well just spent a good hour bleeding my brakes, realized why it all went wrong last time, I didn’t get all the air out the syringe prior to attacking the caliper and turning my hydraulic brakes to pneumatic brakes! what an idiot!

so I did it properly this time, surprisingly it was about 100% easier! so its all feeling like a set of brakes should, soft, then hard then harder, very nice, I took it out side and tentatively rode around in circles (I’ve still got a bad back) with the brakes on to try and burn off any fluid I may have got on the rotors and after about ten minutes of circling in the dark my tyres started to skid, success!

then I notice that there’s spotting of what looks like oil on the floor, around where I would start the braking, does Dot 5.1 make big spots? if it was escaping would I still be able to brake and cause the tyre to skid? the more I think about it, it could just be oil spots from one of the ailing cars? could I have actually successfully bled my brakes? I couldn’t see any signs of leaks at the lever or caliper?!? how would I know?!?

they wouldn’t work if they were leaking? would they?

oh god! why did I give the mechanic the night off!?!

I think if there was a leak you’d know about it other than seeing drops of DOT 5 on the floor.

To be sure though give your nipples a good twist!

righty tighty remember.

tried that, just made me eyes water!

Tie the levers back overnight. If there’re any leaks you’d soon see in the morning. Just err on the side of caution and cover up anything likely to get covered by brake fluid: it’s nasty stuff, be it to your paint or your skin. And it stinks.
Tie-ing the levers back is also a bit of a bleeding bodge. Works rather well though!

Also, if you did have a leak, you’d soon notice that the lever wouldn’t “stop” as the pads clamped down on the disc. Rather it would “bite” then VERY slowly continue to move back, at the same time the fluid began to emerge somewhere.

Am I the only person who got a peverse sense of satisfaction from successfully bleeding his brakes?

Am I the only person who got a peverse sense of satisfaction from successfully bleeding his brakes?

Nope – in fact I have brake bleeding down as my favourite ‘everyone says it’s difficult but actually it’s far easier than you’d think’ job. On a ratio of perceived to actual difficulty – about 8:1 I’d say.

I’ve got my shimano technique (syringe from bottom up) sorted to the extent that i can pretty well bleed one end in the time it takes to boil the kettle and brew a decent cuppa. Kettle on, bag catcher on the nipple, pump out the old with a bit new to flush it through. Back into kitchen to add boiled water to cup. Back to garage to fit syringe to the nipple and pump back in, close nipple, remove syringe. Back to kitchen to extract bag and add milk, then back to garage to refit diaphragm and reservoir cap and mop up overflowed oil, and job done before tea is even ready to drink.

Apparently Pierrepoint used to light a cigar just before the appointed hour, take a couple of draws, go and do his job and be back to his room to resume his cigar before it went out. That’s me and shimano brakes, that is.

Can you bleed all brakes in the same way, ie from caliper up to reservoir? Just wondering as this is the way it is done with cars when they are built.

Am I the only person who got a peverse sense of satisfaction from successfully bleeding his brakes?

Wait until you progress to changing the caliper seals & pistons and rebleeding. Whoa Moma! 🙂

Yes you can still lockup the wheel if you have a leak, providing the leak is small. If the leak is at the caliper (as mine was) you’re pads will become contaminated and it will take much more force to lock them up.

Zip-tieing the levers to the bar is the best way to tell. If the wheel is locked solid in the evening and then moves freely in the morning you’ve got a leak somewhere.

I’m bleeding tonight, going to get them just so for tomorrows ride in the lakes, going to give the pistons a clean as well, and get some more fluid in the system for more immediate braking… what a great night ahead!

votchy. I don’t know, but as a general statement I can’t see why not. After all, it’s just a tube with a pump at one end and a piston at the other and while there are certain nuances in the shape etc. of calipers and pistons and levers, ultimately they’re all the same. Unless some designs have some sort of non return valving mechanism in them, but then surely pistons wouldn’t retract which defeats the object.