Bicycle Mechanics - hope bleed kit

has anyone here had any experience with the hope bleed kit?

I own one and have used it a few times. It is an interesting system but a bit covoluted. The first time you use it it takes a long time to set up but the second time it goes pretty quick. The interesting thing is that when you use the Hope bleed kit the brakes seem to feel a bit firmer. A coworker had Hope brakes and recently bled them by squeezing the lever and opening the bleed nipple etc. When I got the tool I wanted to test it out so we re-bled his brakes and he claims that they felt firmer. I am a service manager at a shop so I like to use the "official" or "approved" tools whenever they work as good or better than alternative methods because I think customers expect/appreciate that so it seemed like a worth while investment for me.

The "gravity" method of bleeding from the lever works fine. All you need is an 8mm spanner for the bleed nipple and a short piece of hose to stick on the end of it. I tend to use drinking straws from fast food restaurants, they are free, just the right diameter and clear enough to see air bubbles leaving the calliper.

One thing to watch with hopes, especially the older models is that air bubbles can get trapped in the calliper. If you can't get a good bleed try rotating the calliper while tapping it with a spanner to free the trapped air bubbles.

thanks im going to try moving the the caliper. but why do you need to hook up the bleed kit to youre tire to get pressure?

thanks im going to try moving the the caliper. but why do you need to hook up the bleed kit to youre tire to get pressure?


The Hope system just uses air pressure from an outside source, like a tire, to force the fluid through. Some systems use syringes, some use squeeze bottles, but with thesse you have to use one hand to apply pressure. With the Hope system you have both hands free since the air pressure from the tire is pushing the fluid through. I have seen a system at the Moto shop that you hook up to the air compressor and it creates a vacuum. These are all just different approaches to acheive the same thing.