Friends 04 290 had a rear brake problem. Pedal was very firm, no air, but poor stopping. He did the water trick. Helped but no cigar.

We lowered the pedal (for other reasons after changing pegs) and almost no brake at all. Pedal hard, no stopping. Push rod and mc stroke were fine.

Upon inspection, there was a nick in the outboard side of the pedal where it passes the frame. The frame gusset tapered down and was about 1 to 2 mm wider to the inside than on another identical bike. The pedal was moving down and contacting the gusset slightly. When the pedal was lowered, it hit the gusset enough to stop before developing full pressure.

Since we didn't have a Chris UK mobile milling center in the woods, a round file sufficed and brakes are working as expected.

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That happened with Ishy's new Sherco 290 at the years SSDT. He brought his 'special' brake pedal with him and it snagged the frame! We noticed that the original pedal must have been catching it too, as it had scratches on it.

Decent file sorted the frame out, must have only been 1 or 2 mm to be honest.

Very tight gap at the best of times.

Since we didn't have a Chris UK mobile milling center in the woods, a round file sufficed and brakes are working as expected.