How To Bleed Shimano Road Hydraulic Disc Brakes
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- Опубліковано 13 вер 2020
- If you've purchased a new road bike in the last few years, chances are it's come with a set of hydraulic disc brakes. At first, hydraulic disc brakes can seem quite intimidating when it comes to servicing. However, they're relatively straightforward so, in this video, Ollie talks you through how to service your Shimano hydraulic disc brakes.
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Does your bike have disc brakes? Do you service them yourself? Let us know in the comments below!
Yes I have mechanical disk brakes and I service them myself
Even though I don't have hydraulics I still love watching your videos
Yes and I am not exactly waiting for the change...
Never serviced my own bike but planning to in the future. have had a disc brake MTB before but will be getting the Ribble CGR 725 Gravel Bike in November and this video is a big help in getting me ready to take care of it personally. 👌😁👍
@@rboydphotography yeah the video is great and the new bike day will be awesome
plastic tire lever works better than a screw driver for the pistons
100% agree. And Pedro’s levers are the best
Not sure why he pushed the pistons back with the pads still in place. I always remove the pads then push back the pistons with a plastic tyre lever.
@@d_mac3233 Because he don't want to damage the surface of piston. With pads inside it's safer.
The short end of a regular Allen key works great
8:18 This is the best tip ever, saved my day... I was rebleeding whole system again and again, almost spining bike around the bike stand, spining my bars.... nothing helped but this syringe brake fluid "pull" tip.
The tip to pull air out with the syringe is a game changer!!! Thank you so much for this trick!!! I watched dozens of videos but I always had some air bubbles left no matter what I did. With this trick my brakes are so firm... It's unbelievable. Unfortunately it took so much time to find this Video... I instantly rebleeded all my bikes. Cheers!
If you pull air out of the lever through the funnel using a syringe, you will need to actuate the lever a few times with the funnel still on to repressurize the system before inserting the bleed screw into the lever. When you suck air out of the lever you are also pulling a little fluid out of the line and reservoir.
yeah he didn't actually do it correctly...
Yes, very much so. That and Park Tools has the most complete video on the whole procedure by far. Especially the different angles you have to move the road bars to vs flat mtb bars. You can also try a cheater bleed but it doesn't work on Road levers nearly as well as on flat bar levers.
And he didn’t mention that after removing the funnel not to remove the excess mineral oil until you replace the screw.
If you're pads are worn a bit and the lever travels a bit too far for your liking, a little tip. Pull the lever all the way in and secure with a velcro strap or similar and leave over night. This reseats the seals and the pistons won't return all the way, advancing the pads apparently and works a treat.
I’ve watched at least 30 videos on how to bleed hydraulic brake and your video is without a doubt the most easy to follow.
Literally exactly what I was looking for. GCN consistently reads my mind. Cheers Ollie.
Excellent tutorial, well laid out tools needed and individual steps described... I’ll be asking my local bike shop to do this in my annual service!
I'm somewhat surprised at how many comments are from people who have rim brakes and use this video to justify not having disk brakes. If you like your rim brakes that's fine, no one's forcing you to get disks (yet?). Bleeding your brakes isn't something that you do very often, my experience has been that I bleed them every 3 to 4 years. I'd change brake cables on my MTB yearly when I had V brakes, 15 years ago!
Ollie, you're a star! After some time (ahem) I am finally feeling brave enough to tackle this job and your video has completely demystified the process for me. Thank you!
One of the clearest bleed videos I have seen, and with some useful tips not usually mentioned.
1:45 You have wires in the stem, so if you have air in the system, it will be better to set the front higher.
6:20 There's usually a lot of contamination in fluid in the clamps. I change the other way i.e. when the reservoir and tube is bleed, I use the syringe to drain the oil down - this is usually way in the automotive industry.
When the reservoir is deaerated and the valve in the caliper unscrewed, it is worth pressing the brake lever slowly several times
Thanks for the thoughtful tips
Thanks. I will keep that in mind
Every time Ollie said “mineral oil” my mind travelled back to Dan’s “mineral water” clip
Wouldn't recommend drinking this stuff! 😂
With a mineral oil system you can use water in an emergency.
Thanks for the good guidance. Very helpful for me as a beginner. Keep it up, Ollie! Best regards from Germany
Fantastic video Ollie! Great explanation of the steps! Worked a treat!
Good video. I have a flat bar system on my gravel bike but your video confirmed my hunch on needing to bleed it.
Better to remove the pads before pushing on the pistons. This avoids any damage to the brake pad material, especially if they are resin. Def. replace pads if less than 1mm.
Money saving tips: 1. My bike shop doesn't give out the adapter that comes with each bike because they don't want to confuse the non-techy customer. So they gave me one for free.
2. I made a brake block spacer out of an old plastic gift card which I cut to size. I glued each piece together until I had the needed fatness and held it in place by a rubber band.
There's the issue that ham-fisted people damage the pistons since they are ceramic in (some?) road disc models. Better damage the brake pads instead. You could always sandpaper them. I use a plastic tire lever if the pads are removed.
Made look simple. After buying a German online bike I swapped hoses over to make it right front braking. They are a little spongy after this move so this is exactly the info I was looking for. Thanks!
you probably trapped air when you swapped the hoses. it should be sufficient to mount the fluid reservoir to the STIs, put some oil into it and pump the brake several times. you will see air bubbles escape when doing so. move the bike around a bit (lift the rear and front) and pump while doing so.
most of the time that will get rid of all the air. a full bleed is actually only neccessary when installing the system from scratch or you want to excange all the oil after several years of use.
Well done, Ollie - nice smooth step-by-step with narration (subject to some of the advice in the comments)
Oli!!! Your chemistry profs are rolling wondering if you whacked your head in a crash :) Mineral oil is very much not miscible with water - it does clean up nicely with detergent and rubbing alcohol.
That said, good tip on using the syringe to create a vacuum. Didn't think of that one and instead do the Shimano-recommended multiple angle tilting of the handlebar to "burp" air from the reservoir.
For doing the rear brake i found it necessary to loosen the handle bar within the stem so you could keep the reservoir upright.
Thanks for the great video
Considering that mine has rim brakes
Thank you Ollie! So helpful as always!
Amazing video. Love the top tips. That worked perfectly for me. Thanks for this
Absolutely brilliant - really clear explanations - thanks!
Great explanation, just what I was looking for, more over I just got an orbea Avant and you are using an orbea this is great.
Fascinating.
Cheers from NYC
Learned a lot - thanks guys
i like it, i was thinking about bleeding my brakes i will wait for the pads to go down a bit more & change them at the same time.
Very good video just what we need now with all the disc bikes :)
Good tip to use the syringe to pull a vacuum on the lever. Just the trick to remove a stubborn bubble, thanks!
So damn easy compared to SRAM. Hate the brake bleed on my Rivals, and hate the DOT 5.1 so much. I'm seriously considering the switch to GRX because of the brakes. Great video btw
you guys rock, I love your videos, always spot on :)
amazing video and amount of information thank you
Thanks for this. Spot on.
The tools i need for my road bike brakes, one allen key to change the pads once a year and a cable swap every other year. never had a single problem with rim brake stopping power.
True. It’s amazing the gullibility of so many who blindly have bought into the industry marketing BS that a road bike or even most gravel bikes require hydraulic disc brakes. Total bullshit.
Rim brakes have more stopping power, require far less maintenance and adjustments, have far less maintenance costs (no replacing of tiny wafer thin disc brake pads or rotors or brake oil multiple times a year) and they work perfectly well in 99+% of all road of gravel riding situations.
The lack of Isopropanol in the tutorial is slightly disturbing.
😂
Book in for therapy bro!
excellently explained thankyou! I followed along and paused the vid for each bit I did. :). Am a newbie with bike mechanics stuff! Just had 6 month driving ban so trying to figure this stuff out on a spare bike. My brakes were tweaking and shrieking and I swapped the brake pads but stupidly pressed the brakes with the wheel off and no brake spacers! Now my promax hydraulic brakes, the piston won't come out its flush flat not popping out. I have promax... I just ordered some park tool brake piston tool Im hoping I haven't broke these promax disk brakes, might upgrade. :)
I need to see how you do the REAR brakes! As you say, to get air out of the section between the caliper and the pedals you need to get the bike vertical...at which point the reservoir screwed into the brake lever empties onto the ground and the top system fills with air!
Slacken the bars in the stem and rotate the bars as needed.
there is a level marker on the side of the peeled back hood grip that you tilt to a level plane by loosening the bars. This enables you to tilt further without spilling
What if your handle bar is a fixed aero model where it doesn’t rotate?
I think for the rear callipers, it’s better to unscrew them and let them dangle by the hose. No?
It would be great if you could go over removing and replacing hydraulic lines, especially on a bike with internally routed lines. I understand there are specialty tools needed for Shimano brakes. Do you pull & plug the line before pulling it through? Do you drain the fluid before pulling lines through? Can the hydraulic fluid used damage the interior of a carbon frame? Lots of questions about the process. Thanks!
Good video!
Very helpful
Thank you!
Always take out the pads when changing fluid or bleeding your hydraulic brakes. This will avoid you contaminating your pads.
Damn
Did this yesterday and had to do a bit of research. I think I did it correctly
BUT this is a much better explanation
Erm I know Oli has a phd in chemistry but isn't mineral oil hydrophobic and therefore very much not water-soluble.
Shimano mineral oil is water-based in composition.
@@nekobytes9187 lol - no - it isn't - don't believe me? Try putting some water in the bottle and see if it mixes....
MSDS says it's 97% "Lubricant Based Oil" and 3% "DMSO-extract"
Classification of Components:
Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light paraffinic/265-158-7/
Triaryl Phosphate(contain Triphenyl phosphate)/273-066-3/
2,6-di-tert-butyl-p-cresol/204-881-4/
Not a drop of water to be found....
@@jimhansen5395 it's not going to mix. Also, I've since found out that water-based in Shimano's context meant it's essentially incompressible, not that the mixture had water in it.
Still, thanks for letting me correct myself. I had forgotten this comment existed.
@@nekobytes9187 your comment says the oil is water based. It's not water based. It's oil based, which is why it's hydroPHOBIC and won't mix with water. HyGroscopic means something is easily absorbs or mixes water which oil is not).
@@jimhansen5395 that is exactly the reason I said I was correcting myself.
The adapter you mention is called ST-R9210, for the ones who don’t know
Well done! Thanks a million!!
You're very welcome!
Love that bike 👌
"For single use only" is written on the side of the syringe because it's a medical device that's been repurposed for bike maintenance, not because of any corrosive property of mineral oil. The tendency of the presenters to make stuff up during technical videos undermines otherwise excellent GCN content.
“… otherwise excellent content”? LOL
What he said literally happened to me. The rubber expanded and was unusable after some time. I didn't know back then that it's because of the oil.
@@Terra-IncognltaEverytime you done using it just wash it with alcohol and it will be fine and usable again. Obviously not now that the hose is already useless.
Thanks alot...
You are the best👍🏼
probably been mentioned before but i haven't read all comments, when replacing the reservoir filler screw check you have the o-ring on it
Thanks for the clear vid! One comment is to have safety glasses on while working with the brake fluid. Just in case something happens wrong! Safety First!
Life Changing
There are a lot of steps missing, like the various positions required for the shifter to release trapped air. And then this last part with the negative pressure on the shifter!! you have to mention tha you apply very little force while pulling because you will force air from somewhere else back to the system
Isn't there a clip on the pad retaining pin that should have gone back in?
Gorgeous, gorgeous Orca 😍
When you aspirate the old fluid from the top reservoir, does this not contaminate the hose and syringe that is going to be used for the fresh fluid on the rear brake?
you should do a video on bleeding sram axs
I've bled the brake system on cars many times without any problems. This seems FAR more complex and risky. I'm sort of regretting getting a bike with Shimano GRX hydraulic brakes, although I love the modulation and power of them.
I can bleed all the air out of my shimano 105 front brakes; however, I cannot get the air out of my rear brake. It's easy to angle the front caliper to be the lowest point but how do you tilt the bike for the rear brake bleed? The rear brake line runs through the frame and comes out below the caliper. Also, the rear caliper and bleed port are in an awkward location. There are a lot of bleed tutorials showing the front but I could not find a video on the rear brake. Thanks.
Fantastic video, Ollie. This was a very comprehensive and informative video. I am going to need to...acquire some syringes from the hospital to make sure I have few on hand.
As Ollie gets to the final step and spins the wheel- I realized UK bikes are setup different than US bikes and his front brake lever is on the right where in the US ours is on the left. Interesting.
This just blew my mind.
@@scotthennessey7647 It's known as a "Moto" setup. Motorcycles are always right front. With this setup, I don't make catastrophic mistakes in emergency situations.
I would assume because the mineral oil is water soluble, you can wash the syringe to use it again?
Those look so much quicker and easier to bleed than my SRAM disc brakes. I probably will go Team Shimano on future bikes.
I actually like Sram better. The Shimano syringe always pops off and oil gets all over the place. Srams syringes have a nice solid connection. Easier to get all the air out of Sram system with the double syringes too. Shimano some times feel mushy because it's hard to tap out all the air bubbles and repressurize the system.
@@newttella1043 yeah the shimano syringes are stupid, but once you get a feeling for the system it actually works okay and air bubbles are not a problem.
Yeah, the SRAM brakes are a pita to bleed compared to Shimano. No bike mechanic in my local shop enjoys bleeding SRAM brakes.
hey I believe GRX bleed steps are different due to ergonomic design? More steps to ensure air bubbles are all gone. Could your team do a video on that??
So I applied the break to check the pistons moving after removing the bleeding block, before putting back the pads. It doesn't seem to have caused any problems - I pushed the pistons back with a scissor. Do you think I need to bleed again or nothing to worry about?
Good Job. Put together a SRAM version.
still on my rim brakes!!
I like to bleed the rear and the hang it from front wheel for a little bit to get any bubbles to lever. The get it down and burp it with the cup
Any tips on how to bleed the Rear Brake to avoid sponginess? do I simply tilt the front of the bike upward to position the lower brake to the lowest point possible during the bleed?
My bike has hydraulic disc brakes, Sram Force. Maybe one day you'll do a Sram brake bleeding video.
What quantity of fluid did you use? Or what’s the capacity generally
Hello GCN. I was looking to upgrade the group set my bike (with disc breaks) and was under the impression that i could buy a regular “rim break” set but just use disc instead. I’m i right about this?
Park tool says to clean the caliper before resetting the piston so you don't feed garbage to your seals
You should always put the reservoir as the highest point in the system. Because your cables go through your stem you should have actually put that above your STI shifters.
Yep. Not sure why he had the bike tilted down so the reservoir was actually below the level of the brake line at the stem creating the opportunity for air bubbles to end up trapped in the line at the stem location.
I have a shimano di2 lever that when you press the rear brake it gets stuck wont go back to its original place do you think i need a brake bleed or perhaps its another issue
When bleeding the fluid, part of my goal is to flush any contaminants out from the system. Since this usually enters the system from the brake pistons, I attach the bleed cup, place a generous amount of fluid in it and then from the brake caliper, I use a syringe to remove fluid until I see that it is clear, making use the cup always has fluid in it. Once that task is completed, I then perform the remaining tasks as shown in this video.
your front wheel might need do some wheel balance by adding some weight on the opposite side of the heavest place
can i use this technique for MTB shimano m6000 deore brakes ?
useful, as i'm very new to Di2 I have a new bike (one day old with 2x11 GRX D2i ) all working well apart from a slight chain rub on the 5th cog on the cassette. Not sure i have the nerve to press that button for 3sec and play with the right lever! Bike was hand built in Scotland so i cant take it back for adjustment as its a 900 mile round trip!
oops too slow...the above comment was meant for the video on setting up installing Di2
This is a great advertisement for rim brake bikes. I'm using rim brakes descending the mountains in Taiwan, all the braking you need.
I think I skipped a step, but it worked.
I cannot hold back any longer. Has Ollie joined a Flock of Seagulls tribute band?
Yes two of my bikes have hydraulic disc brakes but haven't had to do anything other than replace the pads a couple of times.
can i use alligator 4 dot disc fluid if i dont have shimano mineral oil
Question if I may? I am just about to take delivery of my first bike to have hydraulic brakes. Historically I store my bike vertically to save space, but is it true that this is an absolute no no for HB's. Cheers in advance, Rob.
I will still go rim brakes at least it is much easier to maintain
I have ultegra 8150, does it work the same?
Velcom to the verkshop!
so, no pressing the levers to remove the air bubbles?
Anyone any ideas how to get the lever pull further out from the bar? The little micro adjusters don’t really do enough. Can they be bled so that there is minimal pull?
If I have to do this I'll have my shop do it
People in the comments, I'm calling on you. Help me choose a path.About 15 years ago, I was a professional cyclist in my country.
But after that, I gave it up. I can easily figure out everything with cables, shifting, or the brake system. But now I've decided to ride for myself and bought a road bike with disc brakes. Now the brakes work well, but I need to go through the brake system because of the new hose routing due to the replacement of the handlebars.But I'm scared of it. I need to somehow carefully drain the system, pull the rods, and then refill the system.
Tell me, am I staying away for nothing? Should I just buy everything I need and do it the first time, figure it out and not be afraid of hydraulic systems anymore? Or is it really a big problem, and it's better to go to a mechanic to solve my problem, but then disc brakes will remain something incomprehensible to me?Tell me, is it really difficult to do it the first time, or is it worth daring to overcome it for myself?
Thank you for your time.
People INJEST regular Mineral Oil, Ollie.
I'm pretty sure Shimano's special format isn't going to kill you if you don't wear gloves.
Clear out the parasites.
Before pressing the piston back into the caliper, they need to be cleaned carefully with a q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol. Otherwise the seals might be damaged.
Use mineral oil instead of alchohol on q-tip. Then press the pistons into the caliper and clean it out with alcohol
Changing the old brake cable is more easy and not so messy.
Thanks for the information! I have now bled both my brakes and changed the pads. My levers still touch the bars after bleeding and checking to get all air bubbles out. The brakes do work though but there's a lot of travel. I have 105 R7000. What can I do to improve it?
Did you manage to sort this or find out more information? I also have 105 R7000. 12mo Endurace, done 4k miles and my brakes need a lot of travel before substantial brake power, almost right to the bars. I thought it might be time to bleed my brakes which is what brings me here but I have spoken with some friends and one has advised they had the same issue with the 105 but particularly when it was new. So not sure if this could be a reoccurring issue with the 105?! Maybe!
@@lobi8655 no I didn't fix it completely but I improved it a bit. I have braking power and it's good enough. At some point I'll probably get a bike shop to improve the brakes for me rather than bother trying it myself again.
I think that some bikes will have this issue from new because they are assembled by hand in the factory, so as long as the brakes work then they don't have to be perfectly tuned. The guy in the factory is only really doing the same thing as in this video.
Get mechanical rim brakes. Far easier to maintain, far less replacement costs of replacing a rim once every several years versus continually replacing disc pads, rotors, and brake fluids multiple times a season, better braking power, no sponginess or pull length issues, and no worry about having a bubble in your line and suddenly your brake does not work when needed on a high speed descent.
Don’t buy into the industry marketing drivel BS that a road or even a gravel bike in 99+% of riding situations requires hydraulic disc brakes. They don’t! 😀
Love you ollie
This is so much simpler than on MTBs.