treesloth

I have a new bike with SRAM DB5 brakes. I'm doing the assembly myself. The brakes are supposedly "pre-bled", but I'm not entirely confident that it was done properly. I'm not particularly interested in paying $60+ for a Pro Bleed Kit. Does something like this work?

https://www.sram.com/avid/products/d...ex6018oppbml6j

The attached PDF notes nothing about compatibility with the DB5. In fact, SRAM seems oddly resistant to being clear about "accessory X works with components Y and Z". Maybe they're still working out the documentation for all of their product company acquisitions. Anyway, will that bleed kit work? Thank you.

jimc101

if it's a new bike, as in straight from the factory via the LBS, then the brakes are bled properly, don't mess with them till needed.

If you really want to bleed them, then get the correct tools, either from SRAM or search for an aftermarket kit with the correct tools, otherwise expect to be paying again to fix/replace the brakes after bleeding them incorrectly.

Marcus_Ti

Why do you think the brakes were not bled properly?

A proper bleed is fairly obvious...either you're able to stop safely and the brakes work like you expect them too, or you can pull the lever to the bar and not slow down much.

treesloth

My reasoning my be naive, and maybe I need to back away a little and diagnose better. In general, it seems like a good thing to have around, as many of the troubleshooting and fix descriptions I read include bleeding. On the other hand, this is my first set of disk brakes (viva la v-brake!) so I might be a little quick to believe what I read.

Both of my brakes are having problems. I will do a review of each and post them as new threads rather than let this one drift from its purpose. If there's a forum dealing with "Mechanical help for folks who are 20 years behind the times", please let me know. :-)

wschruba

The bleed port on Guides/DB/Juicy/Elixir all use the same fitting, so yes, those syringes are compatible. There is a special barb for the Guide Ultimate/Road bike brakes, but you won't need that.

Here's the thing, though...the kit with the more expensive syringes is much more pleasant to use, both from an ergonomic, and long-term standpoint. The cheapo irrigation syringes wobble/burp air, which is not something you need to deal with, if you are learning to bleed bicycle brakes.

Just for reference, here is a listing on eBay for a pro-level kit, for fairly cheap. If you use a credit card through paypal, you have two layers of protection, if for some reason you receive a mis-represented product.

treesloth

Thanks for the reply and link. It appears that I may have to get one :-(. During shipping the lever return spring popped out of wherever it's supposed to be and one end is now poking out of the front of lever body. I'll see if it's possible to reseat it without disassembling the lever, but if I do have to take it apart one of the first steps is to empty out the fluid. Uggh. However, I think I'll post another thread asking about that. I feel like I'm about to learn a lot, like it or not.