So here I have 2 near-identical handbrake setups (07 r1 master, 4 piston dual caliper setup with almost new pads - 1 on an f4i, 1 on a 636).

On Leah's setup, it feels phenomenal. Great feel, great power. I actually wanted to swap to this from my 13mm Magura because it felt so good and solid (I hate the spongyness of the 13mm and 16x18).

On mine, it feels very stiff, with not horrible power, but definitely not as much as Leah's (mine isn't locking up very easy 1 fingered).

Both are bled very well, so I'm having trouble figuring out what I should do to isolate this problem.

My master makes a VERY audible creaking noise when you pull the lever (not just a click, a loud creak). Could it be that I did something retarded while installing the lever? Originally, the lever that was on here was bent. Could it perhaps be messed up internally and it need to be rebuilt? Could it perhaps be my caliper?

I'm looking for any suggestions here, as I'm going to start swapping things out tonight in attempt to figure out what the problem is.

 

i would think that if the master had an internal problem, then you would be getting air in the system. are you both running the same pads? also check the routing of your lines.

 

Same pads, no routing problems in the line. Aside from the power when riding, when the bikes are completely still I can definitely feel the added stiffness in my lever.

 

thats crazy! sounds like you have checked everything. wish i had the answer for ya bro! i love my r1 master. i wouldnt trade it for anything.

 

swap levers,just the lever.

 

Alright, found out all my problems.

Dug the old bent lever out of the garbage, took of Leah's lever, and took of my current one. Looked at the collars that the bolt goes through and noticed my new lever had some gold one (the others were silver). I imagine it's because it's some ebay knockoff lever. I also noticed that the gold lever was a good bit longer than the silver ones, which made it much harder to slide into the mc. I swapped out the the collars, and bam, the creak went away and seemingly it felt a little bit better.

But still, it didn't feel as good. I then noted my finger positions on the levers and realized on Leah's I was pulling at the very end of the lever, where as on mine I was choked up over an inch. I tried to fiddle with my handbrake setup, but couldn't get it the same. I finally busted out the tape measure and realized that FI clipons are a full inch longer than Vortex clipons. For some reason I'd been under the assumption that they were all the same, but they are not!

Anyways, just figured I'd post up my findings for anyone who stumbles upon this in the future.