Other More Practical Ways To Bleed Air From Shimano Brakes

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Revelator1969

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Hey guys i recently tried bleeding my Shimano brakes (Shimano BR-MT200/BL-MT200) using the very popular The Syndicate gravity bleeding method. I bought a genuine Shimano bleed cup and genuine oil. My bike is heavy and flat on the ground so i cant raise my bike in any way. I made a mess of this, i run out of fluid in the cup, i now have air in my levers, system and caliper. I now need to remove the air from my rear brake system.

The Shimano way is all very well if you don't have a heavy emtb. All i have is a floor stand to hold my bike up. I dont have anyone to help me either. Im 6ft, 56 and unfit, not flexible at all. Because of this it means i cannot use the Shimano method to remove air. What way can you suggest to remove the air from my brake system.?

Its so bad that even the Shimano manual for my brakes does not even mention what bleed block i need. I have searched high and low and it is impossible to find this out without asking on a forum.

Shimano BR-MT200/BL-MT200 is my braking components, B05S is my brake pads. What brake block do i need? Also it looks like i need to buy a syringe too, its costing me a fortune .

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Try this. Rotate the lever on bars so the reservoir is horizontal. Remeve cap and screw in the fluid bleed cup. Pour in some fluid and remove the pin from the cup. Then use a stro g rubber band or a cable tie to pull the lever to the bars. Then go to bed. In the morning remove in reverse order and see if that has helped.
 
MOG said:
Try this. Rotate the lever on bars so the reservoir is horizontal. Remeve cap and screw in the fluid bleed cup. Pour in some fluid and remove the pin from the cup. Then use a stro g rubber band or a cable tie to pull the lever to the bars. Then go to bed. In the morning remove in reverse order and see if that has helped.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for your reply. What is your thoughts here? Are you thinking the air may rise into the bleed cup overnight? :)
 
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Revelator1969 said:
Hey guys i recently tried bleeding my Shimano brakes (Shimano BR-MT200/BL-MT200) using the very popular The Syndicate gravity bleeding method. I bought a genuine Shimano bleed cup and genuine oil. My bike is heavy and flat on the ground so i cant raise my bike in any way. I made a mess of this, i run out of fluid in the cup, i now have air in my levers, system and caliper. I now need to remove the air from my rear brake system.

The Shimano way is all very well if you don't have a heavy emtb. All i have is a floor stand to hold my bike up. I dont have anyone to help me either. Im 6ft, 56 and unfit, not flexible at all. Because of this it means i cannot use the Shimano method to remove air. What way can you suggest to remove the air from my brake system.?

Its so bad that even the Shimano manual for my brakes does not even mention what bleed block i need. I have searched high and low and it is impossible to find this out without asking on a forum.

Shimano BR-MT200/BL-MT200 is my braking components, B05S is my brake pads. What brake block do i need? Also it looks like i need to buy a syringe too, its costing me a fortune .

View attachment 188629
Click to expand...
Based on the scenario you described, it is likely that the air is mostly in the upper parts of the system. If you want to quickly purge it, it should be possible to affix a fluid filled syringe to a tube on the bleed fitting at the caliper, and bleed it in reverse, pushing fluid up to the bleed cup at the lever, rather than the normal gravity bleed method of moving fluid down from the bleed cup on the lever. You can keep pushing fluid from the syringe at the caliper until you no longer see bubbles exiting in the bleed cup. If you have a big mix of air/fluid, and bubbles are still coming out, but the cup has filled up with fluid, you may need to pause, and use a 2nd syringe to suck the excess fluid out of the bleed cup before continuing. You could disconnect the cup and dump it, but a 2nd syringe is probably easier.

Remember to degas the fluid in the caliper end syringe by pulling a slight vacuum after you have affixed it to the bleed nipple, but before opening the bleed nipple, or with the syringe hose tightly pinched off, in order to allow the bubbles of gas in the fluid to enlarge and rise to the top of the syringe by the plunger. Then, be sure to keep the syringe upright while working with it, to keep from accidentally pushing air rather than fluid out of it. You can affix it to the fork leg or frame with a rubber band if you need to pause and work on the lever end. If you want to be extra thorough, you can also do that degassing before even hooking it to the caliper, and once the air is concentrated up by the plunger, invert the syringe, and push the air (which will now rise to the hose end of the syringe) out, before hooking it up.

Once you filled it bottom to top, until no more air bubbles are coming out at the bleed cup, you can close the bleed fitting at the caliper and check to see how firm the lever action is when squeezing against the bleed block. If you don't have a bleed block, you can try to craft one from a piece of hard wood, or use some old pads and some sort of pad spacer or old rotor to accomplish the same thing.

I am suggesting that as filling from bottom to top works with the natural inclination of air to rise, and doesn't require the air to bypass fluid in the narrow hose as the fluid tries to make its way down from the bleed cup. It also prevents the risk of inattention leading to the issue you suffered on the first go-round, as the sealed syringe at the bottom end won't allow fluid to move without your deliberate push. Depending on your results, you then may still need to use a more traditional method to purge any last little bits of air lodged in the caliper or lever.

I realize you mentioned needing to buy a syringe, and that this was costing you a fortune, but you don't need to buy genuine pro level Shimano kits. I'm not sure of your location, but you can get 3rd party bleed kits suitable for Shimano brakes that come with bleed blocks, syringes, and fluid, for between $15-25USD on either Amazon or Aliexpress. You can also try to use syringes from a drugstore, but the key with the syringes is getting robust ones where the rubber seal stays affixed to the plunger, as some are only made to push fluid, not pull it. Also, having the proper hose fitting to attach to the caliper with no fluid leaking out or air leaking in is critical. Having solid, leak free connections will make things so much easier and allow you to breath easy and not panic and make mistakes due to suddenly realizing you have fluid leaking everywhere.

You mentioned a lack of flexibility, and so I'd suggest using a chair, preferably a wheeled office style one, but any chair is better than nothing, to allow you to comfortably sit down and aid you working at the caliper ends without having to bend over so severely.
 
Revelator1969 said:
Many thanks for your reply. What is your thoughts here? Are you thinking the air may rise into the bleed cup overnight? :)
Click to expand...
most if not all of the air bubbles will rise if the lever is kept closed and you have the bleed cup screwed in with oil in it
a lever bleed can be done quicker by tapping the hose lines tilting the bike a bit in different directions and constantly pulling the lever on and off
you're trying to get any bubbles trapped in corners etc. out of the hose and lever
once the bubbles have stopped and the brakes are gripping the rotor remove the bleed cup and carefully refit the lid and O ring
this method is commonly known as burping
it isn't as good as a full bleed but hopefully will be good enough
 
TheKaiser said:
Based on the scenario you described, it is likely that the air is mostly in the upper parts of the system. If you want to quickly purge it, it should be possible to affix a fluid filled syringe to a tube on the bleed fitting at the caliper, and bleed it in reverse, pushing fluid up to the bleed cup at the lever, rather than the normal gravity bleed method of moving fluid down from the bleed cup on the lever. You can keep pushing fluid from the syringe at the caliper until you no longer see bubbles exiting in the bleed cup. If you have a big mix of air/fluid, and bubbles are still coming out, but the cup has filled up with fluid, you may need to pause, and use a 2nd syringe to suck the excess fluid out of the bleed cup before continuing. You could disconnect the cup and dump it, but a 2nd syringe is probably easier.

Remember to degas the fluid in the caliper end syringe by pulling a slight vacuum after you have affixed it to the bleed nipple, but before opening the bleed nipple, or with the syringe hose tightly pinched off, in order to allow the bubbles of gas in the fluid to enlarge and rise to the top of the syringe by the plunger. Then, be sure to keep the syringe upright while working with it, to keep from accidentally pushing air rather than fluid out of it. You can affix it to the fork leg or frame with a rubber band if you need to pause and work on the lever end. If you want to be extra thorough, you can also do that degassing before even hooking it to the caliper, and once the air is concentrated up by the plunger, invert the syringe, and push the air (which will now rise to the hose end of the syringe) out, before hooking it up.

Once you filled it bottom to top, until no more air bubbles are coming out at the bleed cup, you can close the bleed fitting at the caliper and check to see how firm the lever action is when squeezing against the bleed block. If you don't have a bleed block, you can try to craft one from a piece of hard wood, or use some old pads and some sort of pad spacer or old rotor to accomplish the same thing.

I am suggesting that as filling from bottom to top works with the natural inclination of air to rise, and doesn't require the air to bypass fluid in the narrow hose as the fluid tries to make its way down from the bleed cup. It also prevents the risk of inattention leading to the issue you suffered on the first go-round, as the sealed syringe at the bottom end won't allow fluid to move without your deliberate push. Depending on your results, you then may still need to use a more traditional method to purge any last little bits of air lodged in the caliper or lever.

I realize you mentioned needing to buy a syringe, and that this was costing you a fortune, but you don't need to buy genuine pro level Shimano kits. I'm not sure of your location, but you can get 3rd party bleed kits suitable for Shimano brakes that come with bleed blocks, syringes, and fluid, for between $15-25USD on either Amazon or Aliexpress. You can also try to use syringes from a drugstore, but the key with the syringes is getting robust ones where the rubber seal stays affixed to the plunger, as some are only made to push fluid, not pull it. Also, having the proper hose fitting to attach to the caliper with no fluid leaking out or air leaking in is critical. Having solid, leak free connections will make things so much easier and allow you to breath easy and not panic and make mistakes due to suddenly realizing you have fluid leaking everywhere.

You mentioned a lack of flexibility, and so I'd suggest using a chair, preferably a wheeled office style one, but any chair is better than nothing, to allow you to comfortably sit down and aid you working at the caliper ends without having to bend over so severely.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for your reply. I need to get a old of an aftermarket syringe and the bleed block. I don't know which bleed block i need so the ones on Amazon have a few different ones. I will do this once i have the syringe and bleed block. Many thanks for going into a lot of detail and i can use my office chair to aid the process. Many thanks it is much appreciated.
 
Bear-uk said:
I would just try a lever bleed first as it's easy.
Level lever fit cup and put a small amount of fluid in.
Then spend a few minutes pulling lever and letting go.
Quick flicks will do and watch the bubbles rise in the cup until all clear 🤞
Click to expand...

Many thanks for your reply i will give the lever bleed a try ;)
 
skizzian said:
most if not all of the air bubbles will rise if the lever is kept closed and you have the bleed cup screwed in with oil in it
a lever bleed can be done quicker by tapping the hose lines tilting the bike a bit in different directions and constantly pulling the lever on and off
you're trying to get any bubbles trapped in corners etc. out of the hose and lever
once the bubbles have stopped and the brakes are gripping the rotor remove the bleed cup and carefully refit the lid and O ring
this method is commonly known as burping
it isn't as good as a full bleed but hopefully will be good enough
Click to expand...

Many thanks for your reply. I will give this a try and see how i get on. I can then do a proper bleed once i get the syringe and bleed block off of Amazon.
 
Revelator1969 said:
Many thanks for your reply. I need to get a old of an aftermarket syringe and the bleed block. I don't know which bleed block i need so the ones on Amazon have a few different ones. I will do this once i have the syringe and bleed block. Many thanks for going into a lot of detail and i can use my office chair to aid the process. Many thanks it is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
That's great you have an office chair at your disposal! Don't be afraid to drop the height adjustment all the way down to ease working on the calipers, and then raise it to work on the lever end. Being able to roll back and forth from one end of the bike to the other without standing up is super helpful too. Depending on what stuff comes in the bleed kit you order, it can also be good to have some elastic bands, zip ties, and duct tape in case there is something you need to hold in place at one end of the bike, while working on the other end. Basically, they can serve the same purpose as a helper would, by providing a sort of 3rd hand. With that setup, you can really take your time and observe each step closely, making sure you have it complete, before moving on to the next step, with no rush or panic due to time pressure.

Let us know how it goes once you get your supplies! (y)
 
Dax said:
In that case, buy the epic bleed solutions bleed kit and follow their instructions. No need to lift the bike.

epicbleedsolutions.com

Shimano Brake Bleed Instructions

Download bleed instructions for our Shimano Bleed Kit. Bleed brakes for less with Epic Bleed Solutions.
epicbleedsolutions.com epicbleedsolutions.com
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. Their instructions are just the same as the Shimano instructions. Because im an old stiff man it is going to be tricky holding the rear brake lever and simultaneously opening and closing the rear bleed nipple which is next to my back wheel and close to the ground. Thats why i asked for an alternative method.
 
Get out ya missis vibrator and slap in on the caliper while you have the lever cracked open with the little pot screwed in............

www.instagram.com

HYPEWHIP on Instagram: "Did you know this? 😮 Vibrating your brake lines with a percussive massager is the ultimate DIY hack for achieving a rock-solid lever feel. The high-frequency pulses break the surface tension holding micro-bubbles against the

48K likes, 137 comments - hypewhip on April 29, 2026: "Did you know this? 😮 Vibrating your brake lines with a percussive massager is the ultimate DIY hack for achieving a rock-solid lever feel. The high-frequency pulses break the surface tension holding micro-bubbles against the inner walls of...
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
 
TheKaiser said:
That's great you have an office chair at your disposal! Don't be afraid to drop the height adjustment all the way down to ease working on the calipers, and then raise it to work on the lever end. Being able to roll back and forth from one end of the bike to the other without standing up is super helpful too. Depending on what stuff comes in the bleed kit you order, it can also be good to have some elastic bands, zip ties, and duct tape in case there is something you need to hold in place at one end of the bike, while working on the other end. Basically, they can serve the same purpose as a helper would, by providing a sort of 3rd hand. With that setup, you can really take your time and observe each step closely, making sure you have it complete, before moving on to the next step, with no rush or panic due to time pressure.

Let us know how it goes once you get your supplies! (y)
Click to expand...

Many thanks for your reply. I can only try but im not sure if this part is possible even with a chair - Because im an old stiff man it is going to be tricky holding the rear brake lever and simultaneously opening and closing the rear bleed nipple which is next to my back wheel and close to the ground.

There is no way to lower the handlebars or improve the reach to the rear caliper.
 
Revelator1969 said:
lol nice one, i dont have a missus, if i did then the task would be possible.
Click to expand...
That's going to be a sheepish conversation at the vibrator shop.

"Hey, im looking for a vibrator to bleed the brakes on my mountain bike"
"Yeah, thats what the all say.... Do you want this one with a prostate massager?"
"No, its for bleeding brakes"
"Ok, what about the penetrator 5000 then. It has a pulsating function" wink, wink.
"IT'R FOR BLEEDING MY BRAKES"
" That a new name for it..."
"aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh faaaaaaaaaaarrrrk"
 
Amazon has Shimano bleed kits that will do the job, and they're cheap.
I'd also be inclined to bleed from bottom to top, since that seems to be the most likely way to get the air out completely.

$16, U.S. Should have everything you need.

Brake Bleed Kit for Shimano, TEKTRO, TRP Hydraulic Disc Brakes, Brake Fluid Bleeder Kit with180ML Mineral Oil Brake Fluid for MTB/Road Bike Brake​

Brand: HYHJMISTY
 
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