SRAM hydraulics engaging late?

I've got a set of SRAM Rival hydraulic flat mount on my gravel bike (Rival 1 on front, Rival 22 on rear) and they both feel like they take a lot of lever travel to engage. Once engaged they're rock solid and brake very well, but the problem is really that the Rival 22 which has the shifter paddle, the paddle will hit my other fingers when braking from the hoods. I've bled them three or four times, and this time they felt the best out of any of the other times, I've been following all the instructions with my bleed kit, so wondering if someone has a good trick for setting them up to avoid this problem?

Assuming you bled them correctly and the fluid level is proper, there are 2 options.

1.  Use the reach adjustment to move the lever farther out.

2.  Remove the wheel and pull the brake lever a little to move out the pads.  You can do this a little bit at a time until you get them where you want them.  If you do too much and the pads end up too close, just spread the pads and start over.

ljsmith wrote:
2.  Remove the wheel and pull the brake lever a little to move out the pads.  You can do this a little bit at a time until you get them where you want them.  If you do too much and the pads end up too close, just spread the pads and start over.

...and then bleed the brakes again or you're saying they'll remember the new position somehow?

You won’t need to bleed them.  The pads will stay extended.

I'm not sure I understand what you're describing? Is there a lot of slop / play in your levers before it feels like they engage? If yes, here's a good video on solving that -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqEHA2dRgqs.

Yep, that video exactly describes what's going on, thank you.