having recently got a set of these and reading on a few other posts about the freestroke…….how does it work then/what does it do/who sets it where ? I have left mine fully screwed in (although I did have to give the back brake an initail bleed and backed the screw part off for that, then put it back to the way it came)

Its supposed to adjust the amount of lever travel before the brakes "bite". No need to screw it out more than 4 mm as it doesnt move anything after that.
shame theres no decent user guide for setting them up properly, or what does what. Nothing on techdocs really. just try it and see.

bigyinn – I thought that was what the nurled nut does ? is the freestroke not the little screw ?

edit – see what you mean now, as the nurled nut just brings the lever in a bit to start with. ta

Knurled nut moved the lever blade but cos it's servowave it feels a bit different.
Freestroke – supposed to do the bite point or pad spacing I think but as far as I can tell it's makes bugger all difference.

Donk – thats what I found with the freestroke screw too, but have only had an initial play with it ❓

The knurled nut just adjusts the reach, it doesnt affect the servowave gubbins. But yes the freestroke does bugger all. Shame 'cos i'd like mine to have a bit more travel before the pads bite. Hey ho, still great brakes.

Yep same on my saints – does nothing noticeable.

Agree – does bugger all except on mine if you watch very closely it does alter lever reach from the bar.
Best brakes I've had though!

Philistienes! 😆

Screwed all the way home your reducing the servo effect, effectivly increasing the lever travel.

Screwed out about 3 full turns is the max opposite setting, allowing the master cylinder to extend further on release of the lever and the little cam to move across the wave slot machined into the lever. This setting allows for a more instant bite, and a sharper lever feel.

The difference really is like night and day for mine? Perhaps I'm special?

grimy mines the same … out makes levers feel sharper

in makes em come too far back.

Trail_rat, when you you say it makes em come too far back, you know you can then just fettle the reach adjuster to bring them back to where they need be, the increased servo effect will remain sharper.

edit…Sorry missread "in" for "it". ignore above

no no

i mean when screws are in the lever travels too much

when the screws are out they are just right

reach is pretty far in for one finger cover without getting arm pump 😉

What grim and trail_rat said…

I thought they made bugger all difference, until I tried winding them out by quite some way… WOW!!! What a difference…

Ah I see sorry! But yea, Thats exactly how I understand and experiance them.

aha – so if I undo the screws a bit then the brakes will be sharper and the lever will have less travel.

sounds good, as I have moved them inboard of the shifters as i was finding the levers were coming back a lot and catching my other fingers ! That said, the lever position does actually feel better with them inboard and 1 or 2 finger braking !

EDIT – re the note about 3 full turns out being max – do they have stops on them or will they totally unscrew ? yes, I could just try it but at work at mo !

iainc, I dont recall a stop, I think the screw will just keep going? If you look at whats happening on the underside of the lever as you unscrew it, you will see when it fails to have any further effect, just short of three full turns on mine. I have mine adjusted to two full turns ac, feels pretty good there whilst retaining good modulation.

Hi Grimy, I have the XT's infront of me.

Imagine I have the levers facing away from me as though I am sat on the bike. The freestroke screw – full anti or full clockwise?

i've just finished re-bleeding mine and given them the 3 full turns (hora, if you've got the levers as if you're sat on the bike, screw the screws 3 turns clockwise from fully screwed in position, effectively unscrewing them 3 turns)

to be honest in the past i found it made little difference until i fettled the lever reach as well and the more i wound the lever out the harder they felt.

Hora, as pinches says, undo the screw so it looks to be coming out of the lever. Try it about 2 turns and see how you get on. To answer your question though, If your sat on the bike the screw head facing away from you, turn clockeise to undo.

I love you guys

ok, 2 turns out and adjusted the reach too – feels good, jutst gotta try on a ride now ! Thanks all

Hmm, i need to play with mine some more, and its gone dark now. 😥
Have mine wound out and i want move lever travel, not less. Hopefully turning the screw clockwise will help.

bigyinn – you gotta tighten the screw to get more lever travel !

My thoughts so far- I need to find a small watchmakers screwdriver FFS! 😆

If I adjusted the levers too-close they trapped against my knuckles/fingers. If I wound them out enough I was stretching to reach them- couldn't adjust the bite due to lack of tiny screwdriver! Otherwise powerful and fadefree down my mince on Jacobs Ladder to Edale yesterday 😀

Eh? WTF do you need a watchmakers screwdriver for dizzydora?
Just use a regular phillips screwdriver (you do realise you can get smaller phillips head screwdrivers without having to resort to watchmakers screwdrivers?). Get thy behind to B&Q.

I've got a whole set of screwdrivers. Aye, I was going to pop down tonight to get some more rope for the prozzies anyway 8)

Get hemp rather than nylon, knot don't slip as easily then 😉

Well I tend to hit them with a frying pan first but good idea.

LOL – tried mine yesterday with the screws out 2 turns and the lever adusters compensated accordingly – definately more 'bitey', so going to stick with them like this for a bit and then try the screws back in a bit to compare.