How to bleed Sram Guide Brakes
How To Bleed New Sram MTB Brakes | Bleeding Edge Technology
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- Now, bleeding your brakes is something
that all mountain bikers will have
to tackle from time to time,
and in this particular video,
we're going to look at bleeding SRAM brakes,
and in particular,
the latest ones using the bleeding edge port.
Now, the bleeding edge port was a new creation from SRAM
that makes bleeding a bit easier and a lot less messy.
Now, if you're unsure if your brakes have this new port,
or it's the older system,
if you look onscreen now,
the one on the left is the older system,
and on the right is the newer system
with the bleeding edge port.
Now, this new system can be found
on brakes manufactured from 2015 onward,
but it's not on every single model.
So for this particular job,
these are the tools you're going to need.
So to start with, you're going
to need the relevant bleeding kit for your brakes.
So there's SRAM and Avid brakes,
you need this sort of bleed setup.
If you don't want to get the full SRAM spec one,
Epic Bleed Solutions also make a bleed kit that does fit,
although I've not tried it,
so I can't tell you how good it is.
Now, you're going to need a few other things as well.
So first up, you're going to need the bleeding edge adaptor.
So this is the regular adaptor that suited the brake
on the left that I showed you at the beginning of the video.
All right, this is the new bleeding edge tool.
Now, the advantage of using this
is it locates straight into the brake,
and the tool itself is used to open
and close that bleed port so it minimises
all the seepage that you get,
and also the chance of air getting back into the brake.
Really nice, simple bit of kit.
There's just an adaptor,
so if you've already got the SRAM or the Avid bleed kit,
you just need to get that piece to complete the process.
You're going to need the various bleed blocks
to suit your particular brake calliper.
The idea of that is to push the pistons apart to get them
in the right position basically for when you bleed them.
Next up, you're going to need the relevant Torx keys,
in this case it is the T10 and the T25.
And of course, Allen keys that are going
to suit the job for your bike.
In my case, to take the rear wheel out,
I'll need a six millimetre Allen key,
you might not need one at all in yours.
You'll need a five, a four, and a two and 1/2.
Also, you're going to need some dedicated DOT fluid.
Ideally I would say get some new fluid,
because in time this stuff can ingest moisture into it,
which does affect the performance
of your brakes in the long term,
and will mean you're going to need
to do this process sooner.
So if possible, a new fresh one.
If not, just make sure it's not cloudy
or looks contaminated in any way.
And now, I definitely recommend
some decent nitrile rubber gloves to protect your hands,
because the DOT fluid is corrosive.
I like to recommend people to use
a set of decent needle nose pliers.
Now, this is just for taking off that little retaining clip
on the retaining bolt that goes through the pads.
It's not essential,
you can take it off with your bare hands,
but it does make it a lot easier and a little less fiddly.
And finally, you're going to need some shop towel
or a clean rag to make sure you can wipe the bike down,
and obviously to lay the bits out on the bench.
And, some disc brake cleaner,
it's good as well to make sure that all the parts
of your brakes don't have any residue on afterwards
that can take the paint off your bike.
So, the first thing you need to do
is a bit of brake calliper preparation.
So obviously you need to get the rear wheel out of the bike,
and out of the way.
In my case, it is a six millimetre Allen key.
So, make sure the rear derailleur is locked out and ready
so you can drop the wheel out nice and easily.
Now it's really important that you make sure
that you put your rear wheel completely out of harm's way,
and what I mean by that is making sure there's no chance
that any brake oil can go
anywhere near the rear disc rotor,
because contamination is the number one thing
you do not want with brakes.
Completely hinders performance,
and you have to start fresh.
So, next up is getting the needle nose pliers,
and very carefully just removing the little clip here.
You don't want it to go pinging off across the workshop.
There we go.
And as with any job, make sure you take all the parts off
and put them in the order that you will remember
when you reassemble things.
In this case, I'm just going to put this on the bench here
because I'm going to put the pads separate.
So, it's a two and a 1/2 millimetre Allen key
to remove the retaining bolt.
So, just unwind that from the calliper,
slide that bolt out,
and it's time to remove the pads.
Now, this is a really important bit.
If you've got dirty hands,
make sure they don't go near the actual brake pad surfaces.
And of course, what you want to do is make sure those pads
are kept completely safe and away from any contamination.
So in this case, I'm just going to put them
inside a bit of shop towel here.
Wrap that up and just keep these here in the work stand
for later on so I know that they're protected by that.
Last thing you need to do for your brake calliper preparation
is slide the bleed block in place,
and it's got a little slot running through it
so you can just keep it in place with that retaining bolt.
So, I recommend you do do that
to just make sure that it can't go anywhere
and your brakes are going to feel absolutely perfect
once you've done this.
There we go.
Next stage is to get the syringes ready for use,
so this is where the rubber gloves come in.
So, I do recommend you use them.
So many people do it without,
and I'm guilty of not using gloves a lot of the time
because of the way I like things to feel,
but I'll always use them when playing
around with stuff that's corrosive,
especially DOT brake fluid.
It's nasty stuff to get on your hands.
So, the first syringe you want to fill up with fluid
is the one that goes into the lever
that's at the top of the bike.
This is one with the old style cap on the end there.
And you'll want to fill this approximately two-thirds full.
The next one is the one with the bleeding edge adapter on,
which I'm just installing here already for use.
Now, this needs a marginal amount of fluid in it.
It's got to have some fluid because it connects
to the actual calliper itself,
and you don't want a chance
of any air being able to get into the calliper,
but you're bleeding from the lever end to this end,
so that way it's going to be purged into here.
So, as much room as possible for that all
to come through is what you're aiming for.
Now, when you fill these up,
do take care because you're going to need
to make sure there are no air bubbles inside them.
So, you extract the oil straight from the container,
then you need to ensure that there's no air stuck in there.
And the way to do that is carefully just get it upright
and put a rag over the end.
You don't want this to go anywhere,
especially not near your eyes.
And you just want to just push the system through
just so you're getting rid of that air that's just in there.
Like that, you can see it rising up through the tube.
Repeat that same process
with the one with the bleeding edge on.
Again on this one,
you only need the tiniest amount of fluid in here.
There we go.
So now, the syringe is all ready for use.
Again, don't forget, keep the gloves on,
make sure you've got plenty of lint-free rag
or shop towel ready to wipe up any spillages,
and of course, if it goes anywhere near
your frame, handlebars, anything like that,
get it wiped and cleaned off using
this sort of disc brake cleaner
or an isopropyl alcohol as fast as you can really,
just so it doesn't get any damage to your paintwork.
Okay, so first up, starting up at the bar end here.
It might make it easier to do this job for yourselves
if you just have the lever horizontal,
so that makes it a little less messy,
and because you're going to working from the back
of the bike as well as the front at the same time,
it makes it easier to reach too.
So, using the T25, just flatten off your brakes a bit.
If your bike has contact adjustment,
it's a little dial on the front here,
this particular one doesn't,
unwind it the opposite direction of the arrow
on there until it stops.
Also, you want to make sure the reach of the lever as well
is between 75 and 80 millimetres at the end
of the lever to the middle of the bar.
Next up, you want to get the T10
and remove the bleed screw that is on the top.
Now, just be delicate as you remove this,
because you don't want to disturb the bike too much.
You may lose a little bit of fluid out of the top here,
just be ready for that,
and wipe up any excess that just comes out.
Next up, it's time to insert the syringe into the lever end.
Now, you just to make sure
that the little red pinch is snapped shut on here,
because you don't want oil to travel in there yet,
you're just sealing they system with this at the top end.
Make sure that's threaded in nice and straight,
and nice and snug.
I'm just going to give this another wipe around here
to minimise the drippage.
Another little tip I like to use is
an extra piece of shop towel or rag.
I just put this under the lever and around it,
so whilst I'm working on it, it can catch anything,
and also it does mean that I've got easy access
to stop it going anywhere.
Now, it is important to note the fact that the levers
are obviously above the front wheel of your bike.
If you think there's any danger
that dropping oil could go near your front disc rotor,
remove your front wheel from the bike,
make sure it's stashed somewhere safely
so the disc rotor is protected from dripping oil.
Next up is getting the bleeding edge tool into the calliper.
So, let's do this.
First up, you want to just remove
the little rubber bottom there.
And, just put that aside for safekeeping.
Next is the four millimetre Allen key head that's in here.
Now you just want to just loosen this,
and then just nip it up tight again,
but literally nip it tight.
As you do this, a drop of oil might come out of the calliper.
Don't worry about this.
Of course, you might want to wipe it up.
We're obviously going to be pushing
more oil through this way.
This is just to make sure
that it's ready to receive the tool.
I'm just going to insert that into there.
There we go, just loosen that and then just nip it tight.
It just means that your pressure's not
on the tool to undo that head in there.
Now next up is to take the bleeding edge tool,
push it into the calliper,
and give it a firm push,
and you'll find it makes a sort of a click noise.
So, with the tool located in place
so it clicks into place there,
you then want to open the system.
So, you want to undo this a turn.
Don't go more than two turns,
because the screw will come out
and all the oil will start coming out,
and you're going to have to do this from scratch.
So, bear in mind that when you open this,
no oil is going to come through just yet
because the lever clamp is holding the oil
from coming through the lever end.
But, get this done right,
and you're ready to start the bleeding process.
To start the bleeding process, head up to the lever end,
and you're going to undo that lever clamp.
Then simply, you just want
to start pushing down on the plunger.
Don't go too fast.
You want to do this nice and slowly to give any air bubbles
and muck in the system time to sort of migrate through.
Now, you want to be looking here at the calliper end
for any air bubbles and stuff coming out.
Now, note if you've got enough fluid inside the lever end
to push through the whole system.
So, keep an eye on the discoloration
of the fluid coming out.
If it's particularly bad,
black even, stuff like that,
you might need to do this again with another syringe full
of fluid just to make sure the system has got
a complete load of nice, new, clean,
uncontaminated fluid in there.
Now, repeat pushing through
until there's no more air bubbles coming out this end.
You don't need to go crazy on it,
because it's not completely finished yet,
just make sure the bulk of it is good.
With the calliper syringe vertical,
hold that in your right hand,
and then with your left hand,
just pull up on the lever syringe,
and you're looking for any air bubbles just travelling up,
just like that little one there.
Couple of microscopic ones, but good I think.
It's a good, clear system.
Nothing else travelling through.
Okay, so that is good,
there's no more air travelling up at the lever end,
so now it's time to close it at the calliper end,
and that means the system is closed,
but the syringe is still in place,
but that can stay there for the time being.
Now we go up to the lever end.
What you want to do here is bleed the lever,
and it's also about pressurising the system.
So, with it all still open at this end,
don't forget it's closed at the calliper end,
pull the lever in, and release.
Do this a couple of times,
and you just want to push this into the lever,
and then pull out again a couple of times,
just making sure there's no air coming of there.
So, I'm convinced now that there is no air travelling
out of the lever itself,
so one final pull out on the syringe
and then push back in hard just to pressurise the system,
and now it's time to just lock
the syringe clamp into place there,
and we're good to start removing this.
So now it's time to remove the syringe from the lever.
Now just carefully unscrew this.
Again, just make sure that the clamp
on the hose is in place there,
because otherwise you're going
to have fluid pushing its way through.
As you do this, you will get some leakage at the lever.
So, just try and wipe up any bits of leak you have there.
There we go.
The bolt was recommended to be torqued
to 1.5 to 1.7 newton metres.
I'll check that in a minute,
I just want to make sure
that this is clean and contamination-free.
(cleaner sprays)
So, disc brake cleaner is ideal
for this because it dries up.
It's a dry solvent.
You can use contact cleaner as well, or isopropyl alcohol.
Put the boot back on.
I'm happy with that.
So, I'll turn my brake lever to the preferred angle,
which is quite low in this particular setting.
Now it's time to close the system at the rear,
and just make sure the calliper is clean and contaminant-free
before putting the brake pads back in place.
So now, with the lever end of the bike closed,
repeat the same process at the bottom here.
So, the first step is just to remove the bleeding edge tool.
It comes out, and you'll find that no oil comes out
because it's a nice, smart design.
The next thing is to nip up
the four millimetre bolt that's underneath that.
Just make sure that's snug.
Now, it's recommended to be tightened
to 1.5 to 1.7 newton metres,
just like the one on the lever, the T10 there.
So, you want to follow that up,
and then the next step is to just make sure
that there's no fluid loss around there.
This is fine.
And then just replace the rubber plug,
and it's time to take the bleed block out.
Just give the calliper a clean,
because sometimes if any oil has dripped out,
it would just be in a place
where the pad surfaces will be later on.
Then it's a case of replacing the pads,
putting the pin back through and the circlet in place.
So there you go.
That is how simple it is
to use the bleeding edge port system on SRAM's brakes.
So, it's pretty simple system,
nice and easy for everyone to bleed at home.
Now, with that leftover fluid that you've got,
the clean stuff,
you might want to mark this as unused,
so you keep that on your shelf separately,
and any old fluid,
I do recommend that you get that recycled,
get that disposed of correctly.
So, you're going to put that in a different container.
Make sure that it's not anywhere near food sources,
and don't just put it down the drain
because this stuff is not good for the environment.
So, for a couple more useful videos,
if you want to find out how to hip jump,
nothing mechanical,
but it's a really cool video
with Blake kicking it on some massive jumps,
click down here.
And if you want 10 ways to refresh your bike,
it's a non-cost video really,
it's just about sensible stuff in maintaining
and making the most out of your bike for the year,
click down here.
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