I just wanted to say, PLEASE do not ever delete this video! I watched this last year when I attempted to bleed my Sram Etap groupset for the first time. I've needed to bleed them multiple times over the year due to upgrades and such. Each time, I pull this video up and still follow step by step! Thank you so much for making such a great video that is easy to digest and follow.
Thanks Clint. I just used a combination of your video and Park Tool to finally bleed my SRAM Guide RSCs that I've been putting off for years because how intimidating the SRAM bleed process is. Worked flawlessly and the brakes now feel fantastic. BTW, your tutorial is the only one I've seen that includes degassing the fluid when prepping the syringes. Park Tool doesn't even include it.
Thanks Clint. Great video as always. You just saved me the total cost of the kit and 2 sets of pads my LBS would have charged me. Also gave me the skills, confidence, and satisfaction to do more maintenance the next time.
Clint, thanks for the excellent instructional video; it shows each part of the task clearly, I have both front and rear systems on my Gravel bike to bleed and now feel a lot more confident about tackling the job
Thanks Clint. Perfect instructions. Doesn't even matter that I happen to have the identical bike! A bit intimidated to do this but got it exact on the first try. Thank you!
Hello Clint! What a very good instruction how to bleed SRAM hydraulic brakes which is for me most needed because I have so far never done this due to only having Shimano brakes so far! (Will need this your instructions in order to bleed my Giant TCX Advanced SX cyclocross cycle soon) Merry Christmas to you Clint and to you loved ones as well! Happy Riding!
Thanks for making this video. I managed to bleed my rear brake relatively easily but the front needed 7 or 8 tries to get a satisfactory bite point and braking force. Good to see another take on this procedure other than srams video. I think I introduced a tonne of air in on one of my early efforts and that's why it was so hard to fix.
Another tip I heard is if your bleed kit is new to lubricate the syringe seals with DOT fluid to help them seal and slide better. Also this would be a good time to clean the pistons before bleeding, by extracting them slightly, cleaning with a QTip and alcohol and pushing them back in with a tool that wont scratch the ceramic pistons.
Any further tips for getting the rear brake as good as the front? Whatever I do, the back brake lever needs to be pulled in almost all of the way for the brake to engage. The front is perfect. Thanks for the great video!
thank you very much for this video, I was on the fence about doing it myself. I only have one SRAM DOT road bike the rest are all MTB Shimano. One thing I don't follow is why bother getting all the air out of you syringes and oil when you have an inch worth of air filled hose between your clamp and the caliper?
If you are bleeding brakes that already have fluid in them, then you want to make sure you don’t introduce any air into the hose. Regardless, the more air you can get out the less problems you’ll have bleeding. Interestingly interestingly, SRAM no longer recommends trying to de-gas the syringes. You just need to push the fluid up so there’s no air gap at the tip.
I know this is an old video but I just got a sram force cx 22 groupset and have done this 3 times and no air comes out the system but the lever blade still goes all the way to bars. Ive bleed shimano brakes many times but these are just not working. Would this be because I started with a completely empty system?
Clint - couple things 1. when pressurizing the system from the caliper while releasing the lever, how much resistance do you provide at the lever? 2. have you ever tried -- after a bleed -- toe strappping the lever(s) to the bars overnight, releasinng the lever in the morning and bleeding at the lever? heard this can encourage more air to move up to the lever.
I would just say "firm pressure"...nothing too crazy. I've never tried keeping the lever down overnight. I typically get such a good bleed I don't feel like I need to do anything else.
Thank you very much for this great instructional video - very useful! I just wonder: In which instances or after which timeframe/kilometers/runtime would you need to bleed the brakes?
Super thorough, and super helpful!! I need to understand one thing though: what happens if I don't insert back the bleed-port screw fast enough? I mean my brake is in a really tricky position to remove the syringe and put the screw back. Does the leakage renders the whole process useless?
I've got one more question. Although the bleeding went very well, I had to bleed the front brake immediately after few kilometers. I've done this twice already and the brake seems spongy when I start riding. What am I doing wrong? Should I redo the whole olive/barb process?
@@felixhora8535 The only two things I can think of is that there may be moisture in the brake fluid which you would have to flush all of the existing fluid out. Or there may be a seal that is bad. Normally if you bleed it properly they will stay pretty firm for a long time.
@@ClintGibbs thanks again! It must be the second judging by what you say. The liquid and brakes are brand new. I’ve installed the bike from brand new parts and I must have done the olive mounting poorly. Thanks a lot!
Ive ran through all these steps 3 times and my brakes are worse than when i started. When i squeeze the lever the pistons move but not nearly enough to make contact to the rotor. What am i doing wrong?
Typically you would need to bleed the brakes if you have a new set of brakes or if the Performance has degraded because air has gotten into the system. If you wanted to replace the fluid then you would only push up the syringe from the bottom. You would not push fluid back into the system from the top.
I don't have this bike anymore but I'm pretty sure it did not have the bleeding edge technology. I did make one more recent that shows how to use the bleeding edge syringe ua-cam.com/video/A8J3QGwHZjI/v-deo.html
Hi, I have just been through this procedure using an SRAM bleed kit, but not the official SRAM one. I managed to do the front brake OK but the rear just will not come right. I’ve tried six times and each time, at the end, the lever is totally spongey and applies no brake power. I did notice that the syringe does not thread all the way into the caliper so that the seal meets the bleed port, but that looked similar to what your video showed. However, the kit worked fine with the front brake!?
In shimano, at the top i usually use funnel. And close at the bottom and move the syringe to the top because i only have onr syringe. And pressurize from top. So can i replace top syringe with funnel
I have been looking everywhere for this model of break that are fitted to my mountain bike, im not sure if the wrong breaks have been fitted due to you saying that they are for the road bike and with your comment that on the mountain bike models you would find the bleed point in a different position, is there any more help you could give me on this situation clint before i contact the bike supplier ??
I don't understand why you removed the air from the syringe, when you connected the bleed pipes they were full of air. Don't you have to bleed the air from the tube before connecting them to the brake lever & calliper?
I'm having issues with the same bike and breaks. The rear lever, when squeezed, has minimal movement. Feels almost like a mechanical lever if the break pads are riiiiight up against the wheel. The wheel rotates "ok" but I got the feeling that there was nearly undetectable break rub, slowing rotation. I took out the pads and did what I could to push the pistons back. This helped a bit but I'm just not sure if I should be able to push the pistons back even further but something is preventing me from being able to do so. Anyone have a thought on this...
Have you tried bleeding the brakes? Have you had them for a while? I've had that issue with moisture getting in the brake system and causing the DOT fluid to expand. you may need to relieve some of the pressure inside the system. If you do a proper bleed that would take care of it, assuming that's the issue.
@@ClintGibbs Thanks for the reply, this was the direction my brain was going too. Only, I don't own a bleed kit. May be time to invest in one since I now have 2 bikes with hydro brakes. Really appreciate the feedback. Thanks for the posts. Your videos on the Niner RLT really helped me pull the trigger on mine.
On SRAM you have to make sure the cables are tightened into the lever to proper specs. Otherwise the brake levers will not squeeze. Not sure if that’s it. Usually when brakes are not bled properly the levers are soft.
Degassing the fluid is actually not necessary, as per Park Tool's video on the SRAM bleed procedure ua-cam.com/video/bOUbUtaYaOE/v-deo.html . Even SRAM no longer advises to do so when asked about it.
Great in theory, but successful bleeding is predicated on a system without flaws. I’ve had to replace 2 sram hydroR brakes because the bladder inside the lever failed, screws in the sram force lever body wouldn’t seat due to no existent screw taps in carbon etc etc. Shimano never has a single issue. SRAM is an example of flashy marketing and appalling engineering.
I use both. Had done many times bleeding shimano, very easy however unlike sram, mineral oil got vaporized easily in long downhill section. Therefore i occasionally bring funnel and some mineral oil during bike trip with lot descent. I know i m newbie and brake a lot. But sram take many steps just to bleed
Bryan Glover Yes its a complicated bleed process but it’s worth it Sram brakes modulate much better than Shimano in my opinion. I’ve also found Sram are much more accommodating with warranty issues.
Compared to XT/XTR, every sram brake set I've ever used has been terribly weak, noisy and generally low quality, bleeding process aside. Yes each set in question was properly set up and bled to equal standards as the shimano by comparison. Can't speak for warranty issues as I have never had any problems running shimano
Steven Silva what’s with all the negativity. Very informative and comprehensive video about how to bleed brakes. And the bloke looks after his bikes hence them looking in good condition.
I just wanted to say, PLEASE do not ever delete this video! I watched this last year when I attempted to bleed my Sram Etap groupset for the first time. I've needed to bleed them multiple times over the year due to upgrades and such. Each time, I pull this video up and still follow step by step! Thank you so much for making such a great video that is easy to digest and follow.
You got it! Glad it could help.
Just wanted to comment that I used this video yet again to bleed my SRAM brakes (Rival road AXS), and they came out excellent. Thank you again Clint!
Clint, I just installed SRAM brakes, cut hoses and bled. An absolutely obnoxious chore, but your videos helped me through the horror. Thanks!
You make the most understandable mainteinance videos on youtube!
Thanks Clint. I just used a combination of your video and Park Tool to finally bleed my SRAM Guide RSCs that I've been putting off for years because how intimidating the SRAM bleed process is. Worked flawlessly and the brakes now feel fantastic. BTW, your tutorial is the only one I've seen that includes degassing the fluid when prepping the syringes. Park Tool doesn't even include it.
Super clear and easy to follow instructions brilliant video
Great video Clint. Thanks for this. I stepped through your procedure to get Rival AXS HRD installed on a new frame.
Glad I could help Shane! You definitely helped me with my Zwift setup. Cheers!
I’ve been trying to get up the nerve to do it. Your video unlike some others is clear and make sense. I’ll give it a try.
Great video. Just bleed the front caliper for first time in 10 minutes!
Thanks Clint. Great video as always. You just saved me the total cost of the kit and 2 sets of pads my LBS would have charged me. Also gave me the skills, confidence, and satisfaction to do more maintenance the next time.
Nice!
Awesome Clint, my bleed kit arrives today so your video is right on time! You make it look easy, hope it will go as smoothly for me!
Clint, thanks for the excellent instructional video; it shows each part of the task clearly, I have both front and rear systems on my Gravel bike to bleed and now feel a lot more confident about tackling the job
Thanks Clint. Perfect instructions. Doesn't even matter that I happen to have the identical bike! A bit intimidated to do this but got it exact on the first try. Thank you!
Thanks a million for this extremely clear, helpful video.
Hello Clint! What a very good instruction how to bleed SRAM hydraulic brakes which is for me most needed because I have so far never done this due to only having Shimano brakes so far! (Will need this your instructions in order to bleed my Giant TCX Advanced SX cyclocross cycle soon) Merry Christmas to you Clint and to you loved ones as well! Happy Riding!
This video saved my day. Thank you so much!
Thanks for making this video. I managed to bleed my rear brake relatively easily but the front needed 7 or 8 tries to get a satisfactory bite point and braking force. Good to see another take on this procedure other than srams video. I think I introduced a tonne of air in on one of my early efforts and that's why it was so hard to fix.
Great video! This was very clear and easy to follow.
Good video. Bleeding SRAM hydraulic brakes only takes a few minutes once you know what you are doing.
hi there have just watched and followed your instructions and my brakes are great again THANK YOU
Another tip I heard is if your bleed kit is new to lubricate the syringe seals with DOT fluid to help them seal and slide better. Also this would be a good time to clean the pistons before bleeding, by extracting them slightly, cleaning with a QTip and alcohol and pushing them back in with a tool that wont scratch the ceramic pistons.
Thanks for this video, it has taken a few attempts to get it right (4 to be honest) but now it's perfect. I had lots of bubbles in my first attempts.
What did you do differently the fourth time? I'm struggling with this.
Great video! Very understandable and easy to follow
Very good tutorial. I have this task on my 2018 to do list. Hope it will be as easy as in your vid ;-)
BTW: congrats to the 50k subs
Excellent video, thank you!
Any further tips for getting the rear brake as good as the front? Whatever I do, the back brake lever needs to be pulled in almost all of the way for the brake to engage. The front is perfect. Thanks for the great video!
Nic Do you use your rear brake more than front? Might just be a matter of replacing pads. Hope this helps
Awesome video, super helpful!
thank you very much for this video, I was on the fence about doing it myself. I only have one SRAM DOT road bike the rest are all MTB Shimano. One thing I don't follow is why bother getting all the air out of you syringes and oil when you have an inch worth of air filled hose between your clamp and the caliper?
If you are bleeding brakes that already have fluid in them, then you want to make sure you don’t introduce any air into the hose. Regardless, the more air you can get out the less problems you’ll have bleeding. Interestingly interestingly, SRAM no longer recommends trying to de-gas the syringes. You just need to push the fluid up so there’s no air gap at the tip.
I know this is an old video but I just got a sram force cx 22 groupset and have done this 3 times and no air comes out the system but the lever blade still goes all the way to bars. Ive bleed shimano brakes many times but these are just not working. Would this be because I started with a completely empty system?
Clint - couple things
1. when pressurizing the system from the caliper while releasing the lever, how much resistance do you provide at the lever?
2. have you ever tried -- after a bleed -- toe strappping the lever(s) to the bars overnight, releasinng the lever in the morning and bleeding at the lever? heard this can encourage more air to move up to the lever.
I would just say "firm pressure"...nothing too crazy. I've never tried keeping the lever down overnight. I typically get such a good bleed I don't feel like I need to do anything else.
Would you do the same for a side edge bleed by tapering off the leaver.
Have you ever taken apart the main reservoir on the brake/shifter handle? I have a feeling that may be introducing air into my system thanks!
No, I've never had to take apart the whole reservoir system.
@@ClintGibbs Took mine apart and it was leaking. Just replaced everything in original spots. Not bad if you ever have to.
@@Doc_oc116 cool. Thanks.
Hi, Can you please do a video for the MTB bleed? Thanks.
ua-cam.com/video/A8J3QGwHZjI/v-deo.html
Thank you very much for this great instructional video - very useful! I just wonder: In which instances or after which timeframe/kilometers/runtime would you need to bleed the brakes?
Super thorough, and super helpful!! I need to understand one thing though: what happens if I don't insert back the bleed-port screw fast enough? I mean my brake is in a really tricky position to remove the syringe and put the screw back. Does the leakage renders the whole process useless?
Not that crucial since gravity will keep fluid inside the lever. Just replace it as quick as you can but don't worry about slight fluid loss.
@@ClintGibbs Thank you!
I've got one more question. Although the bleeding went very well, I had to bleed the front brake immediately after few kilometers. I've done this twice already and the brake seems spongy when I start riding. What am I doing wrong? Should I redo the whole olive/barb process?
@@felixhora8535 The only two things I can think of is that there may be moisture in the brake fluid which you would have to flush all of the existing fluid out. Or there may be a seal that is bad. Normally if you bleed it properly they will stay pretty firm for a long time.
@@ClintGibbs thanks again! It must be the second judging by what you say. The liquid and brakes are brand new. I’ve installed the bike from brand new parts and I must have done the olive mounting poorly. Thanks a lot!
Ive ran through all these steps 3 times and my brakes are worse than when i started. When i squeeze the lever the pistons move but not nearly enough to make contact to the rotor. What am i doing wrong?
Does this breeding "replace" the old fluid? I'm a bit confused, seems to me just removing air in the system
Typically you would need to bleed the brakes if you have a new set of brakes or if the Performance has degraded because air has gotten into the system. If you wanted to replace the fluid then you would only push up the syringe from the bottom. You would not push fluid back into the system from the top.
Great Video. Just curious why you didn't use the bleeding edge syringe?
I don't have this bike anymore but I'm pretty sure it did not have the bleeding edge technology. I did make one more recent that shows how to use the bleeding edge syringe
ua-cam.com/video/A8J3QGwHZjI/v-deo.html
Wonder when to stop pushing back fluid to satisfy enough is enough as one can't see thru inside lever/caliper? Thanks
Pushing half a syringe through will flush out all the old fluid or fill an empty hose. Remember, that hose is very thin inside.
@@ClintGibbs I bear that in mind. I presume you need to work BOTH front and rear wheels each time. Thanks
Hi, I have just been through this procedure using an SRAM bleed kit, but not the official SRAM one. I managed to do the front brake OK but the rear just will not come right. I’ve tried six times and each time, at the end, the lever is totally spongey and applies no brake power. I did notice that the syringe does not thread all the way into the caliper so that the seal meets the bleed port, but that looked similar to what your video showed. However, the kit worked fine with the front brake!?
Make sure that you're getting a good seal on the caliper. If you're not, then you're introducing air into the system, no matter what you do.
In shimano, at the top i usually use funnel. And close at the bottom and move the syringe to the top because i only have onr syringe. And pressurize from top. So can i replace top syringe with funnel
I've never bled SRAM brakes with a funnel. Because of the method they recommend I would try to get the kit with two syringes.
I have been looking everywhere for this model of break that are fitted to my mountain bike, im not sure if the wrong breaks have been fitted due to you saying that they are for the road bike and with your comment that on the mountain bike models you would find the bleed point in a different position, is there any more help you could give me on this situation clint before i contact the bike supplier ??
ua-cam.com/video/A8J3QGwHZjI/v-deo.html
This may help
I don't understand why you removed the air from the syringe, when you connected the bleed pipes they were full of air. Don't you have to bleed the air from the tube before connecting them to the brake lever & calliper?
Yes, you do want to try to push all the fluid up so there’s no air gap in the tube.
Wear your eye protection when deal with DOT fluid!
I'm having issues with the same bike and breaks. The rear lever, when squeezed, has minimal movement. Feels almost like a mechanical lever if the break pads are riiiiight up against the wheel. The wheel rotates "ok" but I got the feeling that there was nearly undetectable break rub, slowing rotation. I took out the pads and did what I could to push the pistons back. This helped a bit but I'm just not sure if I should be able to push the pistons back even further but something is preventing me from being able to do so. Anyone have a thought on this...
Have you tried bleeding the brakes? Have you had them for a while? I've had that issue with moisture getting in the brake system and causing the DOT fluid to expand. you may need to relieve some of the pressure inside the system. If you do a proper bleed that would take care of it, assuming that's the issue.
@@ClintGibbs Thanks for the reply, this was the direction my brain was going too. Only, I don't own a bleed kit. May be time to invest in one since I now have 2 bikes with hydro brakes. Really appreciate the feedback. Thanks for the posts. Your videos on the Niner RLT really helped me pull the trigger on mine.
I did the bleeding but my levers still hard wath could be ?
On SRAM you have to make sure the cables are tightened into the lever to proper specs. Otherwise the brake levers will not squeeze. Not sure if that’s it. Usually when brakes are not bled properly the levers are soft.
@@ClintGibbs i did the 8 nm as required I don’t know wath could be thanks any way
Oh yay 😃
Degassing the fluid is actually not necessary, as per Park Tool's video on the SRAM bleed procedure ua-cam.com/video/bOUbUtaYaOE/v-deo.html . Even SRAM no longer advises to do so when asked about it.
Yep. My latest video on bleeding sram mountain bike brakes I don't have that step.
This looks terrifying
Great in theory, but successful bleeding is predicated on a system without flaws. I’ve had to replace 2 sram hydroR brakes because the bladder inside the lever failed, screws in the sram force lever body wouldn’t seat due to no existent screw taps in carbon etc etc. Shimano never has a single issue. SRAM is an example of flashy marketing and appalling engineering.
This is why I only have Shimano breaks SLX and XT
Shimano breaks 🤣
I use both. Had done many times bleeding shimano, very easy however unlike sram, mineral oil got vaporized easily in long downhill section. Therefore i occasionally bring funnel and some mineral oil during bike trip with lot descent. I know i m newbie and brake a lot. But sram take many steps just to bleed
How to bleed SRAM brakes: STEP 1 - remove from bike and throw away. STEP 2 - purchase Shimano brakes
+Bryan Glover they really don't take much more time than Shimano. Although I do much prefer to work with mineral oil than DOT fluid.
or dump hydraulic altogether and get some trp spyre/spyke or some rever brakes.
Bryan Glover Yes its a complicated bleed process but it’s worth it Sram brakes modulate much better than Shimano in my opinion.
I’ve also found Sram are much more accommodating with warranty issues.
Compared to XT/XTR, every sram brake set I've ever used has been terribly weak, noisy and generally low quality, bleeding process aside. Yes each set in question was properly set up and bled to equal standards as the shimano by comparison. Can't speak for warranty issues as I have never had any problems running shimano
Steven Silva what’s with all the negativity.
Very informative and comprehensive video about how to bleed brakes.
And the bloke looks after his bikes hence them looking in good condition.
I bought the same kit for $170 and it came with less items
where did you buy it from?
First
+Vineet Tyagi 🏆
Thanks