A customer called me out on my brake bleed technique and I'm glad they did

Guy came in last Tuesday with a sticky SRAM lever, said he watched me do the bleed and asked why I wasn't pulling any vacuum before opening the bleed port. I just laughed it off at first but then he showed me a video of his own bleed at home with a cheap syringe kit. I've been doing bleeds the same way for 4 years, just pushing fluid through from the bottom. Tried his method on the next bike and got way more bubbles out, lever felt way firmer. Has anyone else had a customer teach them something that actually worked better?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonp401d ago

Funny how the best tricks come from people not stuck in the routine yet.

the_nina1mo ago

Man I feel that. It's always the customers who do their own work at home that have the weirdest tips that actually work. Like sometimes they've been screwing around in their garage with no pressure and they stumble onto something that makes sense. I had a guy show me how to back bleed calipers for road bikes with just a zip tie and a paperclip once and I swear it works better than my Park Tool bleed kit. It's humbling but I think we all get stuck in our routines and don't question them until someone with fresh eyes says hey why are you doing it that way. The vacuum before opening the port thing makes total sense too because you're not letting air sneak back in when you crack the cap. I bet half the squishy levers out there are from mechanics skipping that step.

sam_rivera1mo ago

Read an article online once about some old school bike mechanics who swear by vacuum bleeding before opening the bleed port. They said it pulls any bubbles away from the port so when you crack it open, nothing gets sucked back in. Your comment reminded me of that trick. It's the little things like that which save you a headache later.