How to Bleed Hydraulic Brakes - Shimano® Drop Bar Levers

This video will go over how to bleed Shimano® hydraulic disc brakes featuring drop bar levers using the Park Tool BKM-1 Brake Bleed Kit.

Questions or comments? Leave them below!

Video contents:
00:00 Preliminary Info
02:00 Bicycle Prep
02:59 Bleed Kit Prep
03:47 Bleed
07:04 Bleed Kit Prep - Spent Fluid Container
07:40 Bleed
09:18 Burp the Brake
10:10 Reset Bicycle
10:57 Clean Kit

➤ Tools & materials used:

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➤ More Repair Help:

[cwmitch]

This is the only bleeding video that explains the angle's for the lever for bleeding and burping thank you so much.👍

[tomroth]

This is an excellent tutorial, With it I have managed to bleed my grx brakes perfectly and only spilled a little mineral oil on the carpet. Your tutorials have allowed me to complete my very own bike build from scratch! Kudos

[jaypeyton]

Park Tools vids are no small part of why I keep buying their tools

[koenstrobbe]

This is a very good instructional video. One of the few that very clearly show all the steps as explained in Shimano's dealer manuals.
Once you get the hang of it, as with everything, it's pretty straightforward.

[Alvear]

Thanks Calvin, I'm a competent home mechanic but bleeding brakes had always been my achilkes heel. You're video is fantastic and the instructions are really clear and easy to follow. Set up a set of GRX brakes and they're working perfectly. 👌

[grnlng]

this is the only video you have to watch for bleeding road/gravel discbrakes 💪

[rjanderson]

Finally some good drip bar brake bleed videos. I have been looking for a good video forever. Love you guys.

[GordonHadler]

I watched several clips about this theme and then worked my way through bleeding - but this tutorial was the real helpful one to acheive a truly satisfiying result!

[yottlesbottles]

This is such a clear video, I did a first time bleed after some disappointing results from a bike shop and it went really well!

[gaboroverdrive]

Perfect tutorial. Based on this, you can bleed the brake flawlessly!

[nashthebaker]

Great guide. Was able to perform my first successful hydraulic brake bleeds.

[richardbryanesq]

It is a great video, thank you. I'm finding this job much more difficult on the rear brakes because the length of routing of the hose means there are so many places where air pockets can collect.

[DanLenaghan-sd]

I want to add a note for anyone adding oil for the first time into an entirely dry setup, as in cases where calipers and the shifter ship separately: make sure there's enough oil in the cup, and you're not going to let gravity draw out additional air in the lines as the video demonstrates, but you'll instead use the syringe to repeatedly draw air out from the bottom, somewhat like SRAM's method for their dual-syringe setup, which here would be great. (Again, assuming an entirely dry system vs a system with oil and a minuscule amount of air.) Keep drawing out the air from the bottom, and repeat, repeat, repeat until the lever feel is firm. Don't overdraw from the cup, so make sure you've got almost an entirely full syringe and start with maybe 1/3 of the top cup.

[SelbyPav]

Very helpful video with clear instructions. First time bleeding the breaks and the breaks work again! Thanks

[gabeh]

Great tutorial. My only criticism is that it's fairly formulaic and doesn't focus on some of the "why's" that people may miss. If people are to remember these instructions better, it's much easier to with the help of logic opposed to a check list. That being said, it would make the video a bit longer so I can understand why it has been written a tad shorter.

[geu]

Thanks great awesome guide I'd always just been doing gravity bleeds and I decided to bite the bullet and this really helped get a little bit firmer lever

[lechprotean]

6:02 - you can clrearly see the air bubble inside the syringe hose - surely you want to try and avoid that?

[sunny-ey]

Wow, this is the most detailed instructions I have seen

[migs]

Any tips about changing angle for integrated handlebars? Guess have to angle the whole bike.

[immortable]

Hi. At 08:20 you’re starting a step with quick opening/closing of calliper bleed nipple with pumping of brake lever. May I ask what is the reason for that?