Cheap bleed solution

Louis84

I'm guessing that many people are already on this bandwagon but I feel I have finally got one over on the fat cats as im sick of constantly lining their pockets!

The cheapest bleed kit ever ...............

Halfrords DOT 5.1 brake fluid (but from the car section) £4.99 for 250 ML !! (£11.99 for a litre!)
And some clear halfords washer tubing which fits perfectly onto the bleed nipple - £3.49

I should be able to bleed my brakes around 10 times with this simple very cheap solution.

TOTAL : £8.48

CASH BACK 8)

Loudog out

cat_with_no_tail

Meh, my LBS gave me the contents of an old avid bleed kit (everything apart from the DOT 5.1) for £5 last year.

Bought some Hope DOT 5.1 fluid from UK Bike Store for £3.90.

Complete Kit,

£8.90

:twisted:

Northwind

Louis84 wrote:

The cheapest bleed kit ever ...............

Halfrords DOT 5.1 brake fluid (but from the car section) £4.99 for 250 ML !! (£11.99 for a litre!)
And some clear halfords washer tubing which fits perfectly onto the bleed nipple - £3.49

I should be able to bleed my brakes around 10 times with this simple very cheap solution.

TOTAL : £8.48

That's more than I paid for mine Syringe and tubing works better and costs peanuts. Your method's fine but will only work for bikes that don't actually need a bleed kit, won't work on avid, formula etc.

ride_whenever

Not to mention ideally you want to use a fresh bottle of fluid every time you bleed because Dot 5.1 is hydroscopic

cee

i went to the vet and asked to buy a couple of syringes and some tubing. They said oh aye...for bleeding bike brakes eh? no probelm here you go...free!

1 litre dot5.1 fluid...£4.44 pentland components.

what do I win (apart from the cheapskates award?)

Bluemoon39

Probably a daft question but...

How do you then connect the syringe / tube to the caliper / lever?
My Promax Q3 is like the Avid I think, in so much that you need to screw the syringe / tube into the bleed holes.

You can't buy the complete Promax bleed kit in the UK and the Avid kit won't fit, so if you have a DIY solution (cheap or not) I would be eternally grateful!

RealMan

A mate of mine managed to run his brakes on bath water for a while. Got a bit hot though.

rudedog

Bluemoon39 wrote:

Probably a daft question but...

How do you then connect the syringe / tube to the caliper / lever?
My Promax Q3 is like the Avid I think, in so much that you need to screw the syringe / tube into the bleed holes.

You can't buy the complete Promax bleed kit in the UK and the Avid kit won't fit, so if you have a DIY solution (cheap or not) I would be eternally grateful!

heres what you need

2 syringes
A bit of 4mm aquarium hose which you cut to 2 small lengths
2 mini buldog clips that all office suppy shop sell
2 m5 hose barbs to connect the aquarium hose to the bleed screws on the brakes and calipers.

You can get the hose barbs from here
http://www.cotswoldengineeringsupplies. ... 0Hosetails

theres a few guides on youtube for bleeding avid brakes - theres also a downloadable pdf from red dog racing.

Will Snow

lol a spanner, a rag and some dot 5 does my brakes

ride_whenever

RealMan wrote:

A mate of mine managed to run his brakes on bath water for a while. Got a bit hot though.

A lot of trials riders used to run their hs33 on water...

Bluemoon39

Thanks Rudedog, the problem is that the Q3 needs an M5 connector on the lever but an M7 connector on the caliper. That website has M5 but doesnt seem to have M7

http://webbuilder2.asiannet.com/ftp/2004/Q3%20&%20HORNET%20Change%20brake%20fluid.doc

The Northern Monkey

RealMan wrote:

A mate of mine managed to run his brakes on bath water for a while. Got a bit hot though.

Used or fresh bath water?

RealMan

Does it count as used if he's in there while he's bleeding them..?

ride_whenever

full immersion bleeding... 8)




But don't get in a tub of dot 5.1

Anonymous

Anybody give me some links/help me out with a cheap bleed kit for me Shimano SLX that are on their way?

Northwind

SLX doesn't really need a kit at all, just a hose. Syringes help- one to push fluid in at the bottom, one to drain it off at the top.

Anonymous

Edit, could anyone with slx make a video with their cheap solution? I find it easier to watch then just read a few words