I’m going to need to bleed my Hayes 9 brakes soon and was looking at bleed kits. However I already have tubing, syringe, fluid etc but no ‘connectors’. Are these needed? I don’t want to splash out £13 on this http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=8384 if I can get away without it…

All you do is rotate the master-cylinder so the lever is vertical, pull the plug out the top and squeeze fluid into the caliper. The connector lets you stick a tube into the plug-hole in the master-cylinder so you can catch the overflow. You can do it without the connector/tube but it’ll be messy. Nothing a rag can’t fix though.

Given that it is a potentially messy process I would generally recommend using the proper connectors, I suppose it depends on how proficient a “bleeder” you are and what alternatives you have available.

Thanks, sounds nice and easy!