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Bled my disc brakes wrong for 6 months before I figured it out
I was having this weird spongy feel on my rear brake for forever. Kept bleeding it the normal way, pushing fluid from the lever down to the caliper. Every time it felt fine for a day or two then went back to mush. Finally last week I pulled the whole caliper off the frame and held it with the bleed port up while I bled it. Turns out there was a trapped air pocket in the caliper body that would never work its way out the normal way. Soon as I did it upside down the air came right out and now the brake feels solid as a rock. Has anyone else had a caliper that just would not bleed the normal way no matter how many times you tried?
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the_hayden24d ago
Did you read that mechanic just tapping calipers loosens bubbles like shaking a ketchup bottle?
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lucasw8228d ago
Man I had a buddy who went through almost the exact same thing on his mountain bike. He was chasing a spongy front brake for like three months straight. Bleeding it every weekend, buying new fluid, even replaced the lever once. Finally he brought it to a shop and the mechanic just laughed. Tapped the caliper with a rubber mallet while it was hanging loose and a huge bubble came right out. My buddy felt like such an idiot but I told him it happens to everyone at some point. Now whenever I do a bleed I always tilt the caliper every which way just to be safe.
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