Aventon Aventure Rear Brake Barely Works - Zoom Brakes

[WildCatFan60]

Hi, the rear brake on my Aventon Aventure barely works. Brake handle for the rear goes almost to the hand grip. (Front brake seems fine). Barely helps stop the bike.

I can find very little information on the Zoom brakes. (evidently Aventon is using Zoom instead of the Bengal Ares?)

Also I have adjusted the brake caliper alignment on the front and rear. But the pads are still very close to the disc rotor on both wheels. Is there any want on these hydraulic brakes to adjust a wider gap in the caliper? Should I try and push the brake pistons back into the housing?

Thoughts or suggestions? I know Aventon Customer service is slow.

Thanks in advance.

 

[theemartymac]

Are they firm when they hit the limit of the range, or do they feel spongy and soft? Soft suggests they need a bleed. Link below.

If they just aren't gripping, they may have gotten contaminated with some oil or assembly grease. You can try and rough up the surface of the brake pads with some sandpaper, and use some brake cleaner on the disc. Otherwise, try a different compound pad like a metallic or ceramic compound. Most recreational bikes come with organic pads which are quieter and smoother, but not as grippy.

 

[finz04]

I had the very same problem with my Pace 500. This link gave me very easy to follow instructions to resolve the issue:

https://wooshbikes.co.uk/manuals/How-to-bleed-your-zoom-hydraulic.pdf

The air bubbles in the line appeared frothy. I did not need to open the bleed port on the rear calipers. Just simply flicked the brake lever until the bubbles disappeared. The rear brake firmed up and works very well now.

 

[WildCatFan60]

I had the very same problem with my Pace 500. This link gave me very easy to follow instructions to resolve the issue:

https://wooshbikes.co.uk/manuals/How-to-bleed-your-zoom-hydraulic.pdf

The air bubbles in the line appeared frothy. I did not need to open the bleed port on the rear calipers. Just simply flicked the brake lever until the bubbles disappeared. The rear brake firmed up and works very well now.

Thank you. very good information. I am still learning as far as full hydraulic brakes are concerned. Looks kind of like what they call a Lever Bleed... I like it.... will give it a try.

 

[WildCatFan60]

A related question - what kind of brake pad replacements do I need for the Zoom hydraulic brakes?

 

[Jason Knight]

I had the exact same problem on mine, and after a proper bleed it still didn't work because the caliper was seized. I had to replace the caliper to make the bike even rideable. Not helping matters was the nut holding the hose on for the front caliper wasn't on all the way so the front was leaking... but despite that slow leak the front at least did something. The rear did nothing at all.

... and I've talked to two other people in the past month who've gotten their bikes the exact same way.

Question, in your lowest gear, is the derailleur pointing straight forward to the point it's bending the mount? 'Cause that too seems to be an issue. With the stock 46t chainring it needs at LEAST 6 more links, and when I redid mine to a 52 tooth chainring I ended up with 10 more on it than it came with. The laugh being they ship the bike with an extra derailleur mount like they KNOW the one it ships with is going to get twisted.

They need to start shipping an extra caliper and a bleed kit with them.

Laugh is three weeks ago they said they were shipping me a chain and rear brake kit... still sitting here with thumb up my backside on that which is why I broken down and just bought my own damned parts. (and raided my spares bin for the chain)

 

[hoggdoc]

I had the exact same problem on mine, and after a proper bleed it still didn't work because the caliper was seized. I had to replace the caliper to make the bike even rideable. Not helping matters was the nut holding the hose on for the front caliper wasn't on all the way so the front was leaking... but despite that slow leak the front at least did something. The rear did nothing at all.

... and I've talked to two other people in the past month who've gotten their bikes the exact same way.

Question, in your lowest gear, is the derailleur pointing straight forward to the point it's bending the mount? 'Cause that too seems to be an issue. With the stock 46t chainring it needs at LEAST 6 more links, and when I redid mine to a 52 tooth chainring I ended up with 10 more on it than it came with. The laugh being they ship the bike with an extra derailleur mount like they KNOW the one it ships with is going to get twisted.

They need to start shipping an extra caliper and a bleed kit with them.

Laugh is three weeks ago they said they were shipping me a chain and rear brake kit... still sitting here with thumb up my backside on that which is why I broken down and just bought my own damned parts. (and raided my spares bin for the chain)

Yep, by all reports their customer support sucks big-time.

 

[JuicePower]

Yep, by all reports their customer support sucks big-time.

I add to the inferior customer support comments. The only thing they did well was send 2 free tire levers after I bought a Level. If they switched to Zoom brakes after my bike was sent in July, I wonder if they are paying their OEM suppliers as poorly as they are taking care of parts orders.

 

[webopus]

Hi, the rear brake on my Aventon Aventure barely works. Brake handle for the rear goes almost to the hand grip. (Front brake seems fine). Barely helps stop the bike.

I can find very little information on the Zoom brakes. (evidently Aventon is using Zoom instead of the Bengal Ares?)

Also I have adjusted the brake caliper alignment on the front and rear. But the pads are still very close to the disc rotor on both wheels. Is there any want on these hydraulic brakes to adjust a wider gap in the caliper? Should I try and push the brake pistons back into the housing?

Thoughts or suggestions? I know Aventon Customer service is slow.

Thanks in advance.

Howdy Wildcat. Both the rear brakes on our Aventures had the same issue. Forget Aventon Customer Support. You'll be old and gray before getting any results. Purchase a bleed kit for Zoom Hydraulic Brakes and simply add some mineral oil to the rear brake. There are a few Youtube videos showing you how to complete this. Finding a bleed kit specifically for Zoom brakes will be the challenge. Here's one on eBay, but there aren't many others. Good luck!