Shimano BR-M355 Brakes

Hi,

Does anyone have these brakes?. They actually work quite well I’ve just never been happy with the amount of lever travel. I recently replaced the rear pads and done a full bleed twice and also did the zip-tie lever overnight tricke and then bled master cylinder, they feel better but there is still around 20-25mm of lever travel.

Is this normal for this brake? I would prefer much less travel but perhaps I can only get that with higher end shimano levers that have free stroke adjustment?. I do think the brake hoses are probably too long and have been considering shortening them for a while, would this affect lever travel at all?.

Hose length won’t affect lever throw or feel.

I’ve got then – they work, just not as good as my old Magura’s either in power or feel.

Wait until they break, then replace…

When you bled then did you adjust the reach so that the lever was all the way out?

Remember reading somewhere that if it isn’t it can make them feel spongy/give a bit more travel.

Hose length won’t affect lever throw or feel.

I’ve got then – they work, just not as good as my old Magura’s either in power or feel.

Wait until they break, then replace…

So do yours have quite a bit of lever travel too?.

When you bled then did you adjust the reach so that the lever was all the way out?

Remember reading somewhere that if it isn’t it can make them feel spongy/give a bit more travel.

I’ve never actually adjusted the reach as I have quite long fingers and feel they are already in a good position at rest, this suggests they may already be adjusted all the way out.

Mine have a fair old bit of throw. Good when they connect though.

amazing for the price (often under £20 an end…)

Mine have a fair old bit of throw. Good when they connect though.

amazing for the price (often under £20 an end…)

Thanks for the confirmation, I always just wondered if I hadn’t got them setup as well as possible, but it sounds as though it’s normal.

Just wanted to add a little update. Decided to have a go at adjusting reach, I had assumed wrongly that if the screw was quite far out then the lever was almost at its farthest point. Also, I thought they already felt about right for my fingers.

However, after tightening the screw a few turns it has moved the lever further out which has moved the bite point further away from the bars and has the feel of slightly less lever travel, also when pulled back they don’t get so close to my knuckles. So thanks to dirkpitt74 for encouraging me to try this as it definitely has improved the feel of the lever action.

Nice work pinning that down bud. 👍

I generally find these have less lever travel “out of the box” than the more expensive models, but both can be shortened by freeing up the caliper pistons. Allow them to come out a bit more than normal ( CAREFULLY brace pads & rotor to one side with a small screwdriver, squeeze the lever a couple of times, and repeat for the other side.) then push the pistons back all the way, and the lever will usually come up nicely, and improve feel, and power as you’re expending less finger power on overcoming piston seal stiction. I do this on every Shimano brake that comes through the workshop, and it makes a lot of difference.

Thanks for the tip, I’m a bit reluctant to do anymore tweaking of the brakes/pistons as I’ve got them setup pretty well now with just about a millimetre either side of the rotor between the pads.

Would it not be easier just to take the wheel out and let the pistons come out and then push them back in? Something I’ve actually done by mistake already on the rear brakes that I’ve just changed pads and bled.

Yep, that’d work just as well, I do it so often I just find it quicker that way. You may well need to re-align the caliper a touch after, I usually walk them into place, a small amount one end at a time.