Brake lever burp - is it safe?
07-02-18, 12:35 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Brake lever burp - is it safe?
Are there any issues to consider when doing a brake lever burp with the reservoir cover removed?
I did this yesterday to cure a spongy lever by removing the reservoir cover. I could see that it wasn’t brimmed with fluid so I dripped some more in whilst repeatedly pulling the lever and some air bubbles did come out.
I’m wondering if it’s safe to do this?
The bleed screw is on the side of the lever and difficult to access but I did do several flushes of the brake fluid from the caliper up to the lever. However, it was almost impossible to remove the the last bit of air at the lever during the normal bleed process, which is why is burped the lever with the reservoir cover removed.
I did this yesterday to cure a spongy lever by removing the reservoir cover. I could see that it wasn’t brimmed with fluid so I dripped some more in whilst repeatedly pulling the lever and some air bubbles did come out.
I’m wondering if it’s safe to do this?
The bleed screw is on the side of the lever and difficult to access but I did do several flushes of the brake fluid from the caliper up to the lever. However, it was almost impossible to remove the the last bit of air at the lever during the normal bleed process, which is why is burped the lever with the reservoir cover removed.
07-02-18, 07:36 AM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Creede CO in summer & Okeechobee, FL or TX Gulf Coast in winter
Posts: 742
Bikes: Zenetto Stealth road bike & Sundeal M7 MTN bike
Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 90 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times
in
4 Posts
About 1,000 miles ago I burped my new bike to fix soft pull. Suspect bike spent a lot of time upside down during shipping. If soft pull develops during normal use I would be concerned about trying it. Look for why it happened first.
07-02-18, 09:12 AM
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
The 'burp' was very, very easy to do.
11-18-18, 08:00 AM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Minas Ithil
Posts: 9,173
Mentioned: 66 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2432 Post(s)
Liked 638 Times
in
395 Posts
To bring this back to life, In May I bought a road bike with RS505's. I spent much time bleeding the brakes until absolutely no air bubbles came out. The lever still felt kind of mushy. Bled again. No difference. I think I even did it a third time. After awhile I just figured this was as good as they got. Then yesterday, 2000 miles later I came across a video of burping the brakes. As soon as I removed the screw from the first one and pulled the lever back a big air bubble came out. Spent maybe 10 minutes total burping both sides and it's a night and day difference, the levers are super firm and perfect.
09-30-19, 07:48 PM
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
Posts: 137
Bikes: 2020 T-Lab X-3 w/GRX Di2, 2018 Trek FX-5S with GRX/Xt 1x drive train
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 44 Post(s)
Liked 41 Times
in
25 Posts
+1 for Burping. I did the same thing, bled and bled and bled and still squish city. burped, both sides, then bled both sides, then burped again and I now have lever feel.
Thanks for posting this as it would have never occurred to me.
Thanks for posting this as it would have never occurred to me.
10-01-19, 06:12 AM
#6
Sr Member on Sr bikes
This is a resurrected thread from mid-2018. But, becasue of the OP's subject/title, I can't believe it never got a Marathon Man reference. What is wrong with you people?
Dan
Dan
10-01-19, 12:08 PM
#7
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: West Midlands, England
Posts: 10
Bikes: Cinelli Nemo TIG w/ Campy S.R., Cotic BFE, Brompton, Pashley Unicycle, Sunday BMX, plenty of old and vintage bits and bobs.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Burp the brake with the caliper at the lowest position for the best results.
