Seems the Hayes brand is frowned upon in my neck of the woods. Nobody wants to service them which was a big surprise to me. They just say they are too complex and laborous to work with and they even went as far as saying i should just replace them with Shimano or Sram or something else at least. But that is not a philosophy i follow...so i will have to do the dirty work myself it seems.

So, what to buy? I`m totally green here so need some pointers. Thanks !

More than likely you will need a D.O.T. compatible bleed kit, Park Tool makes a really high quality one that I would recommend but it is possible Hayes makes one. However your local shop is beyond correct any of those old brakes are not worth your time and effort a cheap set of Shimano MT-200s are so much better and easier to get parts for and most shops will be fine working on them. Old outdated brakes that were not that exceptional back in the day don't get any better and seals can wear out and dry up and you could spend a lot of time bleeding and re-bleeding for it just to leak and have issues. I know keeping some parts going is great but old hydraulic brakes from the almost 30 years ago just aren't really worth the time, effort and expense. Yes it was a great brake back then when brakes weren't so good but now a cheap Shimano brake is pretty darn good and way better than some of the old brakes that could cost $100-400 back in the day and these are $40-60.

Hayes made both DOT fluid and mineral oil type brakes so you better know which version you have before you proceed.
My experience is that they are the most miserable things to bleed.

Challenge Accepted !

the bleed procedure is identical to most bleed procedures, and exactly like the bleed i just did on a SRAM G2 brake set, except the SRAM has a "new Bleeding Edge bleed port" on the caliper to deal with.


i think the real issue is the tendency of old Hayes brakes to suck air and need re-bled too often... that was an older series, and i'd hope they've remedied he problem by now.

certain Shimano and SRAM have had similar issues....

as to the kit... most of the Universal kits with multiple fittings list Hayes.. i use one of those kits frequently.
the nicer glass syringes are nice, but the standard plastic ones will be fine for an occasional bleed job... just make sure to towel/rinse out the DOT 5.1 after use.
the plastic syringes are made from the same stuff my Mity-Vac Automotive vac. bleeder uses for the catch can... as long as your neighbor doesn't Step On the plastic container, , they last a long time... i made him give me the one from his mity vac kit