Free Stroke Adjustment Trick | Hydraulic Disc Brakes With No Adjustment Screw

The free stroke adjustment on Shimano hydraulic disc brakes greatly affects the fit and feel of the brake lever in your hands. Unfortunately, only the top tier hydraulic levers like Shimano GRX 810, Ultegra, and Dura Ace get a proper free stroke adjustment. However, if you have a low to mid range hydraulic disc brake set, like Shimano GRX 400, GRX 600, 105 and Tiagra, you’re still in luck with this free stroke adjustment hack.

It’s a bit of a controversial one, because you’re never supposed to squeeze the brake lever with no wheel installed. However, if you’re careful and take the time to understand what you’re doing and why, this trick can work pretty well. No brake bleeding is required using this method.

Let me know how this trick works for you. Comments and questions are always appreciated.

Support the channel and pick up some stickers (and Future Shock spacers if you need them).
Thanks!!

Thanks for watching and subscribing!

Instagram: @TheBikeSauce (I won't hog your feed; I don't post very often)

[barrma]

Loved your video. I used a slightly different approach. I measured the thickness of my rotor at 1.64 mm. Then got out feeler gauges and tried different combinations until I found 1.57 mm thickness. I dropped the wheels out and put the feeler gauges between the pistons of the Shimano 105 hydraulic brake. When I actuated the front lever the brake pistons came in to grip the feeler gauges, causing a slight tightening of the free stroke. This method gave me precise control and works beautifully. Whatever the thickness of your rotor is, use feeler gauges that total .07 mm thinner. If you want even less free stroke, try .09 mm thinner. I think you’ll be pleased with the results.

[RobertOsman-mn]

That was the best bike hack I've ever seen on youtube. Literally 2minutes per wheel. Brilliant.

[roleypup]

Agreed, on the few rides I'd done on bikes with hydraulic brakes I found the excess freeplay rather unnerving. My preference on rim brakes has been to set the brakes up so that the slightest movement of the lever engages the brake. But to transfer to hydraulics, having to hunt around for that engagement point on a brake system with so much stopping power, with a corner fast approaching is a recipe for losing the back wheel or being thrown over the bars.

Thank you for this, I've just made the adjustment on a recently-purchased bike.

[georgepepperman]

Super effective teaching! You broke down the steps and reasons in an easy to understand method. Most home bike tweekers can now impress their friends!

[yokeandspoke]

I've had this problem for ages and kept bleeding my brakes to try and fix it. Just tried this and what a difference. Thanks

[alanjohnston]

Nice video and very informative! Instead of squeezing the brake lever incrementally with no rotor present, just put together a credit and, say, a business card (about 1.6mm thickness) and place these between the pads before squeezing the brake fully. if still too much free stroke, remove the business card and repeat with just the credit card. This way you can gradually decrease the free stroke without going too far.

[rmips]

I adjust free stroke by installing a square or 2 of highly sticky 'scotch' aluminium foil to the rear of the pads. This tape is used in the aero industry for similar purposes.. I get the product from a friend who works In the UK and services helicopters for offshore.
Used it forever on mechanical and hydraulic pedal cycle brakes.. Its very precise to me and easy.

[JohnBinns-bs]

Brilliant video, really well presented and the tinker works effectively. My levers have a free stroke screw but it made little difference. This approach is perfect.

[vaughanbbrean]

Brilliant and well explained!!!! I have just bought a Creo with GRX600 levers and was dissapointed there was no adjustment, this is a great workaround thanks for the tip!!!!

[ericcrownover]

Thank you so much for teaching me how to reset my hydraulic calipers. I pressed the brake lever when the wheel was off and didn't know how to fix that problem until watching your video. Thank you for anticipating my problem and having an easy fix.

[eviloatmeal]

Concise and very informative!

As a v-brake user, I enjoy a very short free stroke on my back brake, and I'm always surprised (and slightly terrified) whenever I find myself squeezing a hydraulic brake lever, and nothing happens for the first 50-60% of the lever's travel.

Now that I'm adding a bike with disc brakes to my stable, your procedure will likely be one of the first things I perform on it in order to be able to trust the brakes and love the bike.

[mvX]

I started asking question after the 4th approach of rear brake bleeding process. This video helped me out and brakes works much better now

[Soundbeforelight]

Amazingly helpful video. I haven't done bike maintenance for a couple years now but I just got a new bike that comes with hydraulic brakes installed. Unfortunately the box looks like it got banged up and the front wheel wasn't installed in shipping. This whole time I've been trying to figure out why the tension is way too tight on the front wheel and every video I've watched about hydraulic brakes just talks about caliper alignment. I hadn't heard about this biking taboo about engaging the brakes without a disc but this makes so much sense with hydraulics. The brakes on my bike must've been engaged in transport. I'm going to try resetting the resting point like you showed but now I also have the bonus of knowing about this free stroke adjustment hack!!!

Thanks so much. You explain things so well, even for a beginner like me!

[koopa]

Bravo fantastic trick! Thank you. this method shortens free stroke by essentially resetting the pads closer to the rotor. Like the video said, if your rotor is not near perfectly straight, or you have disc rub issues, then this trick may not work for you.

[hs]

Remarkably clear and concise presentation and speaking.

[clinlashway]

I'm pretty sure this will only work for a while. Once the pads and rotor wear down, the system will begin to compensate normally again. Of course depending on how quickly you wear down the pads, this may last a reasonably long time before you would have to do it again.

[DiesUndDasOderDasDa]

Wow, this is the best bike maintenance hack EVER! Thanks a lot for the idea! <3 Increasing the lever pull step by step can be done very accurately by using a zip tie that's tightened in small increments and pushed off the brake lever between attempts...

[MartianTom]

Thanks for this. I've just bought a new Canyon Endurace 7 with a Shimano 105 groupset, including disc brakes. The front brake lever has way more travel than the rear brake, and I prefer them to be equal and quite tight. I'll give this hack a try to see if it helps.

[eldarssa]

Wow, this is an awesome tip! I wish the bike shop mechanics would be so knowledgable.

[WhiteMFingRabbit]

I wish Shimano-tec videos were this well executed and paced!