed to have a different bite point every time you pulled the lever. But again, that was probably just that they needed bleeding and I shouldn’t have assumed that the brakes would have worked straight out of the box…silly me.

The brakes are Hope Tech X2… with floating rotors and braided hoses, so I thought heat build-up wouldn’t have been an issue when descending down Brickshed (on the Paradise Trail around Sutton Bank, North Yorks). I’m sure that descent is nowhere near as long as on the Munros.

I don’t know when they were last bled, but it wasn’t this year and mightn’t have been last year either. The bike hasn’t been used so often (once or twice a month maximum in that time).

Does that make it seem like it’s overdue to bleed them, or does it suggest anything else could be the issue?

I had a set of mono mini pros that did that. Faded to nothing not even a little clemch of braking power whatsoever.

Go Shimano and feel the on/off revolution.

It’s worth getting new fluid into them anyway if you don’t know how old it is. Share the workload with the back brake, you want a cooler front brake in case Bad Things Happen.

Doesn’t the Open system vent back to the reservoir when the lever is released – something like that?* So you let go the fluid expansion and the feel is back to normal?

(*Still on C2s here, they let you know when they’re warming up)

Wouldn’t take you long to do a flush, fill and bled, if that doesn’t resolve it maybe it’s your pads? Are they glazed?

I haven’t had that much experience with Hope brakes but I did have some old C2s that started having issues. You can’t really compare the symptoms though as they were a ‘closed’ circuit. Anyway, it turned out to be weeping piston seals – new ones fitted = no more problems and lots more power. I’m not saying that’s what is wrong with yours but it’s worth checking for dampness behind the pads and if they are worn a bit, could explain a source of water/air ingress that may be causing the intermittent lever feel. If you’re really struggling, I’ve heard Hope are pretty helpful if you just call for advice. Either way, a good clean up, inspection and bleed can’t hurt.