✅SOLUTION: While the bladder got broken during my somewhat careless bleed. The culprit in the end was one or more of the pistons which did not move freely enough. Pushed the pistons out, rubbed a cotton swab dipped in brake fluid around the pistons to clean them and "lube" the seals. Pushed them in/out a few times. Dried them off slightly with a clean cotton swab. And after that it pretty much fixed my issue.✅
Hey yall, maybe someone can help me wrap my head around what has gone wrong with my brakes.
I've had a few pairs of SRAM brakes in the past years, and whilst I understand what people dont like about them, the've all worked fine for me.
Anyways - I've got a new bike with the level ultimate stealths on. Bled the brakes since I cut the hoses when it was new a few weeks ago, rear brake took 2-3 tries, and had to resort to closing the hose up at the lever, pulling the lever and adding slight pressure from the caliper whilst slowly releasing the lever - Then it felt good, and had the exact same "bite point/lever throw" as the front brake.
Worked fine up until last week - Rode down a steep hill, and a kid ran out out of nowhere, had to slam on the brakes to not hit him, and pulled them pretty much to the bar. After this, the rear brake started feeling different. Bite point was 3-4 millimeter further in (0.15 inches) and it does not feel as firm as the front brake. Didnt think of it much at first, but have become annoyed with it since.
Since there is no adjustment on the new level stealth brakes, I resorted to re-bleeding it.
I think I spent about 3 hours today, and probably tried bleeding it every possible way I thought of. Probably bled, and tested it 15 times. There is NO air in the system. Tried every trick I know. Tried a few different bleed blocks, some "right size" - And some a bit thinner to get more fluid in the system. But no change. It still has it's bite point a bit further in, and it doesnt feel as firm as the front brake. Maybe 15% less firm.
I ended up trying the way I did the first time, from the caliper, but no syringe in the lever, closed, and pressurising quite heavily from the caliper side - And FINALLY, I got the brake to feel good. But then, I noticed the vent-port leaking a bit of fluid. So most likely I pressurised it too much, and the membrane/bladder bursted - Bummer.
What I cant wrap my head around is, why cant I get it to feel the same on both sides? Could I already have damaged the membrane/bladder when I slammed on the brakes last week, when I pulled the levers literally to the bar? Or is there something else that could have been damaged. Feels slightly spongy, hose flexing all of a sudden?
I've ordered a new bladder - But worried that wont solve the problem still. Could something in the lever body/caliper gone bad from the above incident?
If the bladder doesnt solve it. I'm not sure if i'll try a whole new set caliper/lever from sram, or what the next step is. Easy solution might be to just not run sram brakes, which is something I might consider
I know SRAM's are "notorious" for being quite bad when it comes to bleeding, or im just a bad mechanic. But i've done this many times before, and never had these issues. Anyone had similar issues, and found a solution? Or does anyone know what my issue could be before I bursted the bladder?
Sorry for wall of text
Pic of the bike if you just like looking at pictures
![Image]()
Hey yall, maybe someone can help me wrap my head around what has gone wrong with my brakes.
I've had a few pairs of SRAM brakes in the past years, and whilst I understand what people dont like about them, the've all worked fine for me.
Anyways - I've got a new bike with the level ultimate stealths on. Bled the brakes since I cut the hoses when it was new a few weeks ago, rear brake took 2-3 tries, and had to resort to closing the hose up at the lever, pulling the lever and adding slight pressure from the caliper whilst slowly releasing the lever - Then it felt good, and had the exact same "bite point/lever throw" as the front brake.
Worked fine up until last week - Rode down a steep hill, and a kid ran out out of nowhere, had to slam on the brakes to not hit him, and pulled them pretty much to the bar. After this, the rear brake started feeling different. Bite point was 3-4 millimeter further in (0.15 inches) and it does not feel as firm as the front brake. Didnt think of it much at first, but have become annoyed with it since.
Since there is no adjustment on the new level stealth brakes, I resorted to re-bleeding it.
I think I spent about 3 hours today, and probably tried bleeding it every possible way I thought of. Probably bled, and tested it 15 times. There is NO air in the system. Tried every trick I know. Tried a few different bleed blocks, some "right size" - And some a bit thinner to get more fluid in the system. But no change. It still has it's bite point a bit further in, and it doesnt feel as firm as the front brake. Maybe 15% less firm.
I ended up trying the way I did the first time, from the caliper, but no syringe in the lever, closed, and pressurising quite heavily from the caliper side - And FINALLY, I got the brake to feel good. But then, I noticed the vent-port leaking a bit of fluid. So most likely I pressurised it too much, and the membrane/bladder bursted - Bummer.
What I cant wrap my head around is, why cant I get it to feel the same on both sides? Could I already have damaged the membrane/bladder when I slammed on the brakes last week, when I pulled the levers literally to the bar? Or is there something else that could have been damaged. Feels slightly spongy, hose flexing all of a sudden?
I've ordered a new bladder - But worried that wont solve the problem still. Could something in the lever body/caliper gone bad from the above incident?
If the bladder doesnt solve it. I'm not sure if i'll try a whole new set caliper/lever from sram, or what the next step is. Easy solution might be to just not run sram brakes, which is something I might consider
I know SRAM's are "notorious" for being quite bad when it comes to bleeding, or im just a bad mechanic. But i've done this many times before, and never had these issues. Anyone had similar issues, and found a solution? Or does anyone know what my issue could be before I bursted the bladder?
Sorry for wall of text
Pic of the bike if you just like looking at pictures
