Great Video, Thank you! I changed brake pads and bled the system on my SRAM Guide Brakes. Worked as described with one exception. When I was done I realized I couldn't pressurize the system the way you describe (at about 12:15) from the lever/reservoir as you instantly loose the pressure, (and a fair amount of fluid) replacing the reservoir screw. I ended up pressurizing the system from the caliper end once I had bled the brake lines and closed off and replaced the hex screw at the lever. I worked beautifully and was able to keep the system pressurized by tightening the caliper bleed nut while I had it under slight pressure from the syringe. What I gave me was the instant brake feel in the lever, with out all of the lever travel that occurs with unpressurized brake system.
Doddy, I can’t thank you enough for this video. I followed it step by step after accidentally popping out a piston on my Guide’s. I bought the kit you mentioned, followed every step, and the result is perfect. Thanks so much.
OK, I had to change levers on my Guide R brakes so needed to bleed them after. I watched the Sram video and this one several times, then ordered all the tools, and started. Took two tries but got the front brakes great. The rear were a different story. So I watched the video again to make sure. After six tries, the final one with the caliper completely off the bike so I could get the hose straight to make sure no air was being trapped, I had to go off script. No matter what I did, after pressurizing the system a little, when I would remove the syringe from the lever it would squirt back some fluid and leave the lever too soft. (again this worked fine on the front) I finally, carefully, put the bleeding point syringe back on the caliper, and pressurized the system, just a little, from there. Now the rear are as solid as the front.
I realise I'm about 8 months late on commenting but you're right, dont pressurise the system from the lever. I found that sealing off the lever and adding pressure through the caliper then shutting the system off with the bleeding edge significantly improves the feel and effectiveness of the brake
Thanks, I've watched several bleed videos and found one with another great tip @7m14 for bleeding at the midpoint adjustment ruclips.net/video/ACGyA1QVWIg/видео.html
At your own risk and carefully to not spill dot fluid all over: Do the bleed as per instructions. Re-attach the wheel, stick the syringe thing to bleeding edge port on the caliper with some amount of fluid in it (if not already in). Screw the port open and make sure you are not pushing air to the system (keep syringe pointing upwards and make some vacuum to pull any air from the system). Push syringe until brake pads almost touch the rotor. Close the port while holding the pressure. Make some vacuum on the syringe before/while removing the syringe to prevent dot fluid from going all over. Levers should bite almost instantly now.
@@amend2806 legend. Thank you! It does make more sense to add pressure without the bleed block place unlike the way they tell you with the block in cos otherwise it's just the same as before it was bled again 😂
For some reason ive never bled my 2009 avid elixir just put new pads on as needed ?…? The same with my ‘16 m8000 shimano brakes but im here because my new bike came with sram and the Level tL kinda suck as far a lever throw and now have to buy a bleed KiT ?
I first watched srams own how to bleed with bleeding edge. I guess my brain is to slow or smth but Doddys guide is so much better. He speaks and show you in a way that make it look easy.
You can remove the little clip in the retaining pad bolt with the 2.5mm allen key. The clip has the eyebolt that is exactly sized for the 2.5mm allen key and in this way you won't lose it
Doddy, thank you for escorting me through my first brakes bleed on my 2021 SC Tallboy. Sadly the base level SRAM G2 brakes that came on my S-carbon bike build were the older, pre-bleeding edge system, but the bleed process wasn’t that much worse than what you showed. I clamped my bike with her tail up in the air. When I removed the syringe from the rear caliper port a couple drops of oil scooted out before I could reinsert the port screw. Squeezing the plunger at the handlebar forced a tiny bubble and a couple drops of oil out out the rear port before I tightened the screw down. Everything else was the same as in your video. I probably could have figured it out without your video, and the Park Tools brakes bleed video is also excellent, but I doubt it would have gone as smoothly on my first attempt without your crystal-clear instructions. Bravo!
How can this possibly be easier than Shimano. You can do a 30 second bleed just using a cup on Shimano to get any air out. Then if you need you can do one similar to this with syringes.
This still results in a mushy lever that takes a lot of travel before it bites. If you want to firm it up, you need to do it with the wheels on and pads in. If you don't need a full bleed, connect at the caliper, then loosen the bolt at the lever. Open the valve and force fluid in at the caliper until it comes out the lever, then put the lever bolt back in. Then give the syringe some pressure and close off the valve at the caliper. You do need to be careful doing this and clean up any spilled fluid. This will get the brakes much closer to the fast initial bite that you may expect from Shimano, while still giving you the good modulation you expect from SRAM.
This 100%. I'm not sure how someone can say they're pressurizing the system when they unscrew the syringe and let fluid leak out at the lever then just put the screw back in.
And you may end up with the DOT spilling out of the pressure relief holes located in levers. I personally think it will be leaking until it become the same mushy long dead stroke feel like before. Experienced fellas also say this is the way to damage the internal bladder and end up thrashing the brake...
@@josefarnost5606 Not saying it can't happen, but I've been doing this for years and they have never leaked. And It doesn't change the peak pressure when actually using the brakes so I would question any claim that it will damage the bladder.
very good Doddy when you include mentioning how to responsibly dispose off the used oil, educating your viewers including me on how to keep our environement. Thumbs Up!
Cheers Doddy. Bought the SRAM bleed kit for Code/Guide R/RS. Watched your vid a few times, now bleed all my bikes with confidence and getting results as good as a shop. It does take practice, but massive reward when doing it yourself. Cheers Bud.
Thanks for a great video. Shouldn't preasurising the system be done from the calliper end? Seems a bit pointless from the lever end when any pressure just offloads by pushing a load of fluid out after taking the syringe out? I did it from the caliper end which was the only way I could get pressure in and get it nice and sharp
Thanks Doddy! After attempting to bleed my Level brake after watching the SRAM video, I failed miserably. Frustrated and about to take the bike to my LBS, I saw your video and decided to give it another try. While the steps are the same, I felt your explanation was more thorough and made the process much easier. I quickly realized I missed a key step in closing the plunger lever on the caliper end. The only outstanding issue I have is my torque wrench does not go below 2Nm (1.5-1.7Nm recommended) and to my knowledge Park does not make one that goes that low so I hope I gave the drain bolts enough tension as I did not want to strip them. Great content as always from GMBN!
Thanks, Doddy!! I needed to bleed my rear brake and your video was invaluable. I had never done it before and following your video made bleeding the brake much easier. Without your help I would have had to take it to the shop for service which would have been about a 2 to 3 week wait due to the Covid 19 pandemic causing a back up in service time. I rode today and the brakes worked great. Thanks again, and if you ever come to Pennsylvania to ride in Coopers Gap/Rothrock State Forest, I owe you a beer!
A great video and also gives great info on the different types of bleed valves which saved a lot of time. Would just say that when all the air is out of the tubes the job is not necessarily complete especially if you have had to change the main piston in the lever. It took 2 attempts to get the air lock out in that situation by pushing the fluid in both directions before closing off the calliper. The other key as stated is to ensure the lever is open to the max for full piston travel.
FYI plain water will clean and flush DOT 3, DOT 4, DOT 5.1 brake fluids. They are not corrosive, but are reactive to paint, plastics, and other coatings. They are alcohol based, and will absorb water out of the air. The only real difference between the 3 types are their boiling point.
Great tutorial! One previous tip I was shown online was to help remove as much air from the fluid as possible. You fill the syringes as shown here, but then use the clamps on the hose to seal them. After that you try and pull (decently hard, but be careful not to pull so hard you suck air through the rubber seal) the syringe handle outwards. If there are any micro bubbles, they will get way bigger due to vacuum, and you can flick them to the top. Do that until they are all at the top, and continue on.
Had to bleed a completely new bike, breaks where terrible it was like abs never enough power. The winning tip was after getting rid of the bubbles getting as much fluid into the system as possible. Now they are fantastic. It is a completely different experience going downhill.
I have found that this procedure results in very mushy brakes on sram code R and code RSC brakes. To get the brakes feeling good, after air is bubbled out, close up the lever port, then with the caliper still open apply pressure on the caliper syringe and hold it tight. While holding the pressure with your thumb, close the caliper bleed port, then release pressure from the syringe. Now the lever will not be mushy.
thank you for this excellent video. using your guidance here I was able to bleed the brakes instead of waiting weeks for my bike shop’s next availability.
I've found the best way to bleed these is to simply push the fluid back and forth between the two syringes 10 or 15 times. Forces all of the air out and leaves a perfect lever. SO easy. 3 minutes per brake.
Isn't the whole point to push new oil into the system? By pushing it back and forth all you're doing is mixing old discoloured oil and new oil into the system and contaminating everything.
I’ve used the kit from epic bleed solutions a few times now and the only way it made the bleed a pain is you have to be quite careful not to pull too hard when creating the vacuum as if you pull too hard, as the seals aren’t the best they will bring in a bit of air into the syringe so it isn’t as robust a feel as the official SRAM one but with a bit of finesse you can bleed them perfectly
Great Video, Thank you! I used SRAM Standard Bleed Kit with DOT 5.1 Brake Fluid. Everything went according to plan except for one thing: When I was keeping the caliper syringe vertical and pulling up on the lever syringe, the caliper syringe plunger was not moving. It is not clear to me what the cause may have been, since before I pushed the liquid into the caliper syringe, it flowed without any problems.
GMBN are amazing with there videos and this one taught me perfectly how to bleed the all new Sram Code R brakes. Perfect step by step instruction and will defently use GMBN for future stuff on bikes. Thanks a lot for the help mate 😉
Great video tutorial!! I found though that removing the syringes in the reverse order is better. Removing the lever end last always ended up with leakage & losing the pressure when unscrewing the nozzle. If you remove the lever end first and put in the lock screw,. Then when you go to the calliper end, you can pressurise with the syringe, then close off the screw nozzle to maintain the pressure. Then unplug the nozzle & tighten the bolt. No mess, better pressure retention.
Btw there's a couple other things that are helpful that do not follow the Sram instructions - one is to dial the contact point adjustment to beyond halfway in the "In" direction. Sram instructs us to dial the adjustment all the way in the Out direction. This doesn't allow you any adjustment to firm up the lever. It's highly ineffective! Another is to use a thinner bleed block, to allow more fluid into the system... Sram seems to be intent on doing whatever possible to input the smallest amount of fluid, i.e. create the least amount of pressure, but that is what so many people complain about...
Andy G - that sounds like a great idea. I agree that removing the lever syringe first would make sense since, when you lose fluid from the lever, you can add it back if pressurizing from the caliper and you won't lose a drop due to the push on/pull off design of the bleeding edge adapter. I have more free stroke / lever pull required before the brakes engage and I keep thinking it's due to losing fluid during that last step removing the syringe from the caliper. Quick question - are you just reversing the entire process (i.e. starting the bleed from the caliper end to the lever end), or are you doing everything the same as in the video, but instead of pressurizing at the level end, you pressurize at the caliper end? There's the step where you squeeze and release the brake lever - where does that fit into the process you described?
Great video, thank you. How do you clean and prepare the syringes for the next bleed though? Do you have to run isopropyl alcohol through them or just get all the oil you can out of them by pressing the syringe and just get the new oils in on the next run? Maybe a little cross contamination doesn't hurt that much on the left over oil?
Yes, I'd recommend flushing syringe & tubes with alcohol for 2 reasons. (1) alcohol is volatile and will easily and completely disappear over a short time. And (2) DOT fluid is caustic, so you don't want it contaminating & possible spreading over your stored service equipment. Not the end of the world if you store minimal DOT fluid in your service equipment. But it is hydrophilic (attracts water) and it is NOT volatile (like alcohol is) so, after a year, the DOT residue will still be there, it'll now be 'wet' and will grow in volume. Again, not a huge deal but if you start next year's flush with a wet residue of last year's DOT fluid, just make sure to do a few quick rinses of your 'contaminated' syringe & tubes with the SMALLEST amount of new, dry, DOT fluid. If, after sitting a year, the old residue is maybe 50%(?) water, after the first rinse, the new residue might only be 10% water. Then only 1% after 2nd rinse. Maybe 0.1% water after 2nd rinse.
Also since Shimano uses mineral oil, which has a higher boiling point, doesn't attract water (Which dramatically reduces the boiling point), hold dissolved gas or strip your bike's paint, it doesn't need to be replaced for years. Magura, who've been using mineral oil for their brakes since they first entered the bike market probably over 40 years ago at this stage, don't even have a recommended replacement interval for their oil because it just stays working - I have a Julie on one bike that's been running the original fluid for probably a decade at this stage just feed it brake pads and adjust the reach screw in the lever every couple of years (It works loose very very slowly) and that's it. The only things going for DOT fluid are that if it does get on your disks, spraying the whole lot with water will usually get everything back working because DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 are very water soluble, while with mineral oil you pretty much have to burn it out of the pads (Or replace them) and degrease the disk and caliper (I find sanding the disk in a mix of water and washing up liquid gives great results) and it's easier to find if there are no decent bike shops around. Citroen LHM (Hydrauilc oil for their hydropneumatic suspension systems) works perfectly in Magura brakes in my experience if you're stuck, I even got a leaky set of HS33's back working once by using slightly higher viscosity fork oil (Still a mineral oil). Both Shimano and Magura will swear blind that using the oil for one in the other company's brakes will damage them, but I suspect this is more about warranty and selling their approved parts than for any genuine reason.
peglor The problem with mineral oil for brakes is exactly that it doesn’t absorb water. Which means that any water in the system will collect at the caliper and lower the boiling point of the system to that of water. In practice that is not a big issue for mtb brakes but it certainly is for cars, trucks and motorcycles.
This video helped me a lot, but there ist one huge mistake which prevented me from having a really tight braking point. What to do different: Remove the top bleeder before the bottom one with the Sram bleed port first. Easy reason ist the great bleeding port of sram. If you close the top one first you can pressurize the system from the bottom and close the bleed screw without dripping and loosing pressure. This was the only and also very easy way to get a really tight breaking point for me!
To give you a tip, it doesn't have to be this complicated. Simply connect the oil-filled syringe to the lever and open the caliper slightly and push the oil from the lever side to the syringe side. However, we need an oil drain bowl
would be so much easier with a bleeding edge port on the lever side also, everyone that has done this knows that fluid pours out of the lever when you unscrew the syringe but no one ever shows that on camera.
One of my bikes came with Sram brakes and it makes me appreciate how much easier and user friendly the Shimano system is. I moved the sram brakes to a bike that should need the least maintenance because i dislike this process so much. I much prefer working with inert mineral oil and using using gravity/ buoyancy to do the bulk of the work.
Best, how to video's,very informative step by step ! Great preventative details that could cause mistakes !My brake performance is now incredibly better! Thank you
Thanks for the DIY man! My brother just spent 100$ and 3 weeks of bike in the shop for this and I did it in 30 mins front and rear on my bike. If it weren't for my chonkin good doggo tipping over my bottle of dot 3 halfway through, it would have been a flawless victory!
Great video, Thanks. I have a question though. What about the older models that you mention, that don't have the "edge" tech? How do you remove the syringe and get the plug back in without getting air in the system?
I was looking into buying a bike that comes with those SRAM breaks. After watching this video I know that this would be a big mistake. I can bleed my shimano brakes in a few minutes with a crappy syringe and a little funnel (everything you need put together costs $2 on Aliexpress). This is a lot more work. Shimano XT on my new bike for sure.
Its actually smarter to start by attaching the syring to the brake lever. After that remove the brake pads and insert the bleed block. This way your lever wont be flooded with dot fluid because of the preasure you are creating by pushing back the pistons. I got codes in stealth look now because of not doing this
Followed this when upgrading LevelT to Code R on my Levo. Codes working great. Good modulation and can lock either wheel at will. Only problem is the bite point. Initially it was poor on both brakes (probably result of the Epic bleed block width). I managed to get the rear good by removing the wheel and operating the brake carefully to close up the pads. The same trick on the front improved them but the bite point front & rear are annoyingly different. Any tips.
Why are you trying to bleed the brakes pushing the air downhill, air rises so start with full syringe at the bottom (caliper) end and bleed it up to the lever
This is correct for just about any brake that's not an Avid/SRAM. The weird valving in SRAM levers means they probably won't take a bleed from the bottom as easily. All that messing with sucking fluid in and out and degassing the fluid as SRAM recommended in their earlier tutorials is fixing problems with oil flow through the brake system that other manufacturers engineered out before they sent the products for mass production. The real stand out feature of this bleed process where you realise the SRAM levers are definitely doing something weird is when he closes the bottom of the system and pumps more fluid into the lever. Oil is effectively incompressible, so the only way this is possible is if the reservoir in the lever is not filled properly by the bleed process and instead depends on extra pressure to get fluid into it. This would be termed an 'overbleed' if you did it with most brakes - they'd also most likely spit all the extra fluid back out as the diaphragm allowing for expansion in the lever would spring back to shape as soon as you remove the syringe from the lever.
After you see him pump more fluid into the lever/reservoir, why does it not all spurt back out when he releases the syringe? Is this process of pumping more into the lever critical and how do you know how much to pump in? Thanks. Apologies, only dealt with shimano brakes in the past and have Sram Code R's on the latest addition to the fleet.
@RollinRat no one arguing this.. with 40 years of bike mechanicing under my belt, couldn’t agree more. But when you bike you bought has sram, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, lol
Great video thank you! Question while I got the rear caliper working just fine I still can’t get the front one to engage. In fact, when I go through the bleeding process, I don’t even get any bubbles which is strange. Any suggestions?
Hi. I wonder if you can help? I have a cube stereo MTB which has sram guide r brakes on it. I recently went on a trip and the weather was rather nice and warm and my brakes began to bind. By the time we stopped for lunch they had completely seized. I took it to a mechs and they said the pistons inside the sram levers had become stuck probably due to a combination of the weather and the old brake fluid. Having had this experience friends are telling me it’s a problem with Stan brakes and to swap them out for a set of magura. The question is do I replace the seals and fluid and keep up regular annual fluid renewals on the srams or swap them out for the magura or are these also potentially susceptible? If it’s a common problem I’ll swap them out but if it was a one off due to my poor brake lever maintenance I’ll just rebuild them. Thoughts please? Thanks
Just a small observation - when you are saying dial out in the contact adjuster, in the video you are actually turning the knob for the reach adjust, not the contact adjuster.
RollinRat that’s crazy, SRAM is just as good as shimano, it’s all preference. I like SRAM axs over the shimano but some people like shimano. I have both break systems, on my madones I have the RED and on my trek supercaliper it has Shimano XT, both work just fine. I would of prefer SRAM break system on both so I wouldn’t have to have 2 different bleed systems. DOT vs Mineral. And all 3 of my bikes have SRAM AXS 12speed
First of all: super channel (best of gmbn). Keep it up!!! Maybe stupid question, but how do you clean the bleeding kit? In one of my syringes there was still a reasonable amount of fluid from the last time and it turned completely in a white milky colour. I want to use the kit again but i think it's best to clean it first. What do I use without contamenating the next fluid that goes in it? Thx
i have a problem, i did it like this video showed it, but after 20 minutes of bleeding process there are still bubbles coming, not many but there are... are my brakes defective? great video and doddy is a god when it comes to explaining repairs etc. Keep up the good work! sorry for my english it is not my native language ;)
It could be that you're pulling too hard on the syringes, pulling air past the seals. Try again but push/pull the levers quite gently. You should only ever be moving the fluid slowly anyway. If that doesn't work then your seals may be perished/damaged, letting air in where you don't want it!
Check the brakes for the 4 letter identifier 'SRAM' printed somewhere on tthem. If you find this written anywhere on the lever or caliper the brakes are defective and should be replaced with one that don't say SRAM on them.
just got the new capra shred and fucked the cable swap from left side being front brake. So fluid went everywhere and i didnt realise you could rotate the code r to the other side without needing to touch the hydraulics. Stoopid ass has to wait until monday before front brake really works now as fluid on order
Good job, but the system is a closed system right? Why would there be any air in there? And if so, should you check this after 2000km with a new bike? Or every say 2000km? I am confused because this system is sold on travel bikes as maintenance free....
Wonder how you guys clean the bleeding tool? I just wiped the outside of the tools by isopropyl alcohol. However I didn’t clean the inside of the syringe and the pipe.
Hi, my SRAM Code R’s are about four years old. I have taken good care of them giving them a fresh bleed once a year with new pads. My front brake pads are way to close to the rotors. Seems like the don’t retract much at all. I then rebuilt the caliber, but this did not fix the problem. I have followed your video and I can not get these brakes to not rub. Just too close to the rotor. I feel like when I do my final push to pressurize the system it pushes the pistons out to far??? Not sure what I am doing wrong, please help🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Mm, interesting. Completely different process with the later much improved Avid system. The process I had attempted was on the older Avid CR Caliper's. The video instruction was to bleed from Caliper-not Lever end. So now wondering what is the correct procedure to ensure the most efficient BLEED!! Attempted bleed procedure with The Avid Standard Syringe's which were absolutely USELESS. Have had to make another purchase, this time The Professional Syringe Kit. Please advise which would be the best procedure for optimal performance, as now somewhat perplexed, not forgetting irritated that the considerable time with failing Syringe's resulted in back brake's being worse than when I started. Appreciate your expert knowledge and experience, your advice would be much appreciated. Raptor Rob
Hey, this is really useful and clear, thank you - only issue I have is that when I remove the top syringe right near the end then fluid pees out of the handle and I lose pressure. I've sealed the bottom end and followed all of the instructions to the letter. thoughts ?
Actually just read down th comments and sounds like doing the process but using the caliper end last is the way to hold pressure in the system. will let u know if it works.
Comment and question. I am under the impression one advantage of DOT 5.1 is that it cleans up great with mere water. That there is no need for 91% isopropyl alcohol or aerosol brake fluid cleaner. Am I wrong? (Folks still recommend cleaning contaminated rotors with brake fluid cleaner as it dries so fast.)
New Code R brakes, I'm not sure where my problem is stemming from but I cut the line to fit, I'm following everything exactly in video and my rear pistons are barely moving. Only in the rear though, the fronts are perfect. Very frustrating, I've bled it 3 or 4 times already and I don't want to bring it to a shop I like working on things myself. Maybe there's still air in the lever or something I'm missing? Doddy help!
Is it problematic if you only do the last step (bleed the lever) if you don’t have the right seringue for the caliper. Will the brake feel less spongy by doing this waiting for the right tool ?
I have never heard of corrosive brake fluid - it is usually a pure hydrocarbon oil - it will not bother pain, but it certainly gets absorbed in the brake pads = weaken/swell
How does the fluid blacken in a closed system? Maybe it's the o-rings in the caliper or lever? Bled my Guide RS for the first time after 2 seasons and 2 sets of pads and the fluid was dark.
Whoever at GMBN green lighted Doddy and the Tech Channel, you are a genius! Doddy is far and away the best presenter for tech and how-to's. Thanks!
@@siriosstar4789 nah. i'm not here to be coddled. they put out serious content and we learn...keep it moving.
@@siriosstar4789 Get over yourself.
@@siriosstar4789 would you like him to give you a pat on the back? Get over yourself tool.
Great Video, Thank you! I changed brake pads and bled the system on my SRAM Guide Brakes. Worked as described with one exception. When I was done I realized I couldn't pressurize the system the way you describe (at about 12:15) from the lever/reservoir as you instantly loose the pressure, (and a fair amount of fluid) replacing the reservoir screw.
I ended up pressurizing the system from the caliper end once I had bled the brake lines and closed off and replaced the hex screw at the lever. I worked beautifully and was able to keep the system pressurized by tightening the caliper bleed nut while I had it under slight pressure from the syringe. What I gave me was the instant brake feel in the lever, with out all of the lever travel that occurs with unpressurized brake system.
experiencing the same on my guide r, I will try this trick as well in hopes of getting that mushy lever feeling away!
Great advise. I’m going to try this
Genius! Great idea!
I did it this way after reading your comment. 1000% better than Sram’s way. Instantly better brakes
Thanks! This is hands down, the most useful comment ever. Thank you! 🙏 😊
Doddy, I can’t thank you enough for this video. I followed it step by step after accidentally popping out a piston on my Guide’s. I bought the kit you mentioned, followed every step, and the result is perfect. Thanks so much.
OK, I had to change levers on my Guide R brakes so needed to bleed them after. I watched the Sram video and this one several times, then ordered all the tools, and started. Took two tries but got the front brakes great. The rear were a different story. So I watched the video again to make sure. After six tries, the final one with the caliper completely off the bike so I could get the hose straight to make sure no air was being trapped, I had to go off script. No matter what I did, after pressurizing the system a little, when I would remove the syringe from the lever it would squirt back some fluid and leave the lever too soft. (again this worked fine on the front) I finally, carefully, put the bleeding point syringe back on the caliper, and pressurized the system, just a little, from there. Now the rear are as solid as the front.
I realise I'm about 8 months late on commenting but you're right, dont pressurise the system from the lever. I found that sealing off the lever and adding pressure through the caliper then shutting the system off with the bleeding edge significantly improves the feel and effectiveness of the brake
Thanks, I've watched several bleed videos and found one with another great tip @7m14 for bleeding at the midpoint adjustment
ruclips.net/video/ACGyA1QVWIg/видео.html
Oooooooooh I’m 2 years late but I’m going to try the calliper pressure suggestion today. Sick of spongy rear lever
At your own risk and carefully to not spill dot fluid all over: Do the bleed as per instructions. Re-attach the wheel, stick the syringe thing to bleeding edge port on the caliper with some amount of fluid in it (if not already in). Screw the port open and make sure you are not pushing air to the system (keep syringe pointing upwards and make some vacuum to pull any air from the system). Push syringe until brake pads almost touch the rotor. Close the port while holding the pressure. Make some vacuum on the syringe before/while removing the syringe to prevent dot fluid from going all over. Levers should bite almost instantly now.
@@amend2806 legend. Thank you! It does make more sense to add pressure without the bleed block place unlike the way they tell you with the block in cos otherwise it's just the same as before it was bled again 😂
Big into Mountain Biking in my 30's, back into it in my 60's. Bike have changed a lot and this video helped my bleed my brakes flawlessly. Thanks.
I come back to this each year when it’s time to bleed my brakes for the new season. Excellent demonstration!
For some reason ive never bled my 2009 avid elixir just put new pads on as needed ?…? The same with my ‘16 m8000 shimano brakes but im here because my new bike came with sram and the Level tL kinda suck as far a lever throw and now have to buy a bleed KiT ?
I bleed my brakes 2/3 times a season lol, just to make sure they're 100% when I do bike parks/Gnar
I first watched srams own how to bleed with bleeding edge. I guess my brain is to slow or smth but Doddys guide is so much better. He speaks and show you in a way that make it look easy.
You can remove the little clip in the retaining pad bolt with the 2.5mm allen key. The clip has the eyebolt that is exactly sized for the 2.5mm allen key and in this way you won't lose it
Doddy, thank you for escorting me through my first brakes bleed on my 2021 SC Tallboy. Sadly the base level SRAM G2 brakes that came on my S-carbon bike build were the older, pre-bleeding edge system, but the bleed process wasn’t that much worse than what you showed. I clamped my bike with her tail up in the air. When I removed the syringe from the rear caliper port a couple drops of oil scooted out before I could reinsert the port screw. Squeezing the plunger at the handlebar forced a tiny bubble and a couple drops of oil out out the rear port before I tightened the screw down. Everything else was the same as in your video.
I probably could have figured it out without your video, and the Park Tools brakes bleed video is also excellent, but I doubt it would have gone as smoothly on my first attempt without your crystal-clear instructions. Bravo!
I bled the brakes following Doddy's instructions today. All went super smooth. This how-to is bleeding good!
Good to hear Vit!
You're a saint! It all seemed so confusing before this video. 10 minutes start to finish. Way easier than shimano.
I have both brands, only bleed shimano till now, but by looks doing this with SRAM looks harder
How can this possibly be easier than Shimano. You can do a 30 second bleed just using a cup on Shimano to get any air out. Then if you need you can do one similar to this with syringes.
This still results in a mushy lever that takes a lot of travel before it bites. If you want to firm it up, you need to do it with the wheels on and pads in. If you don't need a full bleed, connect at the caliper, then loosen the bolt at the lever. Open the valve and force fluid in at the caliper until it comes out the lever, then put the lever bolt back in. Then give the syringe some pressure and close off the valve at the caliper. You do need to be careful doing this and clean up any spilled fluid. This will get the brakes much closer to the fast initial bite that you may expect from Shimano, while still giving you the good modulation you expect from SRAM.
This 100%. I'm not sure how someone can say they're pressurizing the system when they unscrew the syringe and let fluid leak out at the lever then just put the screw back in.
And you may end up with the DOT spilling out of the pressure relief holes located in levers. I personally think it will be leaking until it become the same mushy long dead stroke feel like before. Experienced fellas also say this is the way to damage the internal bladder and end up thrashing the brake...
@@josefarnost5606 Not saying it can't happen, but I've been doing this for years and they have never leaked. And It doesn't change the peak pressure when actually using the brakes so I would question any claim that it will damage the bladder.
@@plmn93 Just happened to me, the DOT still leaks a bit. I'll see... a bit scared though 🙄
very good Doddy when you include mentioning how to responsibly dispose off the used oil, educating your viewers including me on how to keep our environement. Thumbs Up!
Thank you GMBN. I just finished doing this step by step. Perfect. Breaks work perfectly. Probably saved $150 from the shop.
Man, that was superbly done. If university profs could teach that well, it would mean a revolution had occurred. Thanks a million.
Cheers Doddy. Bought the SRAM bleed kit for Code/Guide R/RS. Watched your vid a few times, now bleed all my bikes with confidence and getting results as good as a shop. It does take practice, but massive reward when doing it yourself. Cheers Bud.
Thanks for a great video. Shouldn't preasurising the system be done from the calliper end? Seems a bit pointless from the lever end when any pressure just offloads by pushing a load of fluid out after taking the syringe out? I did it from the caliper end which was the only way I could get pressure in and get it nice and sharp
thanks- my first bleed of my SRAM DOT brakes after doing Shimano Mineral Oil for the last 6 years. cheers
Thanks Doddy! After attempting to bleed my Level brake after watching the SRAM video, I failed miserably. Frustrated and about to take the bike to my LBS, I saw your video and decided to give it another try. While the steps are the same, I felt your explanation was more thorough and made the process much easier. I quickly realized I missed a key step in closing the plunger lever on the caliper end. The only outstanding issue I have is my torque wrench does not go below 2Nm (1.5-1.7Nm recommended) and to my knowledge Park does not make one that goes that low so I hope I gave the drain bolts enough tension as I did not want to strip them. Great content as always from GMBN!
Thanks, Doddy!! I needed to bleed my rear brake and your video was invaluable. I had never done it before and following your video made bleeding the brake much easier. Without your help I would have had to take it to the shop for service which would have been about a 2 to 3 week wait due to the Covid 19 pandemic causing a back up in service time. I rode today and the brakes worked great. Thanks again, and if you ever come to Pennsylvania to ride in Coopers Gap/Rothrock State Forest, I owe you a beer!
Just bled for the first time. DOT fluid EVERYWHERE. But got my firm brakes back so thanks! 👍🏾
Yup, same here! Cheers Doddy 👍
One of the best and easiest to follow tutorials I've ever watched. Thanks a mil Doddy!
A great video and also gives great info on the different types of bleed valves which saved a lot of time. Would just say that when all the air is out of the tubes the job is not necessarily complete especially if you have had to change the main piston in the lever. It took 2 attempts to get the air lock out in that situation by pushing the fluid in both directions before closing off the calliper. The other key as stated is to ensure the lever is open to the max for full piston travel.
FYI plain water will clean and flush DOT 3, DOT 4, DOT 5.1 brake fluids. They are not corrosive, but are reactive to paint, plastics, and other coatings. They are alcohol based, and will absorb water out of the air. The only real difference between the 3 types are their boiling point.
Thanks, that is what I needed to know. 😁
Great tutorial! One previous tip I was shown online was to help remove as much air from the fluid as possible.
You fill the syringes as shown here, but then use the clamps on the hose to seal them. After that you try and pull (decently hard, but be careful not to pull so hard you suck air through the rubber seal) the syringe handle outwards. If there are any micro bubbles, they will get way bigger due to vacuum, and you can flick them to the top. Do that until they are all at the top, and continue on.
Come on Doddy what’s the pen for?
Had to bleed a completely new bike, breaks where terrible it was like abs never enough power. The winning tip was after getting rid of the bubbles getting as much fluid into the system as possible. Now they are fantastic. It is a completely different experience going downhill.
I have found that this procedure results in very mushy brakes on sram code R and code RSC brakes. To get the brakes feeling good, after air is bubbled out, close up the lever port, then with the caliper still open apply pressure on the caliper syringe and hold it tight. While holding the pressure with your thumb, close the caliper bleed port, then release pressure from the syringe. Now the lever will not be mushy.
thank you for this excellent video. using your guidance here I was able to bleed the brakes instead of waiting weeks for my bike shop’s next availability.
Cheers mate you've made me feel confident enough to buy the service kit and try the job myself .
Glad we could help Alan & goodluck!
Just done this with an Epic bleed kit. A combination of this vid and epic kit instructions 👌
I've found the best way to bleed these is to simply push the fluid back and forth between the two syringes 10 or 15 times. Forces all of the air out and leaves a perfect lever. SO easy. 3 minutes per brake.
Isn't the whole point to push new oil into the system? By pushing it back and forth all you're doing is mixing old discoloured oil and new oil into the system and contaminating everything.
This is what I have found. But if there is any discoloration, you need to push out through caliper and refill with fresh from the lever.
Thank you Doddy. I haven't done this yet, but have more confidence to try.
The best review I’ve seen for the sram brakes thank you 🙏
Watched a few other videos today on this, none compare. No weird things that don't make sense and straight to the job.
I’ve used the kit from epic bleed solutions a few times now and the only way it made the bleed a pain is you have to be quite careful not to pull too hard when creating the vacuum as if you pull too hard, as the seals aren’t the best they will bring in a bit of air into the syringe so it isn’t as robust a feel as the official SRAM one but with a bit of finesse you can bleed them perfectly
Thanks Doddy. I just finished bleeding my brakes for the very first 😁
Great Video, Thank you!
I used SRAM Standard Bleed Kit with DOT 5.1 Brake Fluid. Everything went according to plan except for one thing: When I was keeping the caliper syringe vertical and pulling up on the lever syringe, the caliper syringe plunger was not moving. It is not clear to me what the cause may have been, since before I pushed the liquid into the caliper syringe, it flowed without any problems.
Thank you for all of these great videos! I just bled my front and rear brakes on a brand new bike and my Guide R's have firmed up like 2x!!
GMBN are amazing with there videos and this one taught me perfectly how to bleed the all new Sram Code R brakes.
Perfect step by step instruction and will defently use GMBN for future stuff on bikes.
Thanks a lot for the help mate 😉
Getting a 2020 Stumpjumper next week with this system on it. Right on time finding this video!!! Thanks Dod!
You might want to note that isn't regular WD40 but WD40 branded BRAKE CLEANER which won't leave any residue, unlike normal WD40 would!
Great video tutorial!!
I found though that removing the syringes in the reverse order is better.
Removing the lever end last always ended up with leakage & losing the pressure when unscrewing the nozzle.
If you remove the lever end first and put in the lock screw,. Then when you go to the calliper end, you can pressurise with the syringe, then close off the screw nozzle to maintain the pressure. Then unplug the nozzle & tighten the bolt. No mess, better pressure retention.
Totally agree. Don't know why this video doesn't do it this way...??
Btw there's a couple other things that are helpful that do not follow the Sram instructions - one is to dial the contact point adjustment to beyond halfway in the "In" direction. Sram instructs us to dial the adjustment all the way in the Out direction. This doesn't allow you any adjustment to firm up the lever. It's highly ineffective! Another is to use a thinner bleed block, to allow more fluid into the system...
Sram seems to be intent on doing whatever possible to input the smallest amount of fluid, i.e. create the least amount of pressure, but that is what so many people complain about...
Andy G - that sounds like a great idea. I agree that removing the lever syringe first would make sense since, when you lose fluid from the lever, you can add it back if pressurizing from the caliper and you won't lose a drop due to the push on/pull off design of the bleeding edge adapter. I have more free stroke / lever pull required before the brakes engage and I keep thinking it's due to losing fluid during that last step removing the syringe from the caliper.
Quick question - are you just reversing the entire process (i.e. starting the bleed from the caliper end to the lever end), or are you doing everything the same as in the video, but instead of pressurizing at the level end, you pressurize at the caliper end? There's the step where you squeeze and release the brake lever - where does that fit into the process you described?
@@ruknight4ever I follow the video up until the pressure/disconnect step. I squeeze the lever before the final pressure and disconnect.
Thanks Doddy! Really pleased with the instructions and I did my brakes spot on. Thanks again
Great video, thank you. How do you clean and prepare the syringes for the next bleed though? Do you have to run isopropyl alcohol through them or just get all the oil you can out of them by pressing the syringe and just get the new oils in on the next run? Maybe a little cross contamination doesn't hurt that much on the left over oil?
Yes, I'd recommend flushing syringe & tubes with alcohol for 2 reasons. (1) alcohol is volatile and will easily and completely disappear over a short time. And (2) DOT fluid is caustic, so you don't want it contaminating & possible spreading over your stored service equipment.
Not the end of the world if you store minimal DOT fluid in your service equipment. But it is hydrophilic (attracts water) and it is NOT volatile (like alcohol is) so, after a year, the DOT residue will still be there, it'll now be 'wet' and will grow in volume. Again, not a huge deal but if you start next year's flush with a wet residue of last year's DOT fluid, just make sure to do a few quick rinses of your 'contaminated' syringe & tubes with the SMALLEST amount of new, dry, DOT fluid.
If, after sitting a year, the old residue is maybe 50%(?) water, after the first rinse, the new residue might only be 10% water. Then only 1% after 2nd rinse. Maybe 0.1% water after 2nd rinse.
I don't even have SRAM brakes but I like videos of doddy!
If you have Shimano brakes you can use that extra hour of time that you save to actually ride a bike :D.
Haha agreed. Changed all my brakes over to Shimano. 1 cup to bleed all.
Also since Shimano uses mineral oil, which has a higher boiling point, doesn't attract water (Which dramatically reduces the boiling point), hold dissolved gas or strip your bike's paint, it doesn't need to be replaced for years. Magura, who've been using mineral oil for their brakes since they first entered the bike market probably over 40 years ago at this stage, don't even have a recommended replacement interval for their oil because it just stays working - I have a Julie on one bike that's been running the original fluid for probably a decade at this stage just feed it brake pads and adjust the reach screw in the lever every couple of years (It works loose very very slowly) and that's it.
The only things going for DOT fluid are that if it does get on your disks, spraying the whole lot with water will usually get everything back working because DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 are very water soluble, while with mineral oil you pretty much have to burn it out of the pads (Or replace them) and degrease the disk and caliper (I find sanding the disk in a mix of water and washing up liquid gives great results) and it's easier to find if there are no decent bike shops around. Citroen LHM (Hydrauilc oil for their hydropneumatic suspension systems) works perfectly in Magura brakes in my experience if you're stuck, I even got a leaky set of HS33's back working once by using slightly higher viscosity fork oil (Still a mineral oil). Both Shimano and Magura will swear blind that using the oil for one in the other company's brakes will damage them, but I suspect this is more about warranty and selling their approved parts than for any genuine reason.
peglor The problem with mineral oil for brakes is exactly that it doesn’t absorb water. Which means that any water in the system will collect at the caliper and lower the boiling point of the system to that of water. In practice that is not a big issue for mtb brakes but it certainly is for cars, trucks and motorcycles.
But if you want to stop, use SRAM
You mean after you've spent an hour sorting out the inconsistent lever feel by rebleeding the factory bled brakes, right?
This video helped me a lot, but there ist one huge mistake which prevented me from having a really tight braking point. What to do different: Remove the top bleeder before the bottom one with the Sram bleed port first. Easy reason ist the great bleeding port of sram. If you close the top one first you can pressurize the system from the bottom and close the bleed screw without dripping and loosing pressure. This was the only and also very easy way to get a really tight breaking point for me!
Thanks for the tip.
After closing the port at the lever Do you need to pump or pull the syringe at the caliper end?
Thanks for your help.
You sure make this look easy. I have fluid all over the place when I tried to bleed mine.
To give you a tip, it doesn't have to be this complicated.
Simply connect the oil-filled syringe to the lever and open the caliper slightly and push the oil from the lever side to the syringe side.
However, we need an oil drain bowl
would be so much easier with a bleeding edge port on the lever side also, everyone that has done this knows that fluid pours out of the lever when you unscrew the syringe but no one ever shows that on camera.
Exactly!
Which is why I remove in the reverse order!
One of my bikes came with Sram brakes and it makes me appreciate how much easier and user friendly the Shimano system is. I moved the sram brakes to a bike that should need the least maintenance because i dislike this process so much. I much prefer working with inert mineral oil and using using gravity/ buoyancy to do the bulk of the work.
I prefer Shimano too but DOT fluid is practically a requirement in the winter.
Superb. My brakes will be serviced beyond any reproach.
Best, how to video's,very informative step by step ! Great preventative details that could cause mistakes !My brake performance is now incredibly better! Thank you
Still a great video! just bled my new set of Code RSC’s after shortening the cables, went great 😁
Looks much nicer way of doing things compared to my current avid brakes. I am looking forward to upgrading to the new system :)
Amazing video Doddy! Managed to do this first time with SRAM Pro brake bleed kit and brakes feel awesome
Awesome tutorial video Doddy, just bleed my code R's this vid made it easy as can be.
How are your brakes doing 🤔
Thanks for the DIY man! My brother just spent 100$ and 3 weeks of bike in the shop for this and I did it in 30 mins front and rear on my bike. If it weren't for my chonkin good doggo tipping over my bottle of dot 3 halfway through, it would have been a flawless victory!
Great video, Thanks. I have a question though. What about the older models that you mention, that don't have the "edge" tech? How do you remove the syringe and get the plug back in without getting air in the system?
I was looking into buying a bike that comes with those SRAM breaks. After watching this video I know that this would be a big mistake. I can bleed my shimano brakes in a few minutes with a crappy syringe and a little funnel (everything you need put together costs $2 on Aliexpress). This is a lot more work. Shimano XT on my new bike for sure.
Its actually smarter to start by attaching the syring to the brake lever. After that remove the brake pads and insert the bleed block. This way your lever wont be flooded with dot fluid because of the preasure you are creating by pushing back the pistons. I got codes in stealth look now because of not doing this
Followed this when upgrading LevelT to Code R on my Levo. Codes working great. Good modulation and can lock either wheel at will. Only problem is the bite point. Initially it was poor on both brakes (probably result of the Epic bleed block width). I managed to get the rear good by removing the wheel and operating the brake carefully to close up the pads. The same trick on the front improved them but the bite point front & rear are annoyingly different. Any tips.
Why are you trying to bleed the brakes pushing the air downhill, air rises so start with full syringe at the bottom (caliper) end and bleed it up to the lever
Never understood why I see this all the time too. Makes no sense.
Maby because the reservoir is on the top and you want the new fluid to be there.
I would just have the bike rotated forward in the stand so the bars are lower than the rear caliper...
This is correct for just about any brake that's not an Avid/SRAM. The weird valving in SRAM levers means they probably won't take a bleed from the bottom as easily. All that messing with sucking fluid in and out and degassing the fluid as SRAM recommended in their earlier tutorials is fixing problems with oil flow through the brake system that other manufacturers engineered out before they sent the products for mass production.
The real stand out feature of this bleed process where you realise the SRAM levers are definitely doing something weird is when he closes the bottom of the system and pumps more fluid into the lever. Oil is effectively incompressible, so the only way this is possible is if the reservoir in the lever is not filled properly by the bleed process and instead depends on extra pressure to get fluid into it. This would be termed an 'overbleed' if you did it with most brakes - they'd also most likely spit all the extra fluid back out as the diaphragm allowing for expansion in the lever would spring back to shape as soon as you remove the syringe from the lever.
After you see him pump more fluid into the lever/reservoir, why does it not all spurt back out when he releases the syringe? Is this process of pumping more into the lever critical and how do you know how much to pump in? Thanks.
Apologies, only dealt with shimano brakes in the past and have Sram Code R's on the latest addition to the fleet.
Late on commenting, but great video! Gives me some confidence on trying this.. have Always been a Shimano holdout, but this makes it look manageable
@RollinRat no one arguing this.. with 40 years of bike mechanicing under my belt, couldn’t agree more. But when you bike you bought has sram, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, lol
Great video and thanks!! I'm just wondering why Sram brakes are not bled from the bottom to the top to force the air out?
Great video thank you! Question while I got the rear caliper working just fine I still can’t get the front one to engage. In fact, when I go through the bleeding process, I don’t even get any bubbles which is strange. Any suggestions?
Question....why not bleed from the caliper end pushing all the old oil and any air upwards through the lever end?
Hi. I wonder if you can help? I have a cube stereo MTB which has sram guide r brakes on it. I recently went on a trip and the weather was rather nice and warm and my brakes began to bind. By the time we stopped for lunch they had completely seized. I took it to a mechs and they said the pistons inside the sram levers had become stuck probably due to a combination of the weather and the old brake fluid. Having had this experience friends are telling me it’s a problem with Stan brakes and to swap them out for a set of magura. The question is do I replace the seals and fluid and keep up regular annual fluid renewals on the srams or swap them out for the magura or are these also potentially susceptible? If it’s a common problem I’ll swap them out but if it was a one off due to my poor brake lever maintenance I’ll just rebuild them. Thoughts please? Thanks
Just a small observation - when you are saying dial out in the contact adjuster, in the video you are actually turning the knob for the reach adjust, not the contact adjuster.
really nice , wanted to replace my tektro brakes for Sram ones.
Was afraid of bleeding, not anymore !
RollinRat that’s crazy, SRAM is just as good as shimano, it’s all preference. I like SRAM axs over the shimano but some people like shimano. I have both break systems, on my madones I have the RED and on my trek supercaliper it has Shimano XT, both work just fine. I would of prefer SRAM break system on both so I wouldn’t have to have 2 different bleed systems. DOT vs Mineral. And all 3 of my bikes have SRAM AXS 12speed
First of all: super channel (best of gmbn). Keep it up!!!
Maybe stupid question, but how do you clean the bleeding kit? In one of my syringes there was still a reasonable amount of fluid from the last time and it turned completely in a white milky colour. I want to use the kit again but i think it's best to clean it first. What do I use without contamenating the next fluid that goes in it? Thx
isopropyl alcohol (C2H8O)
if you have sram level t the bleed block looks like the millennium falcon just fyi. only took me 2 hours to figure that out
i have a problem, i did it like this video showed it, but after 20 minutes of bleeding process there are still bubbles coming, not many but there are... are my brakes defective? great video and doddy is a god when it comes to explaining repairs etc. Keep up the good work! sorry for my english it is not my native language ;)
It could be that you're pulling too hard on the syringes, pulling air past the seals. Try again but push/pull the levers quite gently. You should only ever be moving the fluid slowly anyway. If that doesn't work then your seals may be perished/damaged, letting air in where you don't want it!
Check the brakes for the 4 letter identifier 'SRAM' printed somewhere on tthem. If you find this written anywhere on the lever or caliper the brakes are defective and should be replaced with one that don't say SRAM on them.
What's that Sender?
just got the new capra shred and fucked the cable swap from left side being front brake. So fluid went everywhere and i didnt realise you could rotate the code r to the other side without needing to touch the hydraulics. Stoopid ass has to wait until monday before front brake really works now as fluid on order
I like how you run the rear brake on the left side... The only way to go
I watched a video on how to service the brake system on an Airbus A320, it was way less complicated than bleeding sram brakes.
Hi, can you use other brands of brake fluids with the same DOT rating?
Good job, but the system is a closed system right? Why would there be any air in there? And if so, should you check this after 2000km with a new bike? Or every say 2000km? I am confused because this system is sold on travel bikes as maintenance free....
Knowing you are an alltime styling icon, is the pen on the ear a new fashion trend?
I really like this video. I wonder what sort of watch you have on your arm. I think it's very cool.
I got the rockshox bleed kit for the dropper, I hope that works
Wonder how you guys clean the bleeding tool? I just wiped the outside of the tools by isopropyl alcohol. However I didn’t clean the inside of the syringe and the pipe.
Very Good. More detail than the Sram tuturial.
Great explanation, very helpful, very well produced video - thanks a lot!
Hi, my SRAM Code R’s are about four years old. I have taken good care of them giving them a fresh bleed once a year with new pads. My front brake pads are way to close to the rotors. Seems like the don’t retract much at all. I then rebuilt the caliber, but this did not fix the problem. I have followed your video and I can not get these brakes to not rub. Just too close to the rotor. I feel like when I do my final push to pressurize the system it pushes the pistons out to far??? Not sure what I am doing wrong, please help🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Thanks for the guide, however, why will my disk not fit in to the calliper when I came to put the wheel back on?
Mm, interesting.
Completely different process with the later much improved Avid system.
The process I had attempted was on the older Avid CR Caliper's.
The video instruction was to bleed from Caliper-not Lever end.
So now wondering what is the correct procedure to ensure the most efficient BLEED!!
Attempted bleed procedure with The Avid Standard Syringe's which were absolutely USELESS.
Have had to make another purchase, this time The Professional Syringe Kit.
Please advise which would be the best procedure for optimal performance,
as now somewhat perplexed, not forgetting irritated that the considerable time with failing Syringe's resulted in back brake's being worse than when I started.
Appreciate your expert knowledge and experience, your advice would be much appreciated.
Raptor Rob
What to do with the Excess Dot5.1 fluid that has not been use the one that's left on the Syringe?
Hey, this is really useful and clear, thank you - only issue I have is that when I remove the top syringe right near the end then fluid pees out of the handle and I lose pressure. I've sealed the bottom end and followed all of the instructions to the letter. thoughts ?
Actually just read down th comments and sounds like doing the process but using the caliper end last is the way to hold pressure in the system. will let u know if it works.
Thanks I’ve just learned a lot from what you just said and did.
Comment and question. I am under the impression one advantage of DOT 5.1 is that it cleans up great with mere water. That there is no need for 91% isopropyl alcohol or aerosol brake fluid cleaner. Am I wrong? (Folks still recommend cleaning contaminated rotors with brake fluid cleaner as it dries so fast.)
New Code R brakes, I'm not sure where my problem is stemming from but I cut the line to fit, I'm following everything exactly in video and my rear pistons are barely moving. Only in the rear though, the fronts are perfect. Very frustrating, I've bled it 3 or 4 times already and I don't want to bring it to a shop I like working on things myself. Maybe there's still air in the lever or something I'm missing? Doddy help!
Is it problematic if you only do the last step (bleed the lever) if you don’t have the right seringue for the caliper. Will the brake feel less spongy by doing this waiting for the right tool ?
No cylinders/pistons check in this procedure? It is a-must to check are they moving freely (and clean them if not).
Perfect demonstration and explanation. Thanks
I have never heard of corrosive brake fluid - it is usually a pure hydrocarbon oil - it will not bother pain, but it certainly gets absorbed in the brake pads = weaken/swell
Why would you not pressurise from the bottom using the bleeding edge tool?
How does the fluid blacken in a closed system? Maybe it's the o-rings in the caliper or lever? Bled my Guide RS for the first time after 2 seasons and 2 sets of pads and the fluid was dark.
Exactly the information I was after, many thanks 😊