Specialized Rockhopper - brakes?

[272BHP]

I managed to get my son a mountain bike for his birthday. There was pretty much no stock anywhere of anything but I managed to find a Specialized Rockhopper Sport for 550 from Evans.

I thought this was a decent bike from a respected brand but I am shocked by the low quality of the components particularly the Tektro hydraulic disc brakes, they are really bad, difficult to pull and have pretty much no stopping power whatsoever.

He seems to like the bike as I am guessing it looks like most of his friends bikes rather than the Isla bike he was previously using but I do worry about those brakes.

Is it a set up or bedding in thing?

[MrBarry123]

That doesn’t sound right. Those brakes should be more than adequate when correctly set up, even when new.

Any weird noises from the brakes?

[Robster]

It will be a bedding in process my Trek Roscoe 7 from new needed me to bed them in . Plenty of u tube vids, I find the best way is 20 fairly fast speed runs with then pulling hard on the brakes to slow to walking pace (do not stop) and then same again but much faster and do this for ten times, then leave the brakes to cool, it takes time for the brake pad material to transfer onto the rotor to give the performance you would expect .

[272BHP]

Thanks. I have had a few new bikes but nothing as bad as this with regard the bedding in process.

I have given it a few braking sessions now to try and get something on the discs and they have improved, don't think they will ever be decent brakes though. I guess a base Specialized is made up of bargain basement components.

[Kawasicki]

272BHP said:

Thanks. I have had a few new bikes but nothing as bad as this with regard the bedding in process.

I have given it a few braking sessions now to try and get something on the discs and they have improved, don't think they will ever be decent brakes though. I guess a base Specialized is made up of bargain basement components.

If you can’t do a stoppie with 2, maximum 3, fingers there is something wrong with your brakes. Even the cheapest hydraulic disc brakes fitted to a specialized should do this no problem.

[waynecyclist]

As above, something sounds wrongly set up

[TheTardis]

272BHP said:

I managed to get my son a mountain bike for his birthday. There was pretty much no stock anywhere of anything but I managed to find a Specialized Rockhopper Sport for 550 from Evans.

I thought this was a decent bike from a respected brand but I am shocked by the low quality of the components particularly the Tektro hydraulic disc brakes, they are really bad, difficult to pull and have pretty much no stopping power whatsoever.

He seems to like the bike as I am guessing it looks like most of his friends bikes rather than the Isla bike he was previously using but I do worry about those brakes.

Is it a set up or bedding in thing?

What did the shop say?

[Mars]

I've got Tektro hydraulics on 4 bikes (all different models) and they are epic - a massive step-up from the Avids that came on one bike and the Shimanos on another.

I recently put new discs on one bike, and it took 3 or 4 fast stops to bed them in - no more - and now they are just as good as the others. This business about them being "hard to pull" doesn't sound right.

[272BHP]

TheTardis said:

What did the shop say?

No shop. Just got the bike delivered.

[Willow1212]

My kids both have current Rockhopper Sports too, and the Tektro brakes are really very good.
So I’d say there is definitely something wrong with them or the setup, so ideally get it to a shop to have it looked at.

[loskie]

272BHP said:

TheTardis said:

What did the shop say?

No shop. Just got the bike delivered.

It must have been delivered from somewhere! Your contract is with the supplier. Buying remotely as it sounds you have done does come with drawbacks but also some benefits.

As I've found out over the years though it is worth spending a wee bit extra to buy locally for aftersales support. Most LBS for example offer a year free services and adjustment with bikes

[take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey]

Might help if you describe the symptoms better.

Do they:
- pull to the bar?
- have a wandering bite point?
- have no bite?

1 and 2 suggest they have air in the line...and require bleeding 3 suggest they need to bedded in, have contaminated pads.

Every new hydraulic brake is OK these days - even the cheapest. So there is a fault sonewhere. They're all designed to stop you with one finger. If you need two - they're faulty.

[272BHP]

I have only used 2 hydraulic brakes.

The ones on my Pinnacle Neon are SRAM level brakes so still on the cheaper end of the market, These are great brakes, I could pull them with a single finger and they bite hard straight away and I would be put over the handle bars if I operated them with any force.

The ones on the Rockhopper would stop me eventually in about 10-15 metres from 20 mph but I would have to pull hard with 3 fingers and there would be no bite at all. In short they are appalling compared to the SRAM's.

[millen]

Could it be the bike was knocked in transit and callipers are misaligned with rotors? Without more info on the symptoms (eg front, rear or both ineffective) it's hard to suggest remedies.

[HayesDC2]

I recently bought the same bike from Evans and had exactly the same issue!

Discs needed cleaning for me, cover them in brake cleaner and then go for a ride holding the brakes in (one at a time) so that you are slowed down slightly but can pedal through it to get some heat through them.

I did about 1km of each and they're great now. Before cleaning you may as well have stood up and tried to use yourself as an air brake!

[272BHP]

HayesDC2 said:

I recently bought the same bike from Evans and had exactly the same issue!

Discs needed cleaning for me, cover them in brake cleaner and then go for a ride holding the brakes in (one at a time) so that you are slowed down slightly but can pedal through it to get some heat through them.

I did about 1km of each and they're great now. Before cleaning you may as well have stood up and tried to use yourself as an air brake!

I will give that a go - thanks for the input!

[272BHP]

Used brake cleaner on them both and did 15mins of sprinting and braking.

No change at all.

[HayesDC2]

272BHP said:

Used brake cleaner on them both and did 15mins of sprinting and braking.

No change at all.

Did you spray any on the pads?

For me I think the discs must have had oil on them from production / build and then as I didn't think to clean them it ended up on the pads as well as the discs.

[272BHP]

HayesDC2 said:

Did you spray any on the pads?

For me I think the discs must have had oil on them from production / build and then as I didn't think to clean them it ended up on the pads as well as the discs.

Yeah I sprayed all around in there as well

Edited by 272BHP on Monday 14th June 16:09

[272BHP]

So I just had a look and adjusted the brakes and they are still appalling.

One thing that confuses me is that these are advertised as having Tektro Hydraulic Disk brakes HD-M275 but these don't look like hydraulics to me as there is a brake cable operating the pads

I might need to email Evans