I work at a bike shop and we have been using this method for years. Some old krumuden type showed me one day and I've done it like this since. At the shop we have an old isopropyl bottle with a spoke bent around it in a hook that holds the bottle and attaches to the frame at the same time. I also will pump the lever with the caliper port closed to get the last bit of air out. Then while holding the lever slightly crack the bleed port open and then shut it. This will push any remaining air out of the caliper. Pump the lever a few more time and you should have a killer bleed. You can repeat these steps if the lever is spongy. Good work by this mechanic a+
I think I've bled Shimano brakes a million times and I still can't explain it this well, along with all those excellent tips and tricks. Great instructional video!
True..one more thing about reuse of pads.. take out and burn any oil that may be there. I tried brake cleaner and sanding... Burning the oil off is best...😀
Huh. Knew about the qtips but brushes and soapwater... so simple! We might only get 1 video a week but this channel beats lot of those that have full time editors etc. Thanks for all the awesome content, I rewatch these weekly just to enjoy some nerdy stuff
I have been watching your videos for years now. They were already very good in the beginning but you managed to take it to another level. Congrats. You are one of the best resources for mechanical knowledge on youtube, right up there with Park Tool. Love it and thx for the work.
It is a wonder that syringe is included in atleast one Shimano bleed kit. Have never seen the use for it. Maybe for some twisty brake lines to get bubbles out
THANK YOU for the hose specificiation and a tutorial on how to do this without have to spend the bs amount of money the Shimano syringe, hose, retention clip crap costs.. absolute daylight robbery.. Now I just gotta find the hose locally..
Found it! Bled the front and it is amazing - almost zero play on the lever and firm.. the back is another matter - a bunch of air came out initially and I got that away by lifting the hose, but some seems to persist somewhere.. no amount of running fluid through, and even pulling the lever in and opening the bleed port, then closing the port and releasing lever, to pump fluid thru the way I learned to bleed car brakes, has it any more than biting 50% back on the lever stroke and not that firm. I did put new pads on the front - pushed pistons back and bled with a block, while I left the pads in on the rear (!!) - but am thinking it's unlikely that that would make such a difference.. ??..
I tried it once and results for me were piss poor. I get very good results with syringe pushing from the bottom, adjusting the bike in a stand for most vertical hose position, removing caliper for better angles to clear bubbles from caliper and tapping hose a lot, from the bottom all the way to the top as much as I can with some hose in the frame. Once I'm done with caliper and hose, I also adjust the bar left and right and rotate the lever body to get rid of the air from there properly. It's no quick bleed but brakes are sharp after that. Also servo wave free levers let me feel the effect so much clearer, than when I had servo wave.
Some great learning points there even though I've been doing this for years. Especially interesting is the gravity feed of brake fluid as I've been putting it in with a syringe from caliper side but always get air bubbles. I will try your method next time. Thanks
Great job!! I love the trimming of the bleed blocks wings so it goes in from the top.... genius! I only have one step that I do different, and that is to open the lever and install the bleed cup with a little bit of fluid before pushing the caliper pistons back into their bores. That way the fluid has somewhere to go and you won't risk tearing the delicate diaphragm in the lever. Cheers!!
@@LoveMTB Oh man, I'm down to 1 day a week at best for the last few weeks and our trails are absolutely hammered with so many 12" deep ruts down our steep chutes. Our dirt doesn't handle rain well to say the least! But the bike is clean, maintained and I've got some YT content stored up too! Keep up the great work.... you're one of the best!
Excellent video presentation but it didn't work for me. My old caliper had leaked most of my hydraulic fluid. The hydrostatic pressure with a simple gravity bleed was inadequate to overcome the airlocks in my line, through the tiny orifice in the Shimano cup. Adding a syringe worked like a charm.
For that kind of situation - caliper empty - syringe i the only option. In this vid I tried to simplify it as it applies to 80-90% of the situations. Enjoy your fresh brakes!
@@LoveMTB I broke mine when I first changed the pads and retracted the pistons on the rear brake the length of hose and amount of oil plays a role :( Out of the factory basically, so better safe than sorry I guess :) And keep up the good work, definitely one of the best MTB tech channels around!
I find soaking string with alcohol and doing the flossing method around the pistons works good to clean them . And put the fill cup in with fluid then move the pistons in and out and clean , this helps make it easier and less chance of of hurting the bladder system in the lever .
I prefer using 2 50ml Syringes, I just adapt that circular yellow Shimano thingy with a tube on the reservoir, its thread fits snug. Push & pull till all air bubbles are in the reservoir.
I like the paperclip and ziplock bag idea. And filing off the wings, smart! ...I never knew why my block wouldn't fit in...I would just put it in sideways and tape it in place.
If this works then all good but I think the best way to bleed any MTB brake caliper is by putting the bleed nipple up and basically from there you can gravity bleed it or do the off/on then open/close the nipple. Basically how you bleed a car brakes. Only takes 10 mins and if you dont have any bleed blocks just leave the brake pads installed and sandwich a rotor disc in it and do the on/off bleed.
@@LoveMTB Well, it was very noticeable to me and I watch most of your Videos....so I think the investment has been well worth it as the quality is VERY GOOD.
One more thing… reinstall the wheel with the new pads after you cleaned the caliper, keeping the cup attached to the lever and flick the lever to readjust the new pads to the rotor and take up any space while drawing more fluid from the cup, then remove the cup and reinstall the screw. this will allow you to pump the brake with the new rotors or pads and not have any void in the break fluid if you were to remove the cup first, then pump the break to readjust your pistons and pads. Hope that makes sense.
Very well explained, thanks! I will be trying my first bleeding and I'm happy to have found this video. What's the use of a syringe, which is contained in some bleeding kits? Is it useful for any particular reason?
Thanks. Syringe is particularly useful if you replace a caliper for instance. There’s no oil in them and syringes make it a lot easier to fill up the system with oil. Pushing from the caliper
I sometimes struggle with a gravity bleed on the rear brake, like the lever just won't firm up afterwards. I'd love to figure this one out, happened on two bikes so it must be me 🤣
I would not push the pistons back until you have opened the system at the top. May apply more with SRAM. This is of course if I am bleeding after cleaning. Why spike the pressure in the system if not required?
I really enjoy your videos. Very informative. Do you think you could do a review on the new SRAM DB8 brakes? They are a new SRAM model - the first model SRAM makes that uses mineral oil.
Another awesome video my friend!!! I bought the park tool hydraulic bleed kit which has all the adapters that allow the funnel to be screwed to magura ( and many others) bleed port screws,as far as I know shimano are the only ones to make a funnel and no 2 companys use the same tread pitch and size bleed port screw Cheers
@@LoveMTB I looked at the park tool dot fluid kit and it says sram adapter is a m5x0.8 and in the mineral oil kit it has a m5x0.8,I don't have any sram brakes to try it on(: but the mineral kit lists 2 m5x0.8 adapters but they are not the same size just by looking at them so I give up lol...I just cross referenced the part #'s from pt dot and pt mineral kits and there not the same but here's the dot fluid part #'s for the adapters sram-2618a,sram bleeding edge-2612a...I checked to see if pt adapters fit the shimano funnel for flat bars-tl-br003 and they do so I would assume the pt dot adapters would also work...Hope this helps!!!!
Great vid! Question tho, shouldn't we unscrew bleed bolt on lever when pushing pistons back in ?? I heard if not the pressure can damage the lever....🤷
You can do that after installing the funnel. If the system is overfilled with oil it could otentially damage the bladder. If the system was filled properly to begin with there is no reason to worry, you just reset the pads to the initial state (fresh bleed position/ oil volume in the lever)
I've followed your instructions to the letter twice now on a brand new rear SLX brake... and the lever is still super squishy. 😫 Lucky number three tonight?
Hi .Cleaned the brake pads with Sand paper yesterday, sprayed on the pads disc brake cleaner (soudal) let it dry sanded again ,sprayed on again until its clean. Put them back and still soo noisy when I pull the brakes 😢 . I will do the gravity brake bleed today, clean the pads again and will use just soapy water to clean them. (What can be wrong if I use a disc brake cleaner?) Brakes are M8000 XT , Thanks!
Regarding cleaning the Pistons inside the calipers, I like to use some of the brake fluid on a Q-tip wiping off the race of the pistons. I do this before pushing them back into the caliper. This serves two purposes, to clean off and lubricate the piston and seal behind inside the caliper
Great tutorial thx, one of the best i have seen before i will do my first bleed. Buy front break on the right side? Hope i never get to ride this bike ;)
Just did it folowing your steps, easy peasy! Thank you. Just one question, I have the M7000 SLX brakes. I bled the back ones for now since they were bought used. Some black liquid came out which was expected. Changed the pads as well for good measure but I feel the biting point is changed. Do I need to adjust that screw in the piston lever that has 2 holes on it? Thank you
Enjoy your newly bled brakes? I can be normal to feel the brakes differently. And I don't know what adjustment youre referring to? SLX has a knob to adjust reach😉
@@LoveMTB Hi again. Thank you! I redid the bleed, just tilted the front of the bike more and I just had some extra air trapped. Now it's firm and all good. 🚀 Yeah, referring to those side screws with 2 holes in them. But no need anymore. And yes the reach adjustment is very handy 😁
I think you omitted a couple of important steps. If someone bleeds like this, you run the risk of leaving air bubbles both at the caliper near the bleeding port, in the caliper, and at the lever. Without a syringe in the bottom, and using pressure, it is quite a hit and miss if your system has bubbles or not. Also, get a brake tool, instead of using a screwdriver. And, you didn't adjust / screw out two revolutions the screw for the lever reach before bleeding, inviting for errors.
Very useful video, as always. My bike was in a crash and on of the brakes (the whole thing, not just the lever) is cracked. I have a new one to replace it, but i wonder if there is anything i need to know before i replace it and do a bleed...
Great video very informative and clear instruction.. what sort of detergent do you use for cleaning and what size is the tubing for the bleed.. many thanks from the U.K. 👍🏻
Great video as always. This one is a keeper easiest brake maintenance, and bleed I have seen so far. Could this method be used to fill a new system.The marking of the pads L/R good idea I wish I had done this trust me. What do you recommend for removing scrapes or marks on the disc? Would the 120 grit sandpaper work. As always thanks
@@LoveMTB you could additionally bleed your lever Before changing the break pads and when you push the pistons you can damage membrane because of oil excess in the system
Personally I would never re-use old pads after a bleed. Pads are very inexpensive, so the only right thing to do is to change them together with the brake service to get the complete advantage of the maintenance. The other thing is that there are less expensive options for bleed kits as well to keep cost down like kits from EZmtb, so I personally see no real need to use a plastic bag and all of that. It's peace of mind to have a kit as well as being able to help out a friend and so on if need be.
My bleed nipples just leak all the fluid out when I brake after bleeding. Exact same issue in both front and rear. Very frustrating. Yes of course I tightened the nut again..
I have a basic question. The brake fluid tank being attached to handle is always higher than the caliper either with respect to front or rear. Then why do we need to mount the bike on a stand and tilt it even higher? Cant we do the same thing with the bike standing with the help of a side stand.
Can you use this method on the Clarks M2 Disc Brakes....... looks very similar with the bleed screww at the lever, where you use the shimano funnel.... is it possible ?
Hi buddy,,I’ve just got my bike out the shed and the back brake has no pressure in it,,do I just do this as normal and fill it up,,I’ve never done this👍
Hello man ! Interesting video as always. It has nothing to do with the content but I've been wondering since I have subscribed to your channel, what kind of canadian accent do you have ? I'm not a native english speaker :)
I have a video about replacing calipers here - Shimano Brake CALIPER and LEVER Compatibility, How-To Replace, Mixing and Matching ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WK5Ve5Vgc8I.html
GREAT VIDEO! I've used Sil-Glide on sticky calipers with much success (i usually have some from working on my cars), but i like the baby shampoo/spray idea. Does the bottle of opened fluid have a use-by date, or does it keep for a long time?
On one of the Greg Minnaar video I saw he is unscrewing free stroke adjuster while bleeding and screwing it back again just to have perfect bleed. what do you think of this?
