Does anyone have any tips for bleeding SRAM Guide brakes?

I decided to bleed my rear one (ready for the Ard Rock). Turned into a disaster with the lever pulling to the bar and the pads not even touching the disc afterwards. I decided my Epic Bleed Solutions bleed kit was rubbish and was letting in air where the tubes meet the bars. Ordered the Avid Pro kit and tried again this evening. Much better result, the brake will now stop me!

It’s not as good a bleed as I’d like, I think my problem is that too much fluid leaked out of the lever when I was removing the syringe to put the bleed port screw back in. Does anyone have any tips on how to do this bit better? Would removing the bleed block from the calliper before doing this help? My thinking is it would reduce the pressure in the system slightly so less fluid would be forced out of the lever.

Cheers

You could always watch the SRAM guide to bleeding guide brakes by SRAM.

Buy something else. They are a sod to bleed well

Not in my experience, Elixirs were a massive ball-ache but Guides are fine. Following Epics guide works for me

You could always watch the SRAM guide to bleeding guide brakes by SRAM.

I’ve watched lots of videos and read lots of instructions. In the official SRAM one on YouTube nothing leaks out of either the calliper or the lever when they remove the syringes, that doesn’t happen for me!

I have a similar issue when I bleed mine in that it leaks a bit of fluid between removing the syringes (I use the Epic kit and instructions). I seem to get away with it though. I tie my levers back over night after bleeding and that seems to make a difference (until I transport the bike on its side).

If fluid loss is just in lever, can you not top it up?

If fluid loss is just in lever, can you not top it up?

I’m fairly sure if I remove the bleed screw now more fluid will leak out

Mine leaked a bit too, I end up leaving the bottom open and unscrewing the top first. I’ve got the new ones with the S4 caliper that uses the Bleeding Edge tool so the port can be closed without removing it.

FYI the MBR video on YouTube seems to show some leakage going on.

You could always watch the SRAM guide to bleeding guide brakes by SRAM.
I’ve watched lots of videos and read lots of instructions. In the official SRAM one on YouTube nothing leaks out of either the calliper or the lever when they remove the syringes, that doesn’t happen for me!

So you’re expecting some blokes on a forum to know more that the company who designed and developed them – then released a video guide on the bleeding process.

Ok, probably best to take them to a shop.

3 tips:

1. Buy some rockshox syringes/use the ones that came with a reverb if you have some knocking about. They fit much better.
2. You have to remove the caliper from the frame and twist it all about to get the caliper bled right, this is the usual cause of a duff bleed IMHO. They trap air like a balloon.
3. Once done with the caliper, the lever will finalise with a bit of suction and a few flicks of the lever. A little positive pressure to get the master cylinder full, and then back off slightly to remove or oil will go everywhere!

Mine leaked a bit too, I end up leaving the bottom open and unscrewing the top first. I’ve got the new ones with the S4 caliper that uses the Bleeding Edge tool so the port can be closed without removing it.

Yeah I read about the bleeding edge thing, looks like Canyon used some older ones on my bike though

So you’re expecting some blokes on a forum to know more that the company who designed and developed them – then released a video guide on the bleeding process.

Ok, probably best to take them to a shop.

I’m hoping that given the size of the forum and the fact that some people are bike mechanics someone might have some tricks they’d share.

You clearly have an issue with my posting of this question so why don’t you just back slowly out of the thread.

3 tips:

1. Buy some rockshox syringes/use the ones that came with a reverb if you have some knocking about. They fit much better.
2. You have to remove the caliper from the frame and twist it all about to get the caliper bled right, this is the usual cause of a duff bleed IMHO. They trap air like a balloon.
3. Once done with the caliper, the lever will finalise with a bit of suction and a few flicks of the lever. A little positive pressure to get the master cylinder full, and then back off slightly to remove or oil will go everywhere!

Cheers. I don’t have any Reverb syringes. I’ll try removing the calliper next time and give a bit more attention to the lever end of things.

No problem with the thread, just think that the you’re probably doing something wrong is its not sorking and you’ve followed the guides already created.

So back to my original suggestion, watch the guides and follow them exactly, or pay a shop to do it for you.
Simple Ennit.

What’s the going rate for a shop to bleed them?

I did mine yesterday following the MBR guide on You tube . Worked perfectly.

The problem that the op talks about is a common one. I had exactly the same issue when using worn brake pads as the bleed block in the epic kit is a feww mm thicker than the one in the sram kit. When this is added to the warn pads it means that the lever pulls to the bar even when the contact point adjust is fully advanced. The answer is to use a slightly thinner block between the pistons . I made one by measuring the thickness of my rotor and half worn pads. It has made the process work every time.

I now have 4 bleed blocks that could be used (I.e they fit in the calliper)

The difference in thickness between them all is a maximum of 0.7mm.

The one I used yesterday is the thickest one so using a thinner one might help, however the Epic Bleed Solutions one is the same thickness as the matching shape one from the SRAM kit