Bleeding brakes

[Daniel Silva]

Don't faff around with DIY.

 

https://bikemob.co.za/products/shimanoclearbleedfunnel

 

This, and some shimano mineral oil is all that you need.

 

You level lever so that it is parallel to the floor. Screw our bleed nipple, screw in funnel. Add oil to funnel. Remove stopper stick.

 

Pull and flick the brake lever repeatedly until no more air bubbles escape into the oil. Insert stopper stick, unscrew funnel, close reinsert bleed screw, move brake down. Voila.

 

If there are bubbles trapped somewhere where there is a kink in the line around internal routing it might need a few goes at this. You can even leave the bleed bucket open and strap the lever to the bar overnight.

And sometimes an air bubble hides in the caliper. Removing it from the bike makes it easier to angle it in such a way to get the bubble out and up the line.

And then the real higher grade option is to pull the pads, remove the bleed nipple at the caliper and do a top down flush.

Ahh thanks so much, we’ll definitely have a look at getting this and learning to do it ourselves, will definitely save a lot of cash.

[Daniel Silva]

Yes, all you need is to flush the existing hose from all the gunk (Not a must but whilst you're fiddling you may just as well do it right) and then a top up and or bleed to remove all the air bubbles and bring the power back.

 

PS: If all the above is still too daunting for you and you're based in Gauteng, bring your bike over to me (I'm based in PTA) and then I will show you how to do it the first time .

 

For Shimano all you basically need is the Shimano funnel & mineral oil, the rest of the items: Bleed block, hose, syringe can all be sourced elsewhere. O, one thing I've found (quite annoying actually) is that the bleed nipple on the caliper is a size 7mm. Now if you have a standard toolkit I can almost guarantee that a 7mm spanner will not be part of that kit .

 

Two other handy tips: Make sure to remove the pads and store away from the bike not to get any mineral oil on them - this will basically render them useless.

Remove the wheel and also store this pretty far away from the operating table / stand. It sounds obvious but sometimes the mineral oil splashes all over the place and you don't want to have to deal with that after bleeding the brakes

Thanks so much for the offer, much appreciated but sadly I’m all the way in Durban ????

But thanks for all the tips.