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Having just shortened the brake lines I now need to bleed them, has anyone used a cheaper alternative than SRAM bleed kit as I’ve already spent shit loads on this bike
Epic bleed kits and follow the SRAM tech video on YouTube
I've got an "EZ bleed" kit off ebay which has all the threaded connectors you could ever need. And I got a £5 kit with the bleeding edge tool from somewhere else. I don't think you can bodge the bleeding edge tool.
Epic bleed kits and follow the SRAM tech video on YouTube
This, also there is a good GMBN tech video with one or two other good tips about balancing the lever and caliper and playing with the pistons:
+1 for Epic. Done my Forces with their kit and that was first bleeding in my life.
Also used GCN vid on YT to help me out.
Finished with success.
Cheers!
I.
Bleeding edge tool is a really useful design. Saves so much hassle with potential fluid lose and spillage on the caliper.
Epic bleed kits will get you by, but the Sram Pro bleed kit is a cut above definitely. I’ve used epic for Sram and recently epic for shimano and it’s done the job but I’ve been a bit underwhelmed.
Sticking with a Sram pro kit for all my Sram brakes now.
Bleeding edge tool is a really useful design. Saves so much hassle with potential fluid lose and spillage on the caliper.
It was all hassle that SRAM created though!
Bleeding setup from year zero until SRAM "bleed port" arrived, put tube over nipple, unscrew half a turn, pump through from lever, close nipple, remove hose, at most that's 1 drop of fluid left in the end of the nipple.
SRAM bleed port - mess everywhere as you have to removed the whole nipple
SRAM - bleeding edge, back to one or two drops left in the port.
I presume it makes it quicker/easier if you have a production line of bikes with internal routing to build up, I wonder if they make a factory system that does it all for you, connect it up, open the port, and a computer flushes fluid one way then the other so you just have to close the lever etc and disconnect it afterwards.
No, no drops left in port as the port is sealed off as the bleed port adapter is nipped and then then removed.
I always got the process, but I never was able to not get 6 or 7 drops of fluid on the caliper when the hose was removed...even tried nipping the nipple up and then pulling the plunger up on the syringe to suck the fluid back up hose...brake bleeding disconnections were never a strong point for me though.
I suppose one advantage is that you can in principal bleed the caliper at any angle, whereas a nipple relies filling the caliper with fluid and displacing the air out of the nipple.
I bought a vacuum bleeding set for doing the car years ago, it's useless for the car (gunson easy bleed is much better) but came with a set of rubber adapters that made a snug fit over any nipple and made bleeding brakes an absolute doddle. Just fill the reservoir, and let gravity drain it out of the caliper (no need for a vacuum on an MTB).