How can I improve the feel of my Mono Minis? They have a lot of free movement before the pad starts touching the rotor. Once on the rotor the feel is fine and solid. I would just prefer it to bite sooner in the lever stroke.

Is this a case for bleeding, somehow getting more fluid in the system or improving the shimming (I think it is as good as it can be, rotor has a slight warp but nothing serious).

Any advice or tips would be great.

Keppoch.

Sounds like a case for a bleed – the critical thing for you being how far back in the pistons are when you finally top up and screw the reservoir cap down. I imagine tweaking it could take a bit of trial and error – just make sure you don't over do it or you'll have fun when you come to fit new pads!

EDIT: Actually will this work? Won't the total pad movement be related to the fluid moved by the master cyclinder, rather than the volume of fluid in the brake?

I see so you are suggesting I bleed with the pistons slightly extended out of the caliper body in order to decrease lever throw.

keppoch.

I see so you are suggesting I bleed with the pistons slightly extended out of the caliper body in order to decrease lever throw.

keppoch.

Its due to the amount that the seals pull the pistons back from the disc. nothing to do with bleeding – that would give a spongy feel once the pads are in contact with the discs although bleeding them will do no harm Mine are like that. Jonathon is correct in his edit

Try the hope vid for centring pads

http://www.hopegb.com/page_mep_force_39.html

The lever pulling too far is often caused by the caliper not being centered over the rotor, the lever pulls too far because one piston is coming out much more than the other, and the feel isn't as good because the pads don't contact the rotor at the same time.

To get a good lever feel you need to make sure the caliper is centered over the rotor. Push the pistons back into the bores and use the shims if they are the old type, or the mounting bolts if its a post-mount to center the slot in the caliper on the rotor. Then pull the lever whilst watching how the pads contact the rotor. If one pad is contacting the rotor before the other, and deflecting the rotor, use a flat bladed screwdriver, behind the opposite pad to push the pad back that's moving too far, whilst pulling the lever to allow the piston that isn't moving as far to come out a bit more. Keep tinkering like this until both pads hit the rotor at the same time and the rotor isn't being deflected by either of them.

This is a bit of a crap description of how to do it, there's a video on the Hope website that explains it much better.

It really improves the lever feel and throw and is really worth the time you'll spend faffing about to get it right.

I'd suggest servicing the caliper, pop out and clean the pistons and seals, lube them with silicone grease and re-assemble.A thorough bleed and follow the above advice for centering the caliper, and you should end up with a good lever feel.