Commuter bike front brake was feeling notchy. Took off wheel, pads out, pistons in and out about ten times. Put pads back in. Wheel in - now next to no brake at all. Lever comes all the way to the handle! Didn't pop any seals, there is no fluid leaking anywhere. Its like there is not enough fluid in it thuugh or air in it - how is this possible though. Working one min, didn't touch fluid level and now it just bites and that's it. Any ideas? I don't have a bleed kit for Tektro, so havent tried that yet. All my other brakes are Sram, so I have the gear for them but not compat. How could air have gotten in the system doing what I did??
Did you turn the bike up side down?
Pump the brake lever about 50 times till the pads come out to meet the rotor.
Did you turn the bike up side down
Yeah, it did have it upside down.
I tried pumping like mad but did naff all. Taken it off a put on an old juicy 3 until I can get it working. Brakes are so touchy!
Turning it upside down means that when you pull and release the lever any air under the diaphragm will get into the lines. If you put the bike the right way up and push the pistons / pads all the way back in the bubble should go back into the reservoir.
Never pull the brake with the bike upside down
They should come back if you pump them enough (can be a lot), when they start to get a little feel into them, you could zip tie them to the bars over night, and pumping them some more to finish them off.
cheers guys. I'll give the advice a crack and hopefully they come back! Didn't know about not pulling in the brake when upside down....new lesson for today!