*A FEW UPDATES/MUST READ:* *1.* _You don't have to pull as much of a vacuum as I did in this video. You can either fill the syringe with a little more fluid, or just don't push all the air out to start with the plunger higher up. This is especially important on the front brake due to the shorter hose. If you're having a really hard time pulling the plunger past the hole, it's probably too much vacuum. Although it's unlikely that you might damage something, it's best to stay on the safe side._ *2.* _The hole on the syringe doesn't have to be at the 30ml mark. It simply needs to be toward the top, but not so high that the plunger won't go past it. If you have a 25ml syringe, that's fine. If you have a larger syringe, you can drill the hole lower._ *3.* _Turns out that newer Magura bleed kits now come with a pre-drilled hole in one of the syringes. On older sets, you used to have to make the hole yourself._ *4.* _When filling the brakes from scratch(like when you install a new brake hose), make sure to have the caliper vertical or you might end up with a large air pocket that will cause a lack of pressure resulting in the lever pulling to the bar. If you feel no resistance/pressure at the lever, this is a likely cause._
Where can a buy one of the newer kits? Drilling a hole yourself doesn’t work as the plunger in the syringe gets stuck at the rough drill hole area. Also, is there a way to get a spare fill hole screw if it gets stripped? Is the thread in the lever assembly metal or plastic. The screw is plastic.
@@jack4321able You can buy a replacement screw on WorldwideCyclery.com. It's called an ebt screw. It's made of a softer plastic than the lever body so as not to strip the threads. Only screw it in until it's flush, do not tighten. In regard to the bleed kit, it's difficult to know if you're getting the new predrilled kit or not when buying one. I took an angled nail clipper to cut off the bits sticking up on the inside of the syringe and then lightly sanded it. Haven't had any issues. Good luck. 👍
@@jack4321able if you buy the genuine MAGURA SERVICE KIT it has 2 syringes in it, tube, end fittings for the tube. spare fittings - barbs, banjos ect, plugs for the end of the hose if you need to trim it down.. one syringe has the hole pre drilled for use at the lever end ... where are you based UK or another country ?
This works absolutely perfectly! I had tried the Magura recommend process with mediocre results. This method had my brakes perfect in 20 minutes with minimal mess.
Wow, I used Park Tools video for bleeding Magura brakes and I was having the hardest time with the rear. I bled them three times in a row and still didn’t get the air out. I was cussing about wasting an afternoon when I found this video. I recognized the logo as someone I bought brakes from off of Pinkbike. I had a good experience with this guy as a seller and thought I would check out the video. Best decision I made all day. Man this method is extremely simple and fast. It took very little time and was way less messy than the Park Tool method. Park Tool should be watching this guy’s video. I mean seriously don’t waste the time I did trying to do all that when you can obtain way better results with this technique. Thanks man!
@@dukeofmtb Yeah I got the Codes. You were awesome about the problem I had with them and took care of it immediately. I am very thankful for your integrity and intelligent
Simply amazing-- I've tried several different techniques (detailed in various other tutorial videos on YT) to try to get my Magura's just right and none worked---until I found this. Not only is it much simpler than other techniques--it actually works. You are a genius! I can't thank you enough
Just glad I could help. I remember being disappointed with my Magura brakes at first. It wasn't until after I discovered this method on a German mtb forum that I started to really fall in love with how hassle free these brakes can be. I figured I'd spread the word and save some people the frustration. Now we have Magura brakes on all our bikes. The only con is just how darn long it takes to bed in a new set of Magura rotors before you really get that power they're known for. Still, worth it. 😁👍
This worked great. I I followed Magura bleed directions and did the process multiple times. I was shocked how much air this procedure removed. Brakes feel perfect now. Thank you!
Man, your bleeding procedure is so simple but yet effective, you’ve made my job so much easier. The plastic screw housing is fragile can’t use metal bleeding screw during bleeding it damaged mine. Thank you for sharing.
Haha. I felt the same when I first got Magura brakes. Even tried Shimano levers for a while, but with this bleed method and hc3 levers, the Shigura setup feels like garbage in comparison. Glad it worked out. Now you'll be hooked on Magura for life. Lol
Thank you a millions times!!!! After 2 days of trying to bleed a new set of Magura MT5s without success, this method worked perfectly!!! So glad I saw this video, as I think genuinely it saved my sanity!!! 😂😂🎉🎉
I have MT7's and tried to beed them a bunch of times. Always had a little air in the lines that I just dealt with by pumping the breaks at the top of the mountain. After following your video, I came out with a perfect bleed! You are much appreciated. 👊
Can we just appreciate how @dukeofmtb has replied to pretty much every comment that had a question! I've just got a set of MT5 to replace my old Shimano M615 on my DIY ebike and oh boy, these brakes are sooooo much better. I've just cut the hoses and didn't even do a bleed, running older aliexpress rotors with the 9.1 pads and it's already so good, the modulation and braking power it's insane how fast I can stop and even with QR skewer I don't have any pad rub either. Anyway, just got a bleed kit in the mail, drilled a hole and when these pads are worn, I'll be putting on new rotors, single pads and do the bleed. Btw, your video with the instructions/explanations are done so professionally and clear, Magura should pay you for this.
This is AMAZING!!! I have always struggled with Magura brakes, never getting a proper bleed. I just changed the rear brake hose, filled and bleed like normal...squishy! Did this trick once and the brakes feel awesome!!! Thank you soooooo much!!!! I owe you one.
Best way to fill 100% brakes, I was striving to get it done with how Magura officially has the videos, this method first time it worked pretty well the brakes are solid once again 😁 Thanks man. Cheers.
Fed up of SRAM's death grip I switched to Magura after initially considering Shimano due to some doubts regarding bleeding, as many folks told me it's very complicated. Anyway, I had to shorten both hoses and bleeding the brakes with this syringe trick worked wonders. Thanks a bunch!
SO TODAY I FITTED MY NEW MAGURA MT7 BRAKES... now ive already been watching videos etc in preparation and id already seen your video, its a good job i did, i went to town on bleeding them going backwards and forwards with the mineral oil the magura way so that when i come to do your technique its virtually done, how wrong was i, i still had to do your technique multiple times bubbles come out like i hadnt just bled them, but now absolutely solid, hopefully it holds up when i ride tomorrow!! thank you so much youve save a life today haha
I feel you man. I went through the same thing at first. Almost regretted my purchase. So glad I saw a random video of a German dude doing it this way. I just saw it in passing. I didn't understand a word he said. I just went ahead and tried it. Eureka! Brakes were perfect. I just had to share what I discovered with the English speaking world. And here we are. I'm glad you found this video. Enjoy the brakes, man. 👍
I just did your burp trick to my Maguras and it did the trick! I had bled them a few times and just wasn't getting any more air out, but the lever (rear brake) was still spongy, and I just put on a new lever as the old one was leaking at the back of the master cylinder piston. So when I put the the new MT5 on and bled it I thought I was going to get that firm felt just like my front brake, but no. So I did the burp, I saw bubbles coming up and then tried it out the the lever was firm and high just like the front one. Thanks for the video.
The Best Magura MT maintenance video I've seen, even Magura's official video doesn't show you these tricks. When my pads are starting to wear I put gaffer tape on the back of each pad, which stops them slipping also. But I'll try your method from now on,. Cheers!
Hell ya this method worked for me. Thanks bro! I did it slightly different. I took the caliper off and removed the pads. Then put 2 plastic tire irons inside the calipers to hold the pistons in place lol. Worked perfect! Pistons stayed and with your method, it pulled all the air outta the system and equalized.
I accidentally spilled some fluid while shortening the brake hose so I had to refill the fluid and get the excessive air out. This did the trick for me! Thank you so much 😁
Thank you. This is the best method. Works especially well when one person makes a vacuum and the second knocks on the hydraulic line and caliper. This helps the air bubbles rise faster.
That seemed to work pretty good for me. I bleed these myself all the time but they never get quite to where i want them. Even the shops I've taken my bike into always do a poor job of bleeding these. Thanks for the tip, so simple and obvious once you know it.
Gonna have to try this. Installed Magura MT7s last week. Front bled perfectly and is immensely strong. Rear lever still comes back to the bar after 4 bleeds and zero air bubbles now coming out.
I bought a bleed kit for my bike, it was an absolute nightmare to do and the instructions didn't make any sense, the whole thing wound me up and made me angry. I took 5 minutes to chill out and watched your video, I then did it again following your instructions and it worked perfectly. Thank you so much!
Nice one, After 2 years of perfect brakes since I installed them, the rear failed and after 3 or 4 attempts I finally drilled a hole in my syringe and kapow, back to beast mode 😅
I tried this bleed method on my MT7s in the shop yesterday, they felt fine. Then today on the first ride, one brake got even better, then the other brake ended up developing a huge amount of air, leaving me out in the woods without a functional brake. Re-bled tonight, but seeing that Magura recommends using the two syringes, I might try that method again another day. For now I’ll remove these brakes and run TRP or Shimano for the next few rides. Coming from Shimano style bleeding, it feels hokey to cover a hole with my finger. At the same time, Shimano brakes sure aren’t perfect either! But I’m accustomed to working on them. Wish this Magura procedure was some what traditional with a pump-pump-bleed style!
I appreciate the input. You might have to try the push/pull method with two syringes to get a stubborn air bubble out. I've had to resort to that myself a few times. Most of the time though, this works like a charm after trimming the hoses on a new set. Luck of the draw, I guess. Best of luck. I hope you get it sorted out. 👍
I know the feeling. Almost regretted my purchase when I first got Magura brakes a few years ago. Now all our bikes are Magura. They're freaking awesome once you know your way around them. Just glad I could save you from further frustration. You should try MT7s with Hc3 levers. They're the best. 😁👍
Great bleed technique that I hadn't heard of before. I used a 20ml syringe and even with that smaller volume it was difficult to draw the plunger to the top. A second hole lower down made things easier. I would just emphasise (from bitter experience) be really careful tightening the bleed screw. I destroyed a Shimano brake lever by over tightening. The plastic thread easily strips and there is no going back. This was during lockdown, and there were no spares available anywhere, for any money. Aargh!
I'm familiar as F around all things bike mechanics, but I LOATHE bleeding brakes. Genuinely, I used to drive a 60 mile round trip to get my mechanic to do them as he was OCD with it all, saved me the swearing and frustration. I moved out of the area, so I had little choice but to now do my own. Last time (full bleed on my MT7's) has a massive pain in the rear, I hate it Ssssssooooo much! I've never seen the reverse / vacuum method before but I've just done front and rear and off to BPW tomorrow so I'll report back how good the process is - thanks Ed! On the flip side, I had to bleed the brakes in my sons Hope M4's yesterday, and that was ooooohhhhh so much more complex. Doesn't help the reservoirs aren't even level despite moving the lever! I can never go back to Hope, sorry!
You are my hero! I own a quite a few bikes with the MT5 and 7s and I'm so happy how simple your directions are plus I've had 100% consistently dialed in results. Thanks so much for this video!
@@dc-17-uk Yes. Right after a hose trim on a prefilled set of Maguras, you just have to do this on the lever end. It's similar to the funnel bleed that people do on Shimano brakes. It's the easiest and most reliable method. If you start bleeding from the bottom, you're more like to introduce air than to remove it. So you always have to finish off with what's shown on this video anyway.
@@dukeofmtb thank you!! Do you still use this method for future bleeds (not just after the initial hose trim)? Essentially never bleeding from caliper (ever)
After many messy bleeds I still had a spongy front brake, pure chance I seen your vid and wow, just finished this process and I have a perfect brake 👍. You should work for Magura because this is way better than their vids. Thanks man! 👍👍
I'm glad it worked out for you. I'm just here trying to spread the word. Magura brakes are excellent. There's just not a lot of info on them out there. Most negative reviews I've read about them come from the idea that they're hard to get a good bleed on. Would be sweet if Magura noticed my efforts though. 😅
@@dukeofmtb yeah they should at least acknowledge your efforts 👍 I really like my Magura set, no one else can touch the quality for the price.. I still have the pads on that came with set, on your advice I'll be upgrading these too. 👌 Thanks again man.
Invaluable vid. I used less fluid, hole further down on syringe and worked perfectly on my turd mt-2's. Combined w oem 'performance' tier pads not too shabby for 10 year old cannondale bad boy ultra 1 for cardio at local park.
The tip about the brake pads is on point. Spent about 2 hrs riding the stock pads and the front refuses to lock up. Single piston rear brake locks up with ease. Gonna try 2 single pads and see what happens.
Glad you found the video helpful. I've tried going back to the one piece pads just to see if maybe they just need a longer bed in, but they're still definitely not as good as the 4 piece individual pads.
i fitted a set of mt7 pro on my main trail bike in december 2020. theyre awesome.. but on my last couple of trail rides i noticed much more lever pull on the rear before hitting the bite point. ive just followed your video and done the quick lever bleed of the rear and its worked perfectly. the bite point is now much earlier in the lever pull and my front and rear now feel the same. thanks for posting this simple and quick method. ive subscribed and look forward to future posts.. keep up the good work buddie, stay safe and keep on riding
finally i manage to bleed my old magura race line hs 22 thanks to this metod. thank you very much.huge ,huge help. brake lever is firm now. btw i fill my brake lines with baby oil to give it a try and is working great,i will change it later to magura oil.
Hi. Thanks for this video. It is indeed the best way for perfect bleed of Magura. However I would like to add something based on my experience. I would recommend to add around 20ml of Royal Blood to the syringe instead of 10ml. When you usenonly 10ml and leave so much space between the oil and hole at 30ml point, then when you pull the syringe while attached to the lever the vacuum pressure is bit too big. I have done it with only 10ml of oil and sucked up the oring from lever master cylinder piston. It was sucked up into the lever. The result was that I had soft lever all the time as the air was entering the system through master piston. It took me 3 days od struggling with bleeding the system before I found out what was the reason 😅 so in case your lever is still soft after quick bleed, check out the oring at master piston on the lever. And btw you can remove the piston without disassembling the lever 😉
Another way to reduce excess lever throw is to simply pull the rotor back, away from the pad that has the most gap, and give the lever a few pulls. It's quicker than pulling the pads out, and it works just as good.
Sweet! I'm Magura all the way now that I know about this bleed method. They're just so simple to get 100%. Sure the levers are basically plastic, but it only takes a minute to swap one out if you have a bad enough crash. And they're not as flimsy as people claim. We've crashed hard dozens of times and only broke a lever once. That was a year and a half ago now and we've crashed a couple dozen more times since. I still keep a lever handy in the trunk of the car, just in case. Wouldn't want to cut a trip to the bike park short if something happens to the break lever.
I was worried because my Maguras were a different model but this worked great for me. The Magura bleed kit instructions were difficult to follow and didn't produce the same results of this video.
great tip for a fast rebleed and get firmer feeling agian; just tried in 2 bikes (MT5 & MT7) and the result was solid. THANKS, i was struggling to get this consistency even with the complete caliper side standard bleed.
Yup. I don't even bother doing a full flush with a new set of Maguras. I just cut the hoses and do the 'vacuum method.' It takes no time at all. If you go with Maguras, get the hc3 levers if you can. They're sooo much better than stock.
@@LoganJohnston190 The lever isn't as thick but it's also much firmer. Feels a ton better than Shimano or Sram or any other Magura lever for that matter. You get more power too. It also has a leverage adjustment. So if you want a firm lever that stops dead at the bite point, you can have that. If you want a softer 'sramy' feel with more modulation, you can have that too. You can also just use it to make your front and rear feel identical. I personally set the rear to the firmest setting and soften up the front slightly to match it. With properly bedded in pads and rotors, it feels like dropping an anchor.
Tips that this didn't cover: Don't press out all the air in the syringe, as doing this means that you need to put greater suction on the system before you finally reach the equalizing hole. Greater suction force=more stress on the system. I usually leave about 5ml of air along with the fluid. When you place the syringe in the master cylinder and put suction on it (AKA pulling the syringe up), do this several times and not just once. Also, rotate the master up and down while holding suction, because you will sometimes have a trapped bubble. If you do this with the stopper pads in place (the yellow spacers that come with the kit), you can actually flick the brake lever a few times, which sometimes will put pressure on the entire system and cause that trapped air to come up.
Good bonus tips. I tried to keep the vid simple and just stuck to the basic idea. Folks figure out the lever flicking thing, tilting the master, and pushing and pulling on the plunger repeatedly pretty quickly on their own. Everyone gets pretty creative on the more stubborn bleeds. 😁👍
What do you mean by rotating the master? I've typically bled it with 2 syringes and the push/pull method. It's not the best and takes a few bleeds to get it so definitely keen to try this.
@@dc-17-uk The "master" refers to the lever side. Sometimes I like to pull a vacuum on one side, then I flip it over and do it again on the other. Or move the lever body(aka master cylinder) up and down and tap it to unstuck any bubbles that might be stuck in a corner somewhere. Mostly, pulling the vacuum does the trick. Everything else is just extra for the more stubborn brakes.
@@dukeofmtb ah got it. So I stupidly stripped one of the bleedport screws way back. It's in there and sealed but I can't get it out. Would you just leave it as is and flip the master to use the other port? Removing it may just be too finicky?
@@dc-17-uk That's a good idea. Although, you could get it out by heating up a small flat screwdriver and melting a little into the old bleed screw to get it out. Of course order a new screw first. It's up to you if it's worth the risk though. Also, if you ever brake a master, keep the screws and bolts as future backups. 😁👍
On my Magura ebike brakes...to center the 4 brake pads/caliper on the rotor, I loosen the 2 caliper mounting screws, apply pressure to the brake lever and hold down tight, then with my other hand I tighten the caliper mounting screws down. Let off the brake lever and your brake caliper will be centered everytime.
Thanks for this! This method worked for me but the suction was really strong, to the point where I could barely pull it all the way to the 30ml mark / hole. I tried it a few different times and it was the same each time. Regardless, I got my rear brake lever feeling good. Thanks!
Haha. Yes, I should have mentioned you could start with a little extra fluid or just not push all the air out of the syringe so you don't have to pull such a massive vacuum. Glad you figured it out and that it worked out for you. 😁👍
I actually have an updated version of that pad trick. Whenever I feel like I have too much lever throw, I just simply pull back the rotor away from the pad that has the biggest gap from the rotor with my hand and give the lever a few pulls. Way quicker. 😁👍
@@dukeofmtb I did that with my rear Shimano MT520 caliper and it kinda worked but now it's leaking so I'm going to replace it with a Magura caliper (I'm running Shimano XT M8000 levers). Just wondering if MT5 again or MT4 but I like new stuff so I'm probably gonna try the two pot.
@@GalinPanchev MT4 if you want 2 pot, but MT7 if you 4 pot. MT5 with Shimano levers have a ton of lever throw. Felt too spongy for my liking. The MT4 or 7 calipers will give a firmer feel with shorter throw.
@@GalinPanchev Yes. MT7 calipers have less piston rollback than the MT5 calipers and require less fluid before the pads contact the rotors, resulting in shorter lever throw. I originally thought it was marketing BS, but when I tried pairing MT5 levers with MT7 calipers, I could lock up the brakes just by sneezing on the levers(lol). Alternately, MT7 levers paired with MT5 calipers result in a lot of excess lever throw. The MT5 levers push more fluid to compensate for the increase piston rollback on the MT5 calipers. I've taken the levers apart too, and I saw that the reservoirs are different sizes between the MT7 and MT5 levers. So if you are doing a Shimano/Magura combo, you'll get the best results with MT7 calipers if you want 4 pots, and MT4 calipers if you want 2 pot brakes.
Love the different style of video, you should do more of the working on bikes style of video in between getting on the trails. Also cool you guys are in mi I always hope to run into you during a ride keep showcasing the modest michigan trails you deserve way more subs.
Excellent. I also discovered... after finding still lack of power ...to perform this bleed with pads as is on rotor to maximize distance of pad engagement... even with worn pads? I get how pulling air out of oil and allowing it equalize to back fill lines when one pulls past the hole vent. Excellent method to top up brake oil. Great. Btw I didn't remove nor push pistons back. Now my brakes are super responsive and powerful and modulating like new. I originally had the 8.R pads mistakenly as I realize they need serious heating up to really wake up. Downhill racing later...Original 8.P or 8.S 2 per plate are perfectly massive braking for black trail and trial riding. And that's with 2 piece back plate set not the 4 piece with bolt? Great tips and easy to follow your directions. Thank you. Always learning.
Glad you enjoyed the vid. What you're doing is overfilling. It can put your brakes at risk whenever you push the pistons back to replace the pads. That's why its recommended to push the pistons in *before* you close of the bleed port at the lever. If you want very responsive brakes with an instant bite, you can just take the pads out one by one and give the lever a 3/4th pull each time to get all the pads as close to the rotor as possible. It gives the same result as overfilling, but without risk of damage to your brakes. Ofcourse this is easier with the individual pads, since you don't have to remove your wheels to do it. The individual pads are definitely better than the one piece ones. The gold race pads are the most powerful, but they can be annoyingly noisy.
@@dukeofmtb oh right o.... let me re address the refill again. Lol. I really appreciate your quick feedback. I will redo. I'm also waiting for my MTX red 4 piece pads to arrive; the gold 8.P or 8.R I find need so much heat to warm up to really perform I'll keep them for intense downhill race... Thanks again.
@@VikingRasbornStrong I actually just started using the MTX Gold pads. They're great. They're very quiet. Takes a little bedding in before the power comes on, but once it does, they're just as powerful as Magura's gold pads, but without the noise.
@@dukeofmtb really? I ordered red mtx as I had to put back in my mt5 gold pinned as I destroyed a set of green organic resin non pinned pads after 2 black runs....I also had a Galfer 223mm rotor...AMAZING... with the 4 piece Gold Top Brake ebike ? no fade but its noisy grating as it bites with lots of modulation ; no sqeal just hear the rough noise. So powerful there no arm pump. Boy took a while to center though. Real 2mm thick rotors of Lazer cut Japanese steel and made in Spain.
Solid video, simple and to the point. Tips at the end are super helpful. I'm coming off of SRAM and going to Magura on my next build so I needed this. Thank you!
I only do a full flush of the brake lines once every one or two years, or whenever the method in the video no longer works either due to an issue with the levers, the seals, the hose, or the fluid being contaminated, etc. Obviously if I'm swapping brake hoses, then I have to do a fill from scratch before doing the method in the video to pull out air bubbles(important tip about that in the pinned comment). If I just bought a new prefilled set and only trimmed the hoses, I just do this and put the fluid that I used in a separate little bottle so I can reuse it later on another set of brakes or to lube the stanchions on my fork or whatever. Hope this helps. 😁👍
Thanks for your answer. So, this is a method for improving the functioning of the brakes, if I got it right. It would be awesome if you made a video about cases like contaminated liquid, for instance. I work at a bike shop and customers want something done on their brakes only when they have no brakes at all. Thanks again!
Thanks for this, vacuum trick worked. Didnt bother with the pad trick as mine are so close to the rotor. I did over-adjust the lever with the litte black plastic screw thing and now have a set of MT7s that feel like a Well bled Shimano XT, only without the woody lever feeling.
Glad it worked for you. I only do the pad trick when the pads start getting worn and the pistons are a little sticky. Don't usually have to do it with new pads. Great quick fix that lasts a while. And yeah, the mt7s are great. You should try them with hc3 levers. They're on another lever. Amazing lever feel. Everything else starts feeling like crap after trying hc3 levers, even the hc levers(that's why the hc levers are on our hardtails, while the hc3 levers go on the "big bikes.") Seriously, try them. The leverage adjustment on those things alone are worth it.
Ed your seem like a great guy and thanks for sharing but after 10 tries my rear brake still felt mushy. So knowing how easy it is to bleed the whole system from rear caliper up I went for that option. Didn't even remove the rear caliper but did remove the pads for cautionary reasons. So easy to do and now finally the rear brake lever feels firm just like the front. So if some people don't get the results from your tip like I didn't don't hesitate doing the whole bleed. FYI my bike is new and the rear felt mushy so i handle it instead of returning it to the dealer. Thanks Tim USMC 73-77
No worries. My suspicion is your brake was too low on fluid to begin with, so doing a full flush from scratch is a good idea if the brake still didn't feel right after 10 tries. It never takes more than 2 tries with the method in the video. Glad you worked it out. 👍
If you are doing a full bleed, like when you are cutting the hose down, I found out after A LOT of trial and error the following: - Take the caliper off the bike, especially for the rear, and remove the pads. Insert the bleed block(s) and secure them with tape or something else. - Fill a syringe that fits the caliper bleed port with about 30 - 40 mL and push out the air. Remove the bleed screw and attach the syringe. - Use a funnel attachment on the lever bleed port and fill it with about 15 mL of fluid. - Push the fluid from the caliper side into the funnel and then pull it back into the syringe, making sure there is still fluid in the funnel. You will see bubbles come back into the syringe. Let them float up until the fluid is clear again and repeat until no bubbles come out on either side. - While the funnel side is full you can lightly pull the lever a few times until you feel some moderate resistance. This should be pushing fluid back into the syringe as you pull the lever. Do one more cycle of pulling and pushing the fluid through. - Push about 80% of the fluid from the syringe into the funnel one last time making sure not to push any air into the system. - Put the stopper in the funnel and remove it from lever. Now push on the syringe just a tiny bit until a little fluid comes out of the lever port. Quickly screw in the lever bleed screw to spec (0.5 N•m). - Remove the bleed blocks and carefully push the syringe in until the pistons start to move just mm or so. Remove the syringe and quickly return the bleed screw and torque it down. - Clean the caliper thoroughly with alcohol and then push the pistons in with a clean screwdriver. - Return the brake pads and put the caliper back on.
This was the only way to get my rear brakes to bite nicely. Pushing the pistons out with the syringe ensures there is enough fluid in the system to truly get them to push the pads without overfilling. Everything was brand new, so I was able to save all the fluid I used. Adjust accordingly if you have dirty fluid in the hose.
The golds are powerful, but they can get so chirpy. Personally, they're not worth it unless you're racing. The greens are pretty quiet but don't have the same umph. They do last long though. I find the grays strike the best balance between the two. I really like running the aftermarket MTX pads. Sometimes I run MTX pads on one side of the rotor and green or gray pads on the other to really tune the brake feel I want.
Hello my mt8 the lever pull is ok one ride next ride i have way too much pull next ride average...never the same should i get a bleed kit and do those steps ! Its weird its never the same this is on rear brake i had them bleed 400km ago and starting acting like this thank you for input 😊
What an amazingly done tutorial,very professional and clear!!! I just tried this method and had bubbles nonstop, I wonder if the syringe tip had a good enough sealing against the bleeding port..
Glad you liked it. Anyway, I've had that happen before. I have an MT5 brake that does that, but it still works fine. Try not to pull too hard on a set that does that. You might have a faulty brake set and you might be overwhelming the seals and air might be coming through one of them. You can also just try emailing Magura to warranty your brakes. Tell them your set has a faulty seal. I've had good luck with their customer service, specifically with kent.king@magurausa.com. Check that the banjo bolt and bleed port on your caliper are properly torqued first, that might also be the culprit. Best of luck. 👍
Thanks for posting this, you're legend ! So you confirm it's possible to mount HC3 levers on MT5 ? It seems not in the HC3 description but I don't know why. Thanks
I've done it on a couple sets of MT5s. It works, but there's more lever throw than you'd get on a set of MT7s. I eventually upgraded to MT7s with hc3 levers. It's just not the same feel-wise on the MT5s.
Hey, great video! Do you have any advice for a Shigura setup? The Shimano bleeding kit only has a cup to sit on the lever for the bleeding process, are there any syringes that work with shimano levers?
@@Apollo_Y Unfortunately, no. I don't think the Shimano lever is built to be vacuum bled. Looks like the bubble bleed with the funnel is the only option. Google is your friend if youre not familiar with it. Best of luck. 👍
I use aluminum foil duct sealing tape in 5 or so layers stuck to the back of the Magura pads to shim them and reduce lever throw. Bam. Thanks for your tips too
Well, I guess you won't have to do that anymore. There's an even easier way to get rid of extra throw than what I showed in this video. I'll get around to making a short vid about it and some point and have a link pop up in that part of a vid. Anyway, instead of taking the retaining bolt out and pulling the pad, it's easier to just put a flat screwdriver behind the top of the back plate to press the pad firmly against the rotor. Then just give the lever a few pulls and the lagging piston will have enough room to go out far enough to get rid of the extra lever throw. It's super quick and easy. Hope that helps. 😁👍
There is a lever throw adjustment set screw located around the front of the lever pivot point...one can take a lot of lever play out with that adjustment. Zride.
This method is a complete life saver for getting a good feel on my MT7s. One question though, do you have any tips on filling a completely empty system? To avoid air trapped in the caliper.
I've tried all sorts of things before. The only way to ensure no air is trapped anywhere is to simply close off the caliper end and finish off the bleed with the method in the video. That's all I've been doing, and it's worked so far. Anyway, glad the video helped you. 😊
@@dukeofmtb I'll give it a shot. Replacing my own calipers with shiny MT Trail SL calipers and giving the MT7 ones to the wife. She loves the channel too btw, also happens to be a Filipina riding a Juliana. :)
awesome video, subscribed right away, but the fact that you're active in the comments and even checked up on someone blows my mind. keep up the good work!
Not only that it works better, but also way more simple. Wow That’s a rare. So glad I came across your video. Thank you so much. One thing I missed was pulling the caliper back. It says it prevents overfilling. Can you share what will happen if it gets over filled? You suggest I redo it and push the caliper back this time? Thanks
Glad I could help. Anyway, if you push the pistons back on an overfilled set to swap out to new pads, you could burst the bladder or bust a seal. Basically, you could potentially damage your brakes. So yeah, I'd recommend redoing it without skipping that step. Although you don't have to pull such a hard vacuum now that your brakes are good. A light pull will do. Either fill the syringe further up, or don't push the plunger too far in before sticking it in the lever end. Best of luck.
Thanks for the explanation, it makes magura brakes much easier to service. However, the plastic screws are annoying and all other manufacturers have metal.
Glad I could help. Maguras would be perfect if the lever body was aluminum, but since their not, it's best that the bleed screw is plastic. I'd rather strip the screw threads than the bleed port threads. It's cheaper to replace. I actually have spare screws, but I've never needed them.
This is a great technique (and a great video). But my question: could this technique be used with other brake manufacturers? Shimano 105 in my case. What is unique about Magura that enables a syringe with hole to work?
Thanks! It should work theoretically. Finding an airtight syringe kit for shimano is another story. Most kits have so many connectors and whatnot that you end up pulling air through all the connections instead of from the brakes.
Hi a quick question, what position should the lever throw be at before starting, as in all the way adjusted outwards or all the way in towards the grip. Great vid by the way
I feel your pain. I went through all that before too. This is so much easier. That's why I have Magura brakes on all our bikes now. They're so easy to bleed with this method, and they work great. 😁👍
Great video! Thanks for making it simple for us. I have the mt8 sl brakes and i am having some issues with the pistons. One was stuck so I made it good again, did full bleeding and seemed to work. However, one of the pistons is now much more out than the other but fixed the other with your trick. Is this Situation an issue with the said piston or just result perhaps of overfilling the system? If that matters, the piston that is more out is also the one that was stuck. Thank you!
Thanks! It might be slightly overfilled, that's why you want to push the pistons back _before_ closing it off. Still, it shouldn't be an issue. Sometimes the pistons just don't want to be pushed back that far. As long as the brakes are working now, it's not really a problem.
Great tips, thanks a lot Duke! Do you have an idea what could be the reason why my rear MT7 lever still feels a bit mushy after numerous bleeds on a new brake? Note, I have bled many brakes before, DOT and mineral, Sram and Shimano and NEVER had such issues. I bled my MT7 several times top to bottom and bottom to top, there is NO air in the system at all. I have tilted the lever and caliper at all possible angles and made sure there is no trapped air anywhere. The hose-to-lever connection is not leaking. The master cylinder seal is not leaking. The caliper port is not leaking. Pistons are moving as normal. I followed your procedure in this video precisely and equalised the systems before lever screw is screwed back in. I also did this with pistons fully retracted as in your video as well as with bleed blocks after squeezing the lever to adjust and only then closing the lever screw. The most frustrating part is - with the front brake I just got the perfect bleed first time with no issues at all. Rear brake (longer hose admittedly) is still spongy. What the hell is going on??
Try this: Leave the caliper in a dead hang so it's vertical when pushing fluid up from the bottom. The only time I've had issues with a bleed has been when swapping hoses and doing a refill. An air pocket gets stuck at the caliper if you fill the system with the caliper horizontal. You might want to push and pull the plunger a little(with an open syringe at the lever end ofcourse) as well. Once you've filled it this way, close everything off and do the vacuum bleed in this video to finish it off. Skip the pad removal trick for the front brake and only do it on the rear. These days I don't even take the pad out. I just firmly pull the rotor back with my hand, away from the pad that has the slightest gap, and give the lever a few pulls to allow the lagging piston to push out slightly further and therefore removing extra lever throw. The front and rear should feel matched after this. If not, there may be an issue with one of your levers or calipers. In which case, swap your levers and do the vacuum bleed to refill any fluid you might have lost during the swap. If the problem switches sides, try contacting Magura for a replacement. I had a similar issue once after many crashes and tree clips. Turned out to be the lever end. As soon as I replaced it, everything was like new again. My current set is on a 3rd bike now. 4 years old. Other than the one master cylinder(lever side) everything is still from my original purchase, except the pads ofcourse. Best of luck. 👍
@@dukeofmtb Thanks mate. There is a ton of wisdom in what you say. I already did almost exactly what you suggested here with the difference that I placed the bike vertically in the stand instead of taking off rear caliper. And this was not a new bleed or any oil drain-involving case. I simply cut the hose during the first installation. It is rideable now but I will keep experimenting. There is a big difference between front and rear lever feel now, and on my friend's MT5s left anbd right feel identical so somethng is still not right.
@@fkuashum I hope you figure it out. If the difference is minute, you could try installing hc3 levers. The leverage adjustment on the hc3 levers can be used to compensate for the slight flex from the longer hose and match the feel of the front and rear levers. It's one major reason my favorite brakes are the mt7/hc3 brakes. I usually run the front lever almost fully open, and then dial the rear lever in until it matches the firmness of the rear. But if the difference is more significant, then it could be something else and may have to contact Magura for a warranty replacement. Best of luck. 👍
@@dukeofmtb I did figure finally it out, and here is what helped me. Initially, when I circulated the oil between caliper and lever syringes multiple times, pumping from the caliper one, I pulled and pushed relatively slowly as shown in all bleeding videos that I have seen. This, along with tilting, and tapping on the caliper was NOT ENOUGH to dislodge all air bubbles from the caliper. I had to pull HARDER and FASTER on the caliper syringe to increase the speed of oil flow through the caliper. It helped, and I had a few mid-size bubbles escaping immediately into the caliper syringe. My system is now air free, and rear lever feels exactly the same as the front one. I hope this helps someone.
@fkuashum Ah, yes! I haven't considered mentioning that. I also do that when filling from scratch, giving it some strong push/pulls a couple times to dislodge any bubbles from the caliper. I'm glad it worked out man. Now you get to really enjoy the brakes. 👍
*A FEW UPDATES/MUST READ:*
*1.* _You don't have to pull as much of a vacuum as I did in this video. You can either fill the syringe with a little more fluid, or just don't push all the air out to start with the plunger higher up. This is especially important on the front brake due to the shorter hose. If you're having a really hard time pulling the plunger past the hole, it's probably too much vacuum. Although it's unlikely that you might damage something, it's best to stay on the safe side._
*2.* _The hole on the syringe doesn't have to be at the 30ml mark. It simply needs to be toward the top, but not so high that the plunger won't go past it. If you have a 25ml syringe, that's fine. If you have a larger syringe, you can drill the hole lower._
*3.* _Turns out that newer Magura bleed kits now come with a pre-drilled hole in one of the syringes. On older sets, you used to have to make the hole yourself._
*4.* _When filling the brakes from scratch(like when you install a new brake hose), make sure to have the caliper vertical or you might end up with a large air pocket that will cause a lack of pressure resulting in the lever pulling to the bar. If you feel no resistance/pressure at the lever, this is a likely cause._
Yep I have one. The newer kit. 🤙
Where can a buy one of the newer kits? Drilling a hole yourself doesn’t work as the plunger in the syringe gets stuck at the rough drill hole area. Also, is there a way to get a spare fill hole screw if it gets stripped? Is the thread in the lever assembly metal or plastic. The screw is plastic.
@@jack4321able You can buy a replacement screw on WorldwideCyclery.com. It's called an ebt screw. It's made of a softer plastic than the lever body so as not to strip the threads. Only screw it in until it's flush, do not tighten. In regard to the bleed kit, it's difficult to know if you're getting the new predrilled kit or not when buying one. I took an angled nail clipper to cut off the bits sticking up on the inside of the syringe and then lightly sanded it. Haven't had any issues. Good luck. 👍
@@jack4321able if you buy the genuine MAGURA SERVICE KIT it has 2 syringes in it, tube, end fittings for the tube. spare fittings - barbs, banjos ect, plugs for the end of the hose if you need to trim it down.. one syringe has the hole pre drilled for use at the lever end ... where are you based UK or another country ?
Since Covid over here in Eorpe all bike parts are at a premium and its hard to get hold of anything, My LBS is asking me for parts :)
This works absolutely perfectly!
I had tried the Magura recommend process with mediocre results.
This method had my brakes perfect in 20 minutes with minimal mess.
Wow, I used Park Tools video for bleeding Magura brakes and I was having the hardest time with the rear. I bled them three times in a row and still didn’t get the air out. I was cussing about wasting an afternoon when I found this video. I recognized the logo as someone I bought brakes from off of Pinkbike. I had a good experience with this guy as a seller and thought I would check out the video. Best decision I made all day. Man this method is extremely simple and fast. It took very little time and was way less messy than the Park Tool method. Park Tool should be watching this guy’s video. I mean seriously don’t waste the time I did trying to do all that when you can obtain way better results with this technique. Thanks man!
Thanks for the kind words. I think I remember you too. You bought the Codes right? Glad this method worked out for you. 😁👍
@@dukeofmtb
Yeah I got the Codes. You were awesome about the problem I had with them and took care of it immediately. I am very thankful for your integrity and intelligent
@@BigfootBikes Just glad I could help. 😊
Simply amazing-- I've tried several different techniques (detailed in various other tutorial videos on YT) to try to get my Magura's just right and none worked---until I found this. Not only is it much simpler than other techniques--it actually works. You are a genius! I can't thank you enough
Just glad I could help. I remember being disappointed with my Magura brakes at first. It wasn't until after I discovered this method on a German mtb forum that I started to really fall in love with how hassle free these brakes can be. I figured I'd spread the word and save some people the frustration. Now we have Magura brakes on all our bikes. The only con is just how darn long it takes to bed in a new set of Magura rotors before you really get that power they're known for. Still, worth it. 😁👍
Thanks for your video. Did this to my Focus MTB with old Magura MTS brakes and worked just fine. cheers from Portugal.
I owe you a beer. After waisting hours trying Maguras method this worked like a charm.
@@JohnSmith-mi8zy Glad I can help. 😊
This worked great. I I followed Magura bleed directions and did the process multiple times. I was shocked how much air this procedure removed. Brakes feel perfect now. Thank you!
Man, your bleeding procedure is so simple but yet effective, you’ve made my job so much easier. The plastic screw housing is fragile can’t use metal bleeding screw during bleeding it damaged mine.
Thank you for sharing.
This method was an life saver.. I was at the point to throw magura out of the window after several bleeds with no improvements.
Haha. I felt the same when I first got Magura brakes. Even tried Shimano levers for a while, but with this bleed method and hc3 levers, the Shigura setup feels like garbage in comparison. Glad it worked out. Now you'll be hooked on Magura for life. Lol
Thank you a millions times!!!! After 2 days of trying to bleed a new set of Magura MT5s without success, this method worked perfectly!!! So glad I saw this video, as I think genuinely it saved my sanity!!! 😂😂🎉🎉
I feel ya man. I went through the same thing when I first got Maguras. Almost thought I made a mistake getting them. Now I love them. 😁👍
I have MT7's and tried to beed them a bunch of times. Always had a little air in the lines that I just dealt with by pumping the breaks at the top of the mountain. After following your video, I came out with a perfect bleed! You are much appreciated. 👊
I'm just glad I could help. 😊👍
Can we just appreciate how @dukeofmtb has replied to pretty much every comment that had a question!
I've just got a set of MT5 to replace my old Shimano M615 on my DIY ebike and oh boy, these brakes are sooooo much better.
I've just cut the hoses and didn't even do a bleed, running older aliexpress rotors with the 9.1 pads and it's already so good, the modulation and braking power it's insane how fast I can stop and even with QR skewer I don't have any pad rub either.
Anyway, just got a bleed kit in the mail, drilled a hole and when these pads are worn, I'll be putting on new rotors, single pads and do the bleed.
Btw, your video with the instructions/explanations are done so professionally and clear, Magura should pay you for this.
@@RudiRides Thanks, man! I appreciate that. 😊
This is AMAZING!!! I have always struggled with Magura brakes, never getting a proper bleed. I just changed the rear brake hose, filled and bleed like normal...squishy! Did this trick once and the brakes feel awesome!!! Thank you soooooo much!!!! I owe you one.
I'm just glad this video is helping folks get the full potential out of their Magura brakes. Enjoy! 😊
Best way to fill 100% brakes, I was striving to get it done with how Magura officially has the videos, this method first time it worked pretty well the brakes are solid once again 😁 Thanks man. Cheers.
Fed up of SRAM's death grip I switched to Magura after initially considering Shimano due to some doubts regarding bleeding, as many folks told me it's very complicated. Anyway, I had to shorten both hoses and bleeding the brakes with this syringe trick worked wonders. Thanks a bunch!
SO TODAY I FITTED MY NEW MAGURA MT7 BRAKES... now ive already been watching videos etc in preparation and id already seen your video, its a good job i did, i went to town on bleeding them going backwards and forwards with the mineral oil the magura way so that when i come to do your technique its virtually done, how wrong was i, i still had to do your technique multiple times bubbles come out like i hadnt just bled them, but now absolutely solid, hopefully it holds up when i ride tomorrow!! thank you so much youve save a life today haha
I feel you man. I went through the same thing at first. Almost regretted my purchase. So glad I saw a random video of a German dude doing it this way. I just saw it in passing. I didn't understand a word he said. I just went ahead and tried it. Eureka! Brakes were perfect. I just had to share what I discovered with the English speaking world. And here we are. I'm glad you found this video. Enjoy the brakes, man. 👍
Just used your video to bleed air out of my Magura MT THIRTY brakes. Thank you so much!! Worked first try!
I just did your burp trick to my Maguras and it did the trick! I had bled them a few times and just wasn't getting any more air out, but the lever (rear brake) was still spongy, and I just put on a new lever as the old one was leaking at the back of the master cylinder piston. So when I put the the new MT5 on and bled it I thought I was going to get that firm felt just like my front brake, but no. So I did the burp, I saw bubbles coming up and then tried it out the the lever was firm and high just like the front one. Thanks for the video.
You're welcome! Just happy to save you the frustration I had to go through when I first switched to Maguras. Enjoy your brakes. 😁👍
The Best Magura MT maintenance video I've seen, even Magura's official video doesn't show you these tricks.
When my pads are starting to wear I put gaffer tape on the back of each pad, which stops them slipping also. But I'll try your method from now on,. Cheers!
I considered doing that tape thing before too. But yeah, this way is way more convenient. Glad you found this video useful. 😁👍
Hell ya this method worked for me. Thanks bro! I did it slightly different. I took the caliper off and removed the pads. Then put 2 plastic tire irons inside the calipers to hold the pistons in place lol. Worked perfect! Pistons stayed and with your method, it pulled all the air outta the system and equalized.
Sweet! 😁👍
I accidentally spilled some fluid while shortening the brake hose so I had to refill the fluid and get the excessive air out. This did the trick for me! Thank you so much 😁
Thank you. This is the best method. Works especially well when one person makes a vacuum and the second knocks on the hydraulic line and caliper. This helps the air bubbles rise faster.
That seemed to work pretty good for me. I bleed these myself all the time but they never get quite to where i want them. Even the shops I've taken my bike into always do a poor job of bleeding these. Thanks for the tip, so simple and obvious once you know it.
Glad I could help. Don't forget to check the pinned comment for more helpful tips. 😊
My rear level was getting spongy and this fixed it without having to do a full bleed. Thanks!
👍 I needed to bleed my brakes in a emergency on my eCargo bike and man I'm glad I came across your vid. It made it a breeze! Thanks a mill 🤛
Lol, I left a comment about my experience with Maguras, I guess you already knew what's up!
Love them!
Gonna have to try this. Installed Magura MT7s last week. Front bled perfectly and is immensely strong. Rear lever still comes back to the bar after 4 bleeds and zero air bubbles now coming out.
Best of luck. 👍
I bought a bleed kit for my bike, it was an absolute nightmare to do and the instructions didn't make any sense, the whole thing wound me up and made me angry. I took 5 minutes to chill out and watched your video, I then did it again following your instructions and it worked perfectly. Thank you so much!
I feel ya man. I went through the same nightmare until I found out about the vacuum thing. Glad I could help. ✌️
@@dukeofmtb Prior to your excellent video I had slimey hands, stuff everywhere and mineral oil on the ceiling. It was a dark time.
@@TwistededgemediaSounds about right. Lol
Nice one, After 2 years of perfect brakes since I installed them, the rear failed and after 3 or 4 attempts I finally drilled a hole in my syringe and kapow, back to beast mode 😅
Nice 👍
I tried this bleed method on my MT7s in the shop yesterday, they felt fine. Then today on the first ride, one brake got even better, then the other brake ended up developing a huge amount of air, leaving me out in the woods without a functional brake. Re-bled tonight, but seeing that Magura recommends using the two syringes, I might try that method again another day. For now I’ll remove these brakes and run TRP or Shimano for the next few rides. Coming from Shimano style bleeding, it feels hokey to cover a hole with my finger. At the same time, Shimano brakes sure aren’t perfect either! But I’m accustomed to working on them. Wish this Magura procedure was some what traditional with a pump-pump-bleed style!
I appreciate the input. You might have to try the push/pull method with two syringes to get a stubborn air bubble out. I've had to resort to that myself a few times. Most of the time though, this works like a charm after trimming the hoses on a new set. Luck of the draw, I guess. Best of luck. I hope you get it sorted out. 👍
Use trickstuff's bionol on shimano brakes, you will be amazed
Thank's for the video, :) It took me about a half hour for the rear breake. Finally, I got it, it work's.
Just performed this on new MT7...worked like a charm. Easy.
I love you!! Thanks for ending nearly a year of frustrating rear brake pull!!!!!!
I know the feeling. Almost regretted my purchase when I first got Magura brakes a few years ago. Now all our bikes are Magura. They're freaking awesome once you know your way around them. Just glad I could save you from further frustration. You should try MT7s with Hc3 levers. They're the best. 😁👍
@@dukeofmtb yeah I've got the mt7 raceline and hc3 levers 😍
Sweet! 😁👍
Great bleed technique that I hadn't heard of before.
I used a 20ml syringe and even with that smaller volume it was difficult to draw the plunger to the top. A second hole lower down made things easier.
I would just emphasise (from bitter experience) be really careful tightening the bleed screw. I destroyed a Shimano brake lever by over tightening. The plastic thread easily strips and there is no going back. This was during lockdown, and there were no spares available anywhere, for any money. Aargh!
I'm familiar as F around all things bike mechanics, but I LOATHE bleeding brakes. Genuinely, I used to drive a 60 mile round trip to get my mechanic to do them as he was OCD with it all, saved me the swearing and frustration.
I moved out of the area, so I had little choice but to now do my own. Last time (full bleed on my MT7's) has a massive pain in the rear, I hate it Ssssssooooo much!
I've never seen the reverse / vacuum method before but I've just done front and rear and off to BPW tomorrow so I'll report back how good the process is - thanks Ed!
On the flip side, I had to bleed the brakes in my sons Hope M4's yesterday, and that was ooooohhhhh so much more complex. Doesn't help the reservoirs aren't even level despite moving the lever! I can never go back to Hope, sorry!
@@AliBadman-u9n Hope it works out. 👍
You are my hero! I own a quite a few bikes with the MT5 and 7s and I'm so happy how simple your directions are plus I've had 100% consistently dialed in results. Thanks so much for this video!
I'm glad I could help!
Did you do it this way exactly with no syringe on the caliper end? I'm keen to try it.
@@dc-17-uk Exactly as seen on this vid. The only thing I did with the calipers was push the pistons back.
@@dc-17-uk Yes. Right after a hose trim on a prefilled set of Maguras, you just have to do this on the lever end. It's similar to the funnel bleed that people do on Shimano brakes. It's the easiest and most reliable method. If you start bleeding from the bottom, you're more like to introduce air than to remove it. So you always have to finish off with what's shown on this video anyway.
@@dukeofmtb thank you!! Do you still use this method for future bleeds (not just after the initial hose trim)? Essentially never bleeding from caliper (ever)
Great tip, no need to uncrew the bolt in the caliper!
After many messy bleeds I still had a spongy front brake, pure chance I seen your vid and wow, just finished this process and I have a perfect brake 👍. You should work for Magura because this is way better than their vids. Thanks man! 👍👍
I'm glad it worked out for you. I'm just here trying to spread the word. Magura brakes are excellent. There's just not a lot of info on them out there. Most negative reviews I've read about them come from the idea that they're hard to get a good bleed on. Would be sweet if Magura noticed my efforts though. 😅
@@dukeofmtb yeah they should at least acknowledge your efforts 👍
I really like my Magura set, no one else can touch the quality for the price..
I still have the pads on that came with set, on your advice I'll be upgrading these too. 👌
Thanks again man.
Invaluable vid. I used less fluid, hole further down on syringe and worked perfectly on my turd mt-2's. Combined w oem 'performance' tier pads not too shabby for 10 year old cannondale bad boy ultra 1 for cardio at local park.
Sweet! 😁👍
The tip about the brake pads is on point. Spent about 2 hrs riding the stock pads and the front refuses to lock up. Single piston rear brake locks up with ease. Gonna try 2 single pads and see what happens.
Glad you found the video helpful. I've tried going back to the one piece pads just to see if maybe they just need a longer bed in, but they're still definitely not as good as the 4 piece individual pads.
i fitted a set of mt7 pro on my main trail bike in december 2020. theyre awesome.. but on my last couple of trail rides i noticed much more lever pull on the rear before hitting the bite point. ive just followed your video and done the quick lever bleed of the rear and its worked perfectly. the bite point is now much earlier in the lever pull and my front and rear now feel the same. thanks for posting this simple and quick method. ive subscribed and look forward to future posts.. keep up the good work buddie, stay safe and keep on riding
finally i manage to bleed my old magura race line hs 22 thanks to this metod.
thank you very much.huge ,huge help.
brake lever is firm now.
btw i fill my brake lines with baby oil to give it a try and is working great,i will change it later to magura oil.
Glad I could help. 😁👍
Hi. Thanks for this video. It is indeed the best way for perfect bleed of Magura. However I would like to add something based on my experience. I would recommend to add around 20ml of Royal Blood to the syringe instead of 10ml. When you usenonly 10ml and leave so much space between the oil and hole at 30ml point, then when you pull the syringe while attached to the lever the vacuum pressure is bit too big. I have done it with only 10ml of oil and sucked up the oring from lever master cylinder piston. It was sucked up into the lever. The result was that I had soft lever all the time as the air was entering the system through master piston. It took me 3 days od struggling with bleeding the system before I found out what was the reason 😅 so in case your lever is still soft after quick bleed, check out the oring at master piston on the lever. And btw you can remove the piston without disassembling the lever 😉
Many thanks!!! Your tip at 4:10 solved the problem I was having - Thanks!
Another way to reduce excess lever throw is to simply pull the rotor back, away from the pad that has the most gap, and give the lever a few pulls. It's quicker than pulling the pads out, and it works just as good.
I was having trouble with my mt7 going soft after a a couple rides thanks to this video no more problems.
Sweet! I'm Magura all the way now that I know about this bleed method. They're just so simple to get 100%. Sure the levers are basically plastic, but it only takes a minute to swap one out if you have a bad enough crash. And they're not as flimsy as people claim. We've crashed hard dozens of times and only broke a lever once. That was a year and a half ago now and we've crashed a couple dozen more times since. I still keep a lever handy in the trunk of the car, just in case. Wouldn't want to cut a trip to the bike park short if something happens to the break lever.
I was worried because my Maguras were a different model but this worked great for me. The Magura bleed kit instructions were difficult to follow and didn't produce the same results of this video.
great tip for a fast rebleed and get firmer feeling agian; just tried in 2 bikes (MT5 & MT7) and the result was solid. THANKS, i was struggling to get this consistency even with the complete caliper side standard bleed.
I'm so glad this video helped you. Happy riding! 😁👍
I want new brakes and I was between TRPs or Magura.
Nice to see the bleed process! So easy
Yup. I don't even bother doing a full flush with a new set of Maguras. I just cut the hoses and do the 'vacuum method.' It takes no time at all. If you go with Maguras, get the hc3 levers if you can. They're sooo much better than stock.
@@dukeofmtb what do you like about the hc3’s? I got a pair of mt7 raceline and thought they came with it, but I was wrong!
@@LoganJohnston190 The lever isn't as thick but it's also much firmer. Feels a ton better than Shimano or Sram or any other Magura lever for that matter. You get more power too. It also has a leverage adjustment. So if you want a firm lever that stops dead at the bite point, you can have that. If you want a softer 'sramy' feel with more modulation, you can have that too. You can also just use it to make your front and rear feel identical. I personally set the rear to the firmest setting and soften up the front slightly to match it. With properly bedded in pads and rotors, it feels like dropping an anchor.
Your first solution did the trick for spongy feeling, simple. Thanks
You are welcome! 😊
Tips that this didn't cover:
Don't press out all the air in the syringe, as doing this means that you need to put greater suction on the system before you finally reach the equalizing hole. Greater suction force=more stress on the system. I usually leave about 5ml of air along with the fluid.
When you place the syringe in the master cylinder and put suction on it (AKA pulling the syringe up), do this several times and not just once. Also, rotate the master up and down while holding suction, because you will sometimes have a trapped bubble. If you do this with the stopper pads in place (the yellow spacers that come with the kit), you can actually flick the brake lever a few times, which sometimes will put pressure on the entire system and cause that trapped air to come up.
Good bonus tips. I tried to keep the vid simple and just stuck to the basic idea. Folks figure out the lever flicking thing, tilting the master, and pushing and pulling on the plunger repeatedly pretty quickly on their own. Everyone gets pretty creative on the more stubborn bleeds. 😁👍
What do you mean by rotating the master? I've typically bled it with 2 syringes and the push/pull method. It's not the best and takes a few bleeds to get it so definitely keen to try this.
@@dc-17-uk The "master" refers to the lever side. Sometimes I like to pull a vacuum on one side, then I flip it over and do it again on the other. Or move the lever body(aka master cylinder) up and down and tap it to unstuck any bubbles that might be stuck in a corner somewhere. Mostly, pulling the vacuum does the trick. Everything else is just extra for the more stubborn brakes.
@@dukeofmtb ah got it. So I stupidly stripped one of the bleedport screws way back. It's in there and sealed but I can't get it out. Would you just leave it as is and flip the master to use the other port? Removing it may just be too finicky?
@@dc-17-uk That's a good idea. Although, you could get it out by heating up a small flat screwdriver and melting a little into the old bleed screw to get it out. Of course order a new screw first. It's up to you if it's worth the risk though. Also, if you ever brake a master, keep the screws and bolts as future backups. 😁👍
On my Magura ebike brakes...to center the 4 brake pads/caliper on the rotor, I loosen the 2 caliper mounting screws, apply pressure to the brake lever and hold down tight, then with my other hand I tighten the caliper mounting screws down. Let off the brake lever and your brake caliper will be centered everytime.
That works good too, unless you have a sticky piston or pads that are unevenly worn. 👍
Thanks for this! This method worked for me but the suction was really strong, to the point where I could barely pull it all the way to the 30ml mark / hole. I tried it a few different times and it was the same each time. Regardless, I got my rear brake lever feeling good. Thanks!
Haha. Yes, I should have mentioned you could start with a little extra fluid or just not push all the air out of the syringe so you don't have to pull such a massive vacuum. Glad you figured it out and that it worked out for you. 😁👍
Nice 👌 video - great a/v quality, very smooth explanation and no extraneous stories … 👌 keep it up
Thanks for the feedback. That was exactly what I was going for. 😁
That's actually a very nice trick with the pads, thank you!
I actually have an updated version of that pad trick. Whenever I feel like I have too much lever throw, I just simply pull back the rotor away from the pad that has the biggest gap from the rotor with my hand and give the lever a few pulls. Way quicker. 😁👍
@@dukeofmtb I did that with my rear Shimano MT520 caliper and it kinda worked but now it's leaking so I'm going to replace it with a Magura caliper (I'm running Shimano XT M8000 levers). Just wondering if MT5 again or MT4 but I like new stuff so I'm probably gonna try the two pot.
@@GalinPanchev MT4 if you want 2 pot, but MT7 if you 4 pot. MT5 with Shimano levers have a ton of lever throw. Felt too spongy for my liking. The MT4 or 7 calipers will give a firmer feel with shorter throw.
@@dukeofmtb So there is actually a difference between MT5 and MT7?
@@GalinPanchev Yes. MT7 calipers have less piston rollback than the MT5 calipers and require less fluid before the pads contact the rotors, resulting in shorter lever throw.
I originally thought it was marketing BS, but when I tried pairing MT5 levers with MT7 calipers, I could lock up the brakes just by sneezing on the levers(lol). Alternately, MT7 levers paired with MT5 calipers result in a lot of excess lever throw.
The MT5 levers push more fluid to compensate for the increase piston rollback on the MT5 calipers. I've taken the levers apart too, and I saw that the reservoirs are different sizes between the MT7 and MT5 levers.
So if you are doing a Shimano/Magura combo, you'll get the best results with MT7 calipers if you want 4 pots, and MT4 calipers if you want 2 pot brakes.
Love the different style of video, you should do more of the working on bikes style of video in between getting on the trails. Also cool you guys are in mi I always hope to run into you during a ride keep showcasing the modest michigan trails you deserve way more subs.
Thanks. Definitely gonna do more of these. 😁👍
Hey, I tried this method and it really works
Great tutorial and easy thanks a lot. I hope to meet you and Cory
when you come by Blue Mountain soon 🤪
Glad I could help. PA or Ontario?
Ontario :)
@@jongaquarius It's too bad they shut down the trails in 2020. 😥 Any rumors of them possibly opening back up at some point?
met you on the trail... Thanks for the suggestion for this video, It works great... You have to do the traditional blead if there is dirty brake fluid
Yup. Nice meeting you today. If it's old and dirty, then yes.
Best video out there on these much thanks
Magura´s they are tough ones to bleed but i love the brake feel on them better than any other main brake brands.
Well, with the method in this video, they're now one of the easiest brakes to bleed. Much easier to get perfect than Shimano.
Excellent. I also discovered... after finding still lack of power ...to perform this bleed with pads as is on rotor to maximize distance of pad engagement... even with worn pads?
I get how pulling air out of oil and allowing it equalize to back fill lines when one pulls past the hole vent. Excellent method to top up brake oil. Great. Btw I didn't remove nor push pistons back. Now my brakes are super responsive and powerful and modulating like new. I originally had the 8.R pads mistakenly as I realize they need serious heating up to really wake up. Downhill racing later...Original 8.P or 8.S 2 per plate are perfectly massive braking for black trail and trial riding. And that's with 2 piece back plate set not the 4 piece with bolt? Great tips and easy to follow your directions. Thank you. Always learning.
Glad you enjoyed the vid. What you're doing is overfilling. It can put your brakes at risk whenever you push the pistons back to replace the pads. That's why its recommended to push the pistons in *before* you close of the bleed port at the lever. If you want very responsive brakes with an instant bite, you can just take the pads out one by one and give the lever a 3/4th pull each time to get all the pads as close to the rotor as possible. It gives the same result as overfilling, but without risk of damage to your brakes. Ofcourse this is easier with the individual pads, since you don't have to remove your wheels to do it.
The individual pads are definitely better than the one piece ones. The gold race pads are the most powerful, but they can be annoyingly noisy.
@@dukeofmtb oh right o.... let me re address the refill again. Lol. I really appreciate your quick feedback. I will redo.
I'm also waiting for my MTX red 4 piece pads to arrive; the gold 8.P or 8.R I find need so much heat to warm up to really perform I'll keep them for intense downhill race...
Thanks again.
@@VikingRasbornStrong I actually just started using the MTX Gold pads. They're great. They're very quiet. Takes a little bedding in before the power comes on, but once it does, they're just as powerful as Magura's gold pads, but without the noise.
@@dukeofmtb really? I ordered red mtx as I had to put back in my mt5 gold pinned as I destroyed a set of green organic resin non pinned pads after 2 black runs....I also had a Galfer 223mm rotor...AMAZING... with the 4 piece Gold Top Brake ebike ? no fade but its noisy grating as it bites with lots of modulation ; no sqeal just hear the rough noise. So powerful there no arm pump. Boy took a while to center though. Real 2mm thick rotors of Lazer cut Japanese steel and made in Spain.
Solid video, simple and to the point. Tips at the end are super helpful. I'm coming off of SRAM and going to Magura on my next build so I needed this. Thank you!
Glad I could help. 😁👍
Thanks for the tips! You should try Galfer pro pads with galfer rotors, makes the brakes feel so good!
Might try that some time. Currently experimenting with MTX Pads.
Wacthing you guy's videos for a year now , just learning your name isn't Duke.lol
Lol. Duke is just something I've always used online. It's been my 'gamer tag' in one form or another for about fifteen years or so now. 😅
Worked perfect for me buddy! Thanks!
Hi! great video. Thanks. There´s something I don´t understand thou. What happens with the old liquid?
I only do a full flush of the brake lines once every one or two years, or whenever the method in the video no longer works either due to an issue with the levers, the seals, the hose, or the fluid being contaminated, etc. Obviously if I'm swapping brake hoses, then I have to do a fill from scratch before doing the method in the video to pull out air bubbles(important tip about that in the pinned comment). If I just bought a new prefilled set and only trimmed the hoses, I just do this and put the fluid that I used in a separate little bottle so I can reuse it later on another set of brakes or to lube the stanchions on my fork or whatever. Hope this helps. 😁👍
Thanks for your answer. So, this is a method for improving the functioning of the brakes, if I got it right. It would be awesome if you made a video about cases like contaminated liquid, for instance. I work at a bike shop and customers want something done on their brakes only when they have no brakes at all. Thanks again!
Thanks for this, vacuum trick worked. Didnt bother with the pad trick as mine are so close to the rotor. I did over-adjust the lever with the litte black plastic screw thing and now have a set of MT7s that feel like a Well bled Shimano XT, only without the woody lever feeling.
Glad it worked for you. I only do the pad trick when the pads start getting worn and the pistons are a little sticky. Don't usually have to do it with new pads. Great quick fix that lasts a while. And yeah, the mt7s are great. You should try them with hc3 levers. They're on another lever. Amazing lever feel. Everything else starts feeling like crap after trying hc3 levers, even the hc levers(that's why the hc levers are on our hardtails, while the hc3 levers go on the "big bikes.") Seriously, try them. The leverage adjustment on those things alone are worth it.
It worked ! fantastic, thank you so much for posting this 👍👍
Thanks! This was what I needed to dial-in my new Magura brakes!
Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you very much 😊
easy and less messy this technique makes you look like a pro lol
Ed your seem like a great guy and thanks for sharing but after 10 tries my rear brake still felt mushy. So knowing how easy it is to bleed the whole system from rear caliper up I went for that option. Didn't even remove the rear caliper but did remove the pads for cautionary reasons. So easy to do and now finally the rear brake lever feels firm just like the front. So if some people don't get the results from your tip like I didn't don't hesitate doing the whole bleed. FYI my bike is new and the rear felt mushy so i handle it instead of returning it to the dealer. Thanks Tim USMC 73-77
No worries. My suspicion is your brake was too low on fluid to begin with, so doing a full flush from scratch is a good idea if the brake still didn't feel right after 10 tries. It never takes more than 2 tries with the method in the video. Glad you worked it out. 👍
If you are doing a full bleed, like when you are cutting the hose down, I found out after A LOT of trial and error the following:
- Take the caliper off the bike, especially for the rear, and remove the pads. Insert the bleed block(s) and secure them with tape or something else.
- Fill a syringe that fits the caliper bleed port with about 30 - 40 mL and push out the air. Remove the bleed screw and attach the syringe.
- Use a funnel attachment on the lever bleed port and fill it with about 15 mL of fluid.
- Push the fluid from the caliper side into the funnel and then pull it back into the syringe, making sure there is still fluid in the funnel. You will see bubbles come back into the syringe. Let them float up until the fluid is clear again and repeat until no bubbles come out on either side.
- While the funnel side is full you can lightly pull the lever a few times until you feel some moderate resistance. This should be pushing fluid back into the syringe as you pull the lever. Do one more cycle of pulling and pushing the fluid through.
- Push about 80% of the fluid from the syringe into the funnel one last time making sure not to push any air into the system.
- Put the stopper in the funnel and remove it from lever. Now push on the syringe just a tiny bit until a little fluid comes out of the lever port. Quickly screw in the lever bleed screw to spec (0.5 N•m).
- Remove the bleed blocks and carefully push the syringe in until the pistons start to move just mm or so. Remove the syringe and quickly return the bleed screw and torque it down.
- Clean the caliper thoroughly with alcohol and then push the pistons in with a clean screwdriver.
- Return the brake pads and put the caliper back on.
This was the only way to get my rear brakes to bite nicely. Pushing the pistons out with the syringe ensures there is enough fluid in the system to truly get them to push the pads without overfilling.
Everything was brand new, so I was able to save all the fluid I used. Adjust accordingly if you have dirty fluid in the hose.
Good tip for the individual pads, I have a question, green or gold for a e-bike (enduro)? Thanks for the good video!
The golds are powerful, but they can get so chirpy. Personally, they're not worth it unless you're racing. The greens are pretty quiet but don't have the same umph. They do last long though. I find the grays strike the best balance between the two.
I really like running the aftermarket MTX pads. Sometimes I run MTX pads on one side of the rotor and green or gray pads on the other to really tune the brake feel I want.
Wow, my dead MT7 works better than new now. Thank you.
Sweet! Zombie brakes! 🧟♂️
Thank you soooo much man, you deserve a follow
Hello my mt8 the lever pull is ok one ride next ride i have way too much pull next ride average...never the same should i get a bleed kit and do those steps ! Its weird its never the same this is on rear brake i had them bleed 400km ago and starting acting like this thank you for input 😊
@@dan11thehands Definitely give this a shot. 👍
I don't even have hydraulic but I still watched this video
Your Methods worked out great! Just as good (maybe better?!) as doing the "proper" Magura procedure.
Glad to know it worked out for you. 😁👍
Well done. Many tips we'll received! Thankyou!
Thank you so much!! Worked perfectly!
What an amazingly done tutorial,very professional and clear!!! I just tried this method and had bubbles nonstop, I wonder if the syringe tip had a good enough sealing against the bleeding port..
Glad you liked it. Anyway, I've had that happen before. I have an MT5 brake that does that, but it still works fine. Try not to pull too hard on a set that does that. You might have a faulty brake set and you might be overwhelming the seals and air might be coming through one of them. You can also just try emailing Magura to warranty your brakes. Tell them your set has a faulty seal. I've had good luck with their customer service, specifically with kent.king@magurausa.com. Check that the banjo bolt and bleed port on your caliper are properly torqued first, that might also be the culprit. Best of luck. 👍
@@dukeofmtb alright thank you very much!
Great tip, bleed up better than the shop did
Just glad I could help and spread the word of how to bleed Maguras. 😁👍
cheers champ, just tried it on my mt7, awesome, works great
Awesome! Now if only they made the lever end completely out of aluminum, they'd be the perfect brakes.
simple - effective and you only need siringe. big like :)
Worked perfectly! A real time saver. Thank you 🙂
Production quality impressive great content.,
Love this method, thank you! I also tried doing it on Shimano levers using a RockShox Reverb bleed kit with the same result
Good stuff!
Best method ever. Thanks man 🤩
Happy to help
Thanks for posting this, you're legend !
So you confirm it's possible to mount HC3 levers on MT5 ?
It seems not in the HC3 description but I don't know why. Thanks
I've done it on a couple sets of MT5s. It works, but there's more lever throw than you'd get on a set of MT7s. I eventually upgraded to MT7s with hc3 levers. It's just not the same feel-wise on the MT5s.
@@dukeofmtb Thanks for your reply, it's exactly what I wanted to know ! Cheers
Hey, great video! Do you have any advice for a Shigura setup? The Shimano bleeding kit only has a cup to sit on the lever for the bleeding process, are there any syringes that work with shimano levers?
@@Apollo_Y Unfortunately, no. I don't think the Shimano lever is built to be vacuum bled. Looks like the bubble bleed with the funnel is the only option. Google is your friend if youre not familiar with it. Best of luck. 👍
I use aluminum foil duct sealing tape in 5 or so layers stuck to the back of the Magura pads to shim them and reduce lever throw. Bam. Thanks for your tips too
Well, I guess you won't have to do that anymore. There's an even easier way to get rid of extra throw than what I showed in this video. I'll get around to making a short vid about it and some point and have a link pop up in that part of a vid. Anyway, instead of taking the retaining bolt out and pulling the pad, it's easier to just put a flat screwdriver behind the top of the back plate to press the pad firmly against the rotor. Then just give the lever a few pulls and the lagging piston will have enough room to go out far enough to get rid of the extra lever throw. It's super quick and easy. Hope that helps. 😁👍
There is a lever throw adjustment set screw located around the front of the lever pivot point...one can take a lot of lever play out with that adjustment.
Zride.
This method is a complete life saver for getting a good feel on my MT7s. One question though, do you have any tips on filling a completely empty system? To avoid air trapped in the caliper.
I've tried all sorts of things before. The only way to ensure no air is trapped anywhere is to simply close off the caliper end and finish off the bleed with the method in the video. That's all I've been doing, and it's worked so far. Anyway, glad the video helped you. 😊
@@dukeofmtb I'll give it a shot. Replacing my own calipers with shiny MT Trail SL calipers and giving the MT7 ones to the wife. She loves the channel too btw, also happens to be a Filipina riding a Juliana. :)
@@richard9984 That's awesome! 😁👍 Those shiny calipers are gonna look sweet!
@@richard9984 I know it's been a month now. 😅 I'm assuming it went well?
awesome video, subscribed right away, but the fact that you're active in the comments and even checked up on someone blows my mind. keep up the good work!
You my friend are a legend.. Thankyou!!
Not only that it works better, but also way more simple. Wow That’s a rare. So glad I came across your video. Thank you so much.
One thing I missed was pulling the caliper back. It says it prevents overfilling. Can you share what will happen if it gets over filled? You suggest I redo it and push the caliper back this time? Thanks
Glad I could help. Anyway, if you push the pistons back on an overfilled set to swap out to new pads, you could burst the bladder or bust a seal. Basically, you could potentially damage your brakes. So yeah, I'd recommend redoing it without skipping that step. Although you don't have to pull such a hard vacuum now that your brakes are good. A light pull will do. Either fill the syringe further up, or don't push the plunger too far in before sticking it in the lever end. Best of luck.
Thanks for the explanation, it makes magura brakes much easier to service. However, the plastic screws are annoying and all other manufacturers have metal.
Glad I could help. Maguras would be perfect if the lever body was aluminum, but since their not, it's best that the bleed screw is plastic. I'd rather strip the screw threads than the bleed port threads. It's cheaper to replace. I actually have spare screws, but I've never needed them.
This is a great technique (and a great video).
But my question: could this technique be used with other brake manufacturers? Shimano 105 in my case.
What is unique about Magura that enables a syringe with hole to work?
Thanks! It should work theoretically. Finding an airtight syringe kit for shimano is another story. Most kits have so many connectors and whatnot that you end up pulling air through all the connections instead of from the brakes.
Hi a quick question, what position should the lever throw be at before starting, as in all the way adjusted outwards or all the way in towards the grip. Great vid by the way
@@dirtcheapdownhill2848 As far as I know, that doesn't matter on Maguras.
@dukeofmtb thanks
Thank you! I wish I would have seen this video first. This worked great after a lot of headache with other methods.
I feel your pain. I went through all that before too. This is so much easier. That's why I have Magura brakes on all our bikes now. They're so easy to bleed with this method, and they work great. 😁👍
Great video! Thanks for making it simple for us. I have the mt8 sl brakes and i am having some issues with the pistons. One was stuck so I made it good again, did full bleeding and seemed to work. However, one of the pistons is now much more out than the other but fixed the other with your trick. Is this Situation an issue with the said piston or just result perhaps of overfilling the system? If that matters, the piston that is more out is also the one that was stuck. Thank you!
Thanks! It might be slightly overfilled, that's why you want to push the pistons back _before_ closing it off. Still, it shouldn't be an issue. Sometimes the pistons just don't want to be pushed back that far. As long as the brakes are working now, it's not really a problem.
Great tips, thanks a lot Duke! Do you have an idea what could be the reason why my rear MT7 lever still feels a bit mushy after numerous bleeds on a new brake?
Note, I have bled many brakes before, DOT and mineral, Sram and Shimano and NEVER had such issues. I bled my MT7 several times top to bottom and bottom to top, there is NO air in the system at all. I have tilted the lever and caliper at all possible angles and made sure there is no trapped air anywhere. The hose-to-lever connection is not leaking. The master cylinder seal is not leaking. The caliper port is not leaking. Pistons are moving as normal. I followed your procedure in this video precisely and equalised the systems before lever screw is screwed back in. I also did this with pistons fully retracted as in your video as well as with bleed blocks after squeezing the lever to adjust and only then closing the lever screw.
The most frustrating part is - with the front brake I just got the perfect bleed first time with no issues at all. Rear brake (longer hose admittedly) is still spongy. What the hell is going on??
Try this: Leave the caliper in a dead hang so it's vertical when pushing fluid up from the bottom. The only time I've had issues with a bleed has been when swapping hoses and doing a refill. An air pocket gets stuck at the caliper if you fill the system with the caliper horizontal. You might want to push and pull the plunger a little(with an open syringe at the lever end ofcourse) as well.
Once you've filled it this way, close everything off and do the vacuum bleed in this video to finish it off. Skip the pad removal trick for the front brake and only do it on the rear. These days I don't even take the pad out. I just firmly pull the rotor back with my hand, away from the pad that has the slightest gap, and give the lever a few pulls to allow the lagging piston to push out slightly further and therefore removing extra lever throw.
The front and rear should feel matched after this. If not, there may be an issue with one of your levers or calipers. In which case, swap your levers and do the vacuum bleed to refill any fluid you might have lost during the swap. If the problem switches sides, try contacting Magura for a replacement. I had a similar issue once after many crashes and tree clips. Turned out to be the lever end. As soon as I replaced it, everything was like new again. My current set is on a 3rd bike now. 4 years old. Other than the one master cylinder(lever side) everything is still from my original purchase, except the pads ofcourse.
Best of luck. 👍
@@dukeofmtb Thanks mate. There is a ton of wisdom in what you say. I already did almost exactly what you suggested here with the difference that I placed the bike vertically in the stand instead of taking off rear caliper. And this was not a new bleed or any oil drain-involving case. I simply cut the hose during the first installation.
It is rideable now but I will keep experimenting. There is a big difference between front and rear lever feel now, and on my friend's MT5s left anbd right feel identical so somethng is still not right.
@@fkuashum I hope you figure it out. If the difference is minute, you could try installing hc3 levers. The leverage adjustment on the hc3 levers can be used to compensate for the slight flex from the longer hose and match the feel of the front and rear levers. It's one major reason my favorite brakes are the mt7/hc3 brakes. I usually run the front lever almost fully open, and then dial the rear lever in until it matches the firmness of the rear. But if the difference is more significant, then it could be something else and may have to contact Magura for a warranty replacement. Best of luck. 👍
@@dukeofmtb I did figure finally it out, and here is what helped me.
Initially, when I circulated the oil between caliper and lever syringes multiple times, pumping from the caliper one, I pulled and pushed relatively slowly as shown in all bleeding videos that I have seen. This, along with tilting, and tapping on the caliper was NOT ENOUGH to dislodge all air bubbles from the caliper.
I had to pull HARDER and FASTER on the caliper syringe to increase the speed of oil flow through the caliper. It helped, and I had a few mid-size bubbles escaping immediately into the caliper syringe. My system is now air free, and rear lever feels exactly the same as the front one.
I hope this helps someone.
@fkuashum Ah, yes! I haven't considered mentioning that. I also do that when filling from scratch, giving it some strong push/pulls a couple times to dislodge any bubbles from the caliper. I'm glad it worked out man. Now you get to really enjoy the brakes. 👍