I bought some discounted Deore brakes as a stopgap while I sought out my malfunctioning Hopes as I couldn't find the right tools to strip them down and I want to get out on the bike over the next two to three weeks and don't have 2-3 hours spare to do the strip down etc.
They were SUPPOSED to be pre-bled. However, having fitted them they seem to be chuffing full of air. They're those new ones where it has a bleed port on top of the reservoir and the instructions show a little bucket with a stick that goes on the reservoir (they call it a bleed funnel).
The little bucket thing doesn't seem to be in stock anywhere that I'd normally shop.
So can I bleed them without this? I thought about pressure bleeding from the bottom like I do with my really old Shimano brakes, catching what escaping oil I can and just mopping up the mess but that's the best I can come up with so far.
Any better ideas or should I stop being impatient and wait for the bucket to come into stock and ride something else?
excuse the bump but posted above late yesterday. hopefully someones awake who can help.
thanks in advance
Some people have said an Avid kit fits, might be worth a search on the subject.
Took 3 weeks for the Shimano funnel to turn up 🙄
From what I've read and assumed, you need the little plastic thingy. I have these brakes and some of last year's SLX with the normal bleed procedure. It was disappointing to see the introduction of faff to 2012 😕
It looks like you need a syringe+tubing ala Avid on the calliper and the funnel in the cylinder, then bleed from the bottom up. It's logical but either £25 for a kit or a few quid to get the funnel, a medical supply syringe and some clear hose from B&Q.
Or get them bled at the LBS and sell them when your Hopes are sorted?
(edit) Once they work, they do in fact work very well!
The funnel is definitely available - I bought one online last week and got it 2 days later. Can't find any reference in my emails as to where I bought it from though, but I found it through google shopping.
Madison have the yellow funnel in stock and it is a carriage free spare so your LBS could order one for you. Part number is SMDISCBP
a 30ml or 50ml syringe will work perfectly in the lever reservoir, you can jam the syringe in there pretty tight and bleed 'em like that.
It also has the benfit of being transparent so if you're pushing fluid through another syringe from the caliper, you can see the air/fluid coming out at the reservoir and therefore know when the air is cleared.
I've got the 'bucket thing'. If you're anywhere nearby (worthing) you can use it.
Alternatively, as said above, a syringe will work as well....
DrP
You can bleed them perfectly well without any buckets or syringes, I've got a set and didn't use any of that stuff. All you need is a short length of clear plastic tubing with an internal diameter that lets it fit snugly over the bleed nipple on the caliper. Shimano usually provide this when you buy mineral oil.
1) Rotate the lever round the bar so the reservoir is sitting perfectly perpendicular to the ground, now undo the top cap and remove (noting in what order all the little plastic bits and bobs come off).
2) Brim the reservoir with mineral oil (with a steady hand, you can pour it straight from the bottle).
3) Postition some sort of receptacle (an old yoghurt pot is fine) under the brake caliper, push the plastic tubing onto the bleed nipple with the other end dangling in the receptacle. Now using (if memory serves me correctly) a 9mm spanner, undo the bleed nipple on the caliper fractionally whilst simultaneously pulling the lever back to the bar (It's usually easier to rope in a bit whilst you do the caliper bit, or vice versa).
4) Once the lever is back to the bar, tighten the bleed nipple and release the lever. You'll probably have noticed a few air bubbles in the oil that came out of the caliper, top the reservoir back up and repeat this process until there are no air bubbles (Gently tapping the caliper and lever with the end of the spanner every so often can help some small air bubbles shoot back up the hose and 'pop' out of the top of the open reservoir).
5) Refit the top cap and Bob's your Uncle.
thank you all. i have a spare syringe so will try that first and then get the lbs to order me a bucket.
I had the exact same problem and ended up using my Reverb bleed kit which screwed nicely into the bleed port on the lever. Took about 2 mins for a full bleed - I wish all brakes were so easy.
relliott6879 - the benefit of the new ones is the easy ability to 'reverse bleed' - sending any air bubbles upwards with the fluid.
DrP
The "top cap" is not meant to be removed from the lever on the newer style brakes.
I got my funnel on ebay for £6 odd none of the other online places I tried had any in stock.
relliott6879, I used to bleed my old hope minis that way, thought you bled the new XTs from caliper up to the funnel with syringe first then attach a hose to the bleed nipple and let some fluid drain out until no air bubbles and keep funnel topped up?
DrP - Memberrelliott6879 - the benefit of the new ones is the easy ability to 'reverse bleed' - sending any air bubbles upwards with the fluid.
Mister P - MemberThe "top cap" is not meant to be removed from the lever on the newer style brakes.
granny_ring - Memberrelliott6879, I used to bleed my old hope minis that way, thought you bled the new XTs from caliper up to the funnel with syringe first then attach a hose to the bleed nipple and let some fluid drain out until no air bubbles and keep funnel topped up?
I'm fully aware that the new generation of Shimano brakes [i]can[/i] be 'reverse bled' and that a very clever man has undoubtedly spent a great many hours designing this system, I'm just pointing out that they can still be bled the 'old fashioned' way if one doesn't happen to have a specifically-designed-but-frustratingly/infuriatingly-not-included-with-the-brakes plastic funnel to hand.
Right having improvised a funnel from a syringe and pressure bled them following all the special steps they feel spot on with the spa[s][/s]cer in there. When I put the pads back in there's more lever travel than i would expect. Is that normal? All my other brakes feel rock hard after a good bleed and without much lever travel.
Check the travel adjustment screw on the lever blade itself, it's a small (3mm I think) allen screw on the inner end of the blade, just where it hinges with the main lever body. Out of the box, mine were set to sit pretty close to the bars, resulting in them nearly touching the bar by the end of it's travel. Winding the adjustment screw all the way out put the lever blades quite a bit further out from the bar to start with (but still easily reachable with two fingers, and I wouldn't say I've got particularly large hands) and the end of the travel was much more where I'd expect it to be.
Funnel available from Rotec Cycles in Wokingham. I got one off their eBay page a week ago. Arrived next day.