seansi
Junior Member
So I replaced the tires last week and the brakes aren't as firm as they use to be. Will bleeding them solve the problem?
In the name of curiosity - did you take the bike to the dealer to get the tires changed or did you remove the wheels and take just them?
If you problem is not hydraulic....
When you remove the wheel and the brakes pads have been taken out, the pads should be put back in the same position as the came from in the calipers.
If not there will be a long break in period for the grooves to match from pad to rotor face. If this has happened you might re-work the pads on a flat surface with some 150 grit sandpaper or put new pads on. When I put new pads on, I break/chamfer the top and bottom radius of the pad with sand paper so that it seats to the rotor face a little quicker. This works really great for a quicker break in. Another source of poor brake feeling is that even when you put the pads back in the same position on the caliper you may experience less braking power. This can be due to the fine dust that forms and resides on the pad face being disturbed or removed. After a few miles this dust reforms and your brake will feel normal again. I've experienced this many times on my own as well as others bikes I've removed the pads on.