bike - Boardman ADV 8.9E
bought with 300km on the motor
first experience with anything with curly bars
mostly riding on the hoods..
the standard brakes seem absolute pony from the hoods, i dont think i could lock a wheel up if i wanted to
now im not sure if its because of the higher speeds and road surfaces im not used to, but if a car brake checks me im going to be sat in the passenger seat through the rear window
i brought the reach in to suit me, but not much better. time to chuck different/new pads on?
I had rival and they were properly ace.
Can’t see why Apex would be any different.
I wonder if those Hope rx4 would fit?
My experience of road hydraulics are shimano 105 level and Hope RX4 with Shimano shifters. I could lock front (in the wet) and rear wheels no problem. I have sram brakes on my mtb and they’re the same.
It sounds like something isn’t right with your brakes - have you bedded the pads in properly? I’d think speed up to about 20mph and then hit both brakes really hard until just before standstill. Do that process about 10 times and the power should start to build.
Edit - just noticed it already had some miles on the clock - if the previous owner didn’t do this they may have glazed the pads. You could try taking them out and giving them a light sand with some sandpaper then following the bedding in process above.
@joebristol
this is the direction i was going, they feel like they have 0 bite so glazing would be suspect
I'll give that a go first as it's a free thing to do 😀
I've got a second hand bike with apex and I've thought the brakes are crap as well. I thought it was because I was used to zee brakes. I'll have to try sanding or changing the pads.
Change the pads, clean the discs, bed them in according to the SRAM video on YouTube.
I have Rival which I find equally unimpressive. I have tried various brands of pad but they are at best adequate. The 105 hydros on a mate's bike seem much better.
I have SRAM Force and can lock both wheels up if I really wanted to and on the odd occasion have almost done so when a car suddenly appeared out of nowhere...
I’ve got Apex on my gravel bike and although the power has been fine they have needed far more attention than the Shimano MTB or road hydros I’ve used. Eat through pads. Squeal regularly. Rear hose split. Now the front bladder is leaking under the hood. Not impressed at all.
I have the same bike. The Apex were significantly worse than the Rivals on my other bike.
Tried different pads, aligning etc but didn't make any differences.
Tried bleeding and found the front lever was leaking because of a pinched banjo bolt o-ring from the factory. Took it into halfords who agreed to replace but no stock till Christmas.
So went GRX and they've been better than the Rivals on my other bike and trouble free.
Now upgrading the Rivals to Shimano as well.
I've cheap Tektro cable brakes.
With good quality, bedded pads I can lock wheels.
If they are cold and mucky (most rides) I can feel the lack of power. They howl for first 10 seconds of braking, then the heat gets into them and I can feel the power come back.
If they are glazed (common it seems) then the power isn't there, and I've sanded pads a few times to get power back.
Pad sand did something
mental note: when you do somethign with your brakes.. immidiateley go out and test.. don't leave it until you go to ride to work and forget you have no brakes temporarily...
a few hard brakes and they seem slightly improved, although defnitely not bedded in yet
first experience with anything with curly bars
Don't forget the tyre's contact patch will be a lot smaller than a chunky MTB tyre. Add to that, it's a heavier ebike on gravel wheels and they'll never feel amazing by comparison.
