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Just fitted some new XTs and given them a quick bleed but they're not perfect. In my experience, bleeding anything but Hopes is a bit of a dark art - tried to follow Shimano's official guide in the past and it simply wouldn't work. So are there any tips to get bite feel a bit more solid etc from my "base bleed"?
One of the easiest bleed processes.
Funnel up top, syringe on the bottom.....
Sick a little, then blow the oil up from the bottom to the top till no bubbles appear.
Close off the bottom bleed nipple..... Close off the top bleed nipple.
Wish my TRP brakes had a bleed nipple thingy at the bottom rather than a removable plug screw.
Not sure if wandering bite point is an issue here, but incase it is...
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/bike-forum/shimano-wandering-bite-but-on-a-road-bike/
Don't make the rooky error I did recently and have the rear caliper almost as high as the reservoir. You'll never get all of the air out and you'll spend an age trying to work out why there's almost no resistance when you squeeze the lever 🙄
Other than that, syringe on the caliper, bleed funnel on the reservoir and give it a good flush through. Tilt the caliper and the lever at various angles, giving them a wee tap in the process just to remove any trapped air bubbles.
Did mine recently for the first time.
My top tips these so take heed:
Don’t push really really hard in the syringe at the calliper unless you are positive the funnel is connected to the correct lever, it may not be whichever lever is closest to you.
If you don’t have the correct bleed blocks and use whatever is in your spares box, double check it doesn’t slide out allowing a piston to eject itself and drain the once bled brake fluid onto your garage floor.
I think those are my main two points, but along the way, I dropped or lost most tools, nuts pins and all manner of items, got covered in oil and crap, and generally made a proper shit show out of it.
I clumsily jammed the ejected piston back in, bled again (luckily my mate has the massive bottle of Shimano fluid) and the brakes seem to work fine, but I won’t be surprised if they play me up when pointing down a fast bit at BPW.
I've used this in several Shimano brakes instead of Shimano fluid with no issues, helps get a consistent bite point but only used it in older brakes
Related question, have Shimano sorted this shit out yet?
I had my first set of wandering, inconsistent brakes in about 2012. It's still being complained about now on forums and every time someone reviews a bike with Shimano brakes.
I've used this in several Shimano brakes instead of Shimano fluid with no issues, helps get a consistent bite point but only used it in older brakes
These are the new ones so need different oil to standard Shimano, if you use that you will void the warranty
Related question, have Shimano sorted this shit out yet?
I had my first set of wandering, inconsistent brakes in about 2012. It's still being complained about now on forums and every time someone reviews a bike with Shimano brakes.
Yes mate, that's the point of these new ones if you read the blurb - lower viscosity oil sorts this
I find that tapping the brake hose a few times, a few inches from the lever, seems to help coax last few air bubbles into reservoir, at the same time as squeezing last few ml from syringe. Found this out after a couple goes where things were still a bit spongy.
As well as tapping the hoses, rotating the lever, etc. I've tried just leaving it open for a while, even overnight, to allow the slow-moving bubbles time to escape. It seems to work, but it could just be that all the air was already out. I don't sit there watching for bubbles, obviously.
Thanks all - I'll try all the above (apart from dropping everything on the floor @jkomo!)
I followed the instructions I linked to, easy and solid brakes
No faff
No black magic
No hacks
Just great brakes
Same as Alpin, normally a single push through from the bottom (ooh-err) does the job 95% of the time.
Just don't put the syringe on the front caliper and undo the bleed port on the rear lever, apparently that's messy when the hose pops off....
The thing not forget for me is to do the bit where you rotate the lever round the bar and flick the lever until you get no bubbles coming out in each position. You do have to keep doing this until you get no bubbles in each position at the first flick. Other than that, the syndicate has always worked for me. I did buy a fancy workshop grade Shimano bleed kit the last time I bled my brakes a few weeks ago. I used the syringe method then. Worked fine. I did suck the fluid back into the syringe with an open funnel at the top at the end of the "filling phase". Got a surprising amount of bubbles coming out. The brakes have been bang on since.
The thing not forget for me is to do the bit where you rotate the lever round the bar and flick the lever until you get no bubbles coming out in each position. You do have to keep doing this until you get no bubbles in each position at the first flick. Other than that, the syndicate has always worked for me. I did buy a fancy workshop grade Shimano bleed kit the last time I bled my brakes a few weeks ago. I used the syringe method then. Worked fine. I did suck the fluid back into the syringe with an open funnel at the top at the end of the "filling phase". Got a surprising amount of bubbles coming out. The brakes have been bang on since.
Yes lots of flicking the brake lever gets the bubbles out , just need to have the open port at the highest point. Best tip from my local bike shop.
