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Because they feel ever so spongy? Put some on my mates lads bike today, with new centreline rotors, and I can pull the levers back to the bar. I've only had Shimano before which are obviously more on/off than most, but even the Levels on my wife's bike feel firmer. I had assumed brand new brakes wouldn't need bleeding, but perhaps that was a wrong assumption?
Well mine didn't. Send them back.
The ones on my Anthem did.
Or....bleed them.It ain't rocket science.
I'm sure it's not. It'll be particularly hassle free for me since its not my bike and it's gone home to its owner 🙂
Just one of those things. Some do, some don't. Depends on how well bled they were from the factory - and the assumption is that if you're cutting hoses to fit, you'd bleed post-fitting anyway.
The guide rs I had first were perfect and didn't need bleeding.
The guide r I have now has a slightly mushy front brake that needs a bleed. If I tried hard I could probably get the lever back to the bar when the bike is stationary. If I tried it whilst riding I'd be over the bars way before I got close.
I get to see this a lot, and freeing up the pistons, allowing them to come out a little further than normal, then pushing them all the way back, and spending time aligning the caliper correctly (not squeeze the lever , tighten the bolts, and hope it's right) so both pads hit the disc flat, square-on, and at the same time, will result in a much improved lever feel. You may still want to bleed them just to be sure, but unless we've cut hoses, we've not had a new set that needed bleeding yet.
Never bled out of the box and even cut the hose on a Guide with care not to drip anything and no bleed required.
What @coatesy says basically about alignment and pad contact. The RS I think doesn't have bite adjust? so need to manually do it. Method I used to use was squeeze lever couple of times with wheel out, then wheel in. Should be quicker contact.
Calliper alignment though I usually do by (wheel in) slackening bolts, squeeze and hold lever, carefully tighten bolts bit at a time, alternating. Release and hope it spins without catching.
You'll still get a slight squish feel with the Guide levers compared to some other brands. There's more flex in the lever I find.
Cheers, we'll give those things a try.
We have 4 sets of Guide R (not RS). Three are fine and have never needed bleeding. One has been nothing but trouble and needed bleeding from new and again after a few days.