I’m going to watch the bleeding video. I don’t how he got the non-adjustable stroke to be so short. In the above video he claims it’s about bleeding, but I’ve done mine several times “properly” and it doesn’t come close to what he claims is full on. the 105 levers come withing a few mm of the bar at full pull.
Hey all! I still can see no proper solution when you want small reach, due to smaller hands. I think in the video the brakes were actually “overbled”. I am pretty sure mine were correctly done using the Shimano 10mm bleed block. I am pretty annoyed by Shimano missing this important feature of free stroke adjustment on their cheaper, but still expensive equipment. Even the cheapest cable-based brake/shift-levers have a cable tension screw that allows to do the same kind of adjustment!
Now to “overbleeding”: My idea/approach is to try to do it in a controlled way. Instead of the default Shimano 10mm block that should keep the pistons open while bleeding, we use something slightly thinner, such as 8mm or 9mm. I am not (yet) sure if that will lead to the desired results, but here is my 3D-print-ready model that you can try to use to do that: Shimano "Small Hands" Road Bike Disc Brake Bleed Block (R7020 and others) by bluesceada - Thingiverse (please use at your own risk). I had no time to test it yet, but plan to do it the next days, then I will report back here, if there is any interest. At least I will update the thingiverse content.
If you can, please let me know your experiences with it. Especially if you are currently driving a lot and running down new brake pads faster than me.
Maybe it was mentioned earlier, but have you tried pulling the brake lever without a rotor or pad spreader in the caliper? I know you’re not supposed to do that, but it may help in this situation?
I know that “solution”, but that’s only temporary. It is based on the self-adjust mechanism, which will have a different “default”. After a while - but at least when the brake pads wear down - it will go back to the previous situation and same amount of lever travel. I wrote more on that in the linked thingiverse post where I explain more of the idea about the adjusted bleed block.
When using the adjusted block, you change the default from the start while bleeding it. But here I am also not sure how long/much that really helps - needs testing. I want to first find a good default for the block width/thickness. Soon I will start with fresh brake pads and find a good default, then I will see over time how well it sustains. I just wanted to post it earlier, in case somebody wants to already try it here.
For the record for anyone further interested:
- It’s a small improvement bleeding the blocks with fresh brake pads instead of the Shimano bleed block. That’s 10mm (bleed block) vs. 9.8mm (fresh pads and fresh disc)
- When using a custom 9.5mm bleed block, it further improves, but you might need to re-center you brake
- With a 9.0mm bleed block and new pads, it was too much. The disc could not be pushed between the pads without rubbing. With somewhat worn down pads it worked, but that’s not how it should be.
So if you want to reduce free stroke, use my custom bleed block from thingiverse (a few posts above here) or just try to put something between your pads with the right thickness when bleeding. Then after that you get a little less “free stroke”. Overall, I am still not sure how happy I am with this solution, because I also do not know how it behaves when the pads are getting worn down. Actual adjustment would be much nicer. Maybe I have to get the respective GRX or Ultegra levers (is it worth it?).