Submitted by
GrampBredo
a Weekend Warrior
from CT, USA
Date Reviewed: December 15, 2009
Strengths: Comes with the metal adapter for the bleed port on the master cylinder.
Weaknesses: Everything Else.
Bottom Line:
This is rubbish. Buy if only for the special adapter bit, then junk the rest. The brake fluid included is not enough, the squeeze bottle doesn't work, their instructions are rubbish. Thanks for nothing Hayes.
Submitted by
5thgear
a Weekend Warrior
from East Wenatchee, WA, USA
Date Reviewed: August 12, 2009
Strengths: Durable hoses and fittings, decent instructions
Weaknesses: requires a certain amount of mechanical skill and knowledge of brake systems
Bottom Line:
I didn't have any trouble with using this kit, although there seem to be lots of people who did. Maybe they didn't follow the instructions? The concept is simple enough: bleed the air and old nasty fluid from the system and your brakes will work just fine!
I can live without a Hayes catch bottle, after all, a suitable bottle is easy to find. However, how can you call this a bleed kit when it doesn't come with a non-return valve for the catch bottle?
When you watch the Hayes bleeding video that they have thoughtfully put on youtube, they use a catch bottle with a non-return valve.
i gave up. this kit couldn't bleed my stroker brakes. i would have more success bleeding my brakes with my genitals. Maybe I'll try it again with a non-return valve... if I can find one...
Submitted by
Beebo
a Cross Country Rider
from Little Rock, AR
Date Reviewed: June 12, 2009
Strengths: Everything included except catch bottle.
Weaknesses: Instructions are terrible. Lots of people have success with this kit, but the instructions aren't descriptive enough for someone thats never done the operation before.
Bottom Line:
Unlike most other reviews, I thought the equipment was adequate if the bottle is large enough. Plastic catch bottles are easy to come by, as are metal coat hangers for hanging the catch cup. Enough fluid was provided for me to attempt bleeding 3 times. The bottle works fine. I just fit the tube to the bottle as tight as possible and wrapped electrical tape around it as tightly as possible. Squeezed the bottle quite hard with no leakage. Only had the hose slip off of the caliper once, but I pulled it loose while pulling the brake lever (did this alone).
All of this being said, bleeding per the instructions was a complete failure. Everything looked like it was working. Pumped bottle, no bubbles, so no air in caliper, squeezed until no air bubbles came out the top (there were almost none there either), and then pumped brake lever while still squeezing the bottle (this is where I pulled the tube off of the caliper, once then repeated the process). The brakes never hardened up. Not at all. Did the process 3 times and got nothing.
So there I sit with my nearly $30 bleed kit (LBS got me for $10, I guess), have the instructions memorized, and have no clue why the brakes didn't harden up. So there's no troubleshooting information, notes on possible problems, pointers for success... just steps one through whatever and your on your own. That bike is at the LBS now, because I assumed there was something wrong with it. After reading the reviews here and other places, it seems that Hayes and the LBS in combination ripped me off. I had to pay the LBS $60 anyway to service the brakes.
So should I be pumping the lever for 5 minutes, 30 seconds, 3 hours. Most say the entire procedure including should take 10-15 minutes. GREAT!!! What if you pump for 15 minutes and nothing happens. They offer no explanation. This hasn't just happened to me, either. It's hit or miss. There's something going on that they haven't accounted for in the instructions. You may get lucky and account for it on your own like the people that have success. You may not be so lucky like myself and others and end up confused and wondering if your brakes are damaged. Definitely don't buy this to learn how to properly bleed mountain bike brakes. If you just need the parts, it's overpriced. Find a master cylinder fitting. The rest is just hardware store parts and brake fluid. Common items. $20 to $30 is steep, because the instructions are worthless and you get $5 worth of "stuff".
Submitted by
romr
a Cross Country Rider
from El Cajon, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: November 27, 2008
Strengths: It really works believe it or not. I would buy this again.
Weaknesses: Did not include some of the parts needed.
Bottom Line:
Ok, the kit works. Use your freaking head come on! Yes it's a pain but heck isn't everything? I'm someone who has never done it and was able to do it so there really is no excuse. Use a regular water bottle cut a hole in the middle of the cap and stick some hose in and you have a bottle to receive the fluid from the bleeder screw. Use some zip ties and you can attach the bottle to the handlebar. Also, to get a nice fit from the hose to the squeeze bottle I turned on the stove brought the hose just close enough to the flame to get it nice and soft, then while still hot shoved it in as far as I could into the tip of the bottle and it made a great fit. Don't forget to cut a hole on the tip of the squeeze bottle because it comes sealed. The compresion bushing would be nice if they included it but I din't have a need for it, just make sure you shove the hose into the bolt as far as you can. The other part I didn't have that needed was the attachment to the bleeder screw so I just untightened the screw but left it in. Wrapped a bunch of papertowels and watched for the fluid to start coming out. Do not forget that while squeezing the lever the pistons will compress, either place something in there so that your pistons don't pop off or keep an eye and keep pushing them back. My mistake was that I did not check this and completed the whole procedure to find that my pistons were too tight to even put both brake pads in. The solution I came up with was to untighten the bleeder screw again, place more paper towels and pushed the pistons back in. Tighten the bleeder screw again and you are done! It's tough I know but you can do it. I did it and didn't even have a bike stand to hold the bike, you'll need a helper. Also be very careful not to contaminate the brake pads. After everything is done and before you put in your brake pads clean the caliper with rubing alcohol! Hope you guys figure it out.
Submitted by
jcoffman98
a Cross Country Rider
from Davis, CA
Date Reviewed: October 15, 2008
Strengths: Doesn't instantly kill you. Great if you like spray highly caustic dot 4 all over the place.
Weaknesses: well its just bad. see below.
Bottom Line:
Well this kit is a joke, I would rather Hayes just sell a good kit separate from the brakes rather than package this junk. The squeeze bottle is crap the hose pops off unless you have a extra compression adapter from hayes hfx 9 like the video says (wtf yeah i got that handy). None of the standard size compression fittings fit without modification, the kit is not really usable as packaged. Expect to squirt brake fluid all over. Just make your own with syringes or buy an alligator of something this kit is just a waste of time.
Submitted by
jamiejoe
a Downhiller
from Truckee, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: July 30, 2008
Strengths: Works
Weaknesses: difficult to use alone. is easiest when 4 hands are used
Bottom Line:
You will need two people to properly bleed hayes brakes if this is your first time. Once you understand the process it is possible to follow the instructions and complete on your own. The kit works fine. And what other kits are there??
Weaknesses: overpriced, bad instructions, short hose, miserly portion of brake fluid, no container to catch fluid
Bottom Line:
I've bled brakes on cars, trucks, and motorcycles, and I couldn't get this kit to work for the life of me. If you follow their directions exactly you'll keep sucking air in through the master cylinder (it says NOT to submerge the line), and the pistons will pop out and dump fluid everywhere when you pump the lever.
Submitted by
Al Robinson
a Cross Country Rider
from UK
Date Reviewed: January 5, 2008
Strengths: Adaptability
Weaknesses: Following the instructions
Bottom Line:
If you use this product as it is intended it is rubbish, I bought a 60ml syringe and adapted that with the fittings. Holding the syringe upright you can tap all the air out so you don't put any air in. Tape the supplied (squeezy) bottle to your headset, take the cap and cut the end off so the hose fits snug, then make an air hole in the top of the bottle, put the two togther and loop the hose over to the master cylinder. Attach the syringe to the brake hose or somewhere to hold it and the end to the caliper and just push the fluid in, you can see the air in the hose as the bottle fills up. If you follow all the stuff about the pads, lever etc it's a piece of cake, no fluid anywhere. I now have the brakes as tight as a ducks butt......
Submitted by
steve wilford
a Downhiller
from whistler
Date Reviewed: June 28, 2007
Strengths: All the bits fit together??? thants about it.
Weaknesses: Everything else!
Bottom Line:
The squeezey bottle is too small if you have adult size hands, the squeezy bottle burst last time i used it, currently looking for a replacement bottle. If you loosen the caliper bleeder by more than 1/4 turn fluid leaks everywhere and sucks in air. No catch bottle, get sod all brake fluid with the kit thats way overpriced!!!!
Bike Setup: Kona Stinky, Race face, Sram x-0, hayes, Deemax, 888RC2
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
chris o
a Cross Country Rider
from Fort Collins, CO, USA
Date Reviewed: May 27, 2007
Strengths: none
Weaknesses: crappy squeeze bottle, no bottle for catching fluid, way overpriced.
Bottom Line:
This was the first time I have bled brakes on something other than a motorcycle or a car. It turned out to be a nightmare. I went through the whole bottle of fluid, and got about half and half fluid and air in one line. I followed the directions exactly, but all that did was drag more air into the line. I plan on finding a syringe to finish the job. Don't waste your money this product.
Submitted by
Nathan
a Cross Country Rider
from louisville, KY
Date Reviewed: November 10, 2005
Strengths: It works.
Weaknesses: Next to impossible to get the tubing over the bottle end. Should come with a waste fluid container
Bottom Line:
This could be easier to use, but it still works. The reason they have a squeeze bottle is so that it pulls the air out of the caliper after you squeeze and release. To keep the hose on it, you have to get the hose at least to the line on the cap. It's a pain in the butt, but it stays. Use a zip tie on the hose to keep it on the bleed screw on the caliper. It's really rather easy to do if you follow the instructions. I would rather have a syringe, but the bottle works just fine. Before you bleed be sure to take out the pads and walk the pistons back all the way into the caliper, otherwise air will stay right behind the slave cylinders and you will still have spongy brakes. The biggest problem I had was with the step in the instructions when you cycle the master cylinder (lever). For some reason, when I did my front brake it stroked the caliper and the piston fell out of the caliper. That got brake fluid everywhere. It was not the bleed kit's fault though. The G2 caliper is super easy to rebuild that it wasn't really a problem though. Just keep an eye on the pistons when you are stroking the lever. Other than my own mistake, I had no real problems with this bleed. Other than my piston coming out, I spilled no brake fluid. Just be sure follow the instructions and you'll have nice firm brakes in about 10 minutes.
Submitted by
Kyle
a Cross Country Rider
from Castro Valley, CA
Date Reviewed: July 27, 2005
Strengths: None
Weaknesses: Squeeze bottle completely sucks...
Bottom Line:
Don't even waste your time with this kit. It's absolutely rediculous. I ended up with more brake fluid on my garage floor than in my braking system. It's impossible to use the squeeze bottle and be able to pump the fluid out the top. Get a syringe to replace the bottle and they might have something that actually works.
Submitted by
Dave Dave
a Cross Country Rider
from Baltimore, MD
Date Reviewed: April 20, 2005
Strengths: Includes the fluid
Weaknesses: can't actually get the fluid in to the brake system
Bottom Line:
The squeeze bottle system and the whole procedure just seem stupid. Its nearly impossible to fill the system with one sqeeze of the bottle, and releasing the bottle sucks your fluid back out of the system. Squeeze hard on the bottle and fluid will leak through the bottle cap threads. Keep in mind that you have to push fluid uphill in the service procedure. No container is included to capture the waste fluid at the lever. I'm new at servicing disc brakes, however I really don't see how you could use this kit without spilling fluid and most probably introducing air into the system.
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