Guy at the shop told me I was bleeding brakes all wrong

I've been doing the standard lever pump method for years on Shimano systems, but this old timer said I was trapping air in the caliper every time. He showed me to start with the bleed port open and push fluid from the caliper up instead. Is there a better way to handle mineral oil bleeds on finicky setups like SRAM or Tektro?

4 comments

4 Comments

sammartinez11d ago

Wait, so old dude with the wrench is actually right and I've been doing it wrong on my SRAM Guide Rs this whole time? Man, that's a real kick in the pants since I was so proud of my lever pump method.

williamw7511d ago

Stick with gravity bleeding from now on.

the_jake11d ago

Damn, yeah I actually switched over to that gravity bleed method a couple years ago and it's legit. For SRAM Guides especially, that lever pump method can trap micro bubbles near the caliper exit port no matter how careful you are. The trick I found is to take the pads out, put the bleed block in, and let the mineral oil just drip through from the caliper end for 10 minutes straight without touching the lever at all. Way less headache with spongy levers after that.

grant15511d ago

He said I was trapping air in the caliper" - that's probably what I've been doing wrong for years too. I'm still on the old lever pump method because it's what I learned and it's never failed me on my old Shimano stuff. You got me thinking about trying that bleed port open trick you mentioned, sounds like it might work better on the newer Tektro brakes I just got. Always nice when some old timer throws a wrench in your routine.