# Brakes too tight!



## etiennem (Mar 18, 2009)

Hi,

I just recently got myself a 2009 Kona Five-O. I'm having some issues with my front brakes and i needed some help. Now its my first bike with Hydraulic brakes (Hayes Stroker Ryde). When i got my bike from the store everything worked fine. I removed the front wheel a few times and rode pretty lightly with it. and then the next day when i tried to put my wheel back on after storing it inside, the brakes became really tight.

I can manage to get the wheel on with relative ease, but when i ride, you can hear the brakes rub. and if i suspend my bike and manual turn the wheel the brakes slowly stop the wheel from turning.

So basically I'm looking for a quick way to fix this, and since I'm new to Hydraulic brakes, I'm not sure what to do. I've read the manuals online, and most of them just show brake lever adjustments and how to bleed the brakes. Is there a quick adjustment to loosen the front brakes a bit?

Please help, i rather not have to bring the bike back to the shop for maintenance for something so silly. thanks


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## mlepito (May 1, 2007)

Hydraulic brakes seat themselves. So it may be an alignment issue. Loosen the bolts that hold the caliper to the bike so it can move a bit. Then squeeze and hold the lever and tighten the bolts back up. This will align the caliper. The pads will align themselves. You can't loosen them manually.


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## nagatahawk (Jun 20, 2007)

mlepito said:


> Hydraulic brakes seat themselves. So it may be an alignment issue. Loosen the bolts that hold the caliper to the bike so it can move a bit. Then squeeze and hold the lever and tighten the bolts back up. This will align the caliper. The pads will align themselves. You can't loosen them manually.


and/or take it back to the shop where you purchased it, they will adjust for you free.


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## Dirtman (Jan 30, 2004)

If the brakes were working fine at 1st and were not loose from the start - try using a flat head screw driver (clean) and wedge the pads back t create space. At time when taking the fr wheel off - we may sqeeze the fr lever inadvertantly causing the pads to close some. 

With that said, i had trouble ding that with some Avid juicys - but eventually worked it out. Also, you may want to get your hands on brake spacers to use when removing the fr wheel to prevent accidentally hitting or sqeezing the lever.

Hope that helps.


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## JimC. (Dec 30, 2003)

*Read the disc brakes FAQ*

brakes forum, upper right. Jim


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## etiennem (Mar 18, 2009)

@mlepito and @Dirtman: Thanks for the advice, I'll give that a shot and see how it turns out. If all else fails, i'll bring it back to the shop and ask him how he fixes it. I guess having 1 year free service with a bike purchase will come in handy.


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