Bleeding A Hope Brake

[Siders77]

To bleed a hope brake:

Tools required:

8mm ring spanner

4mm allen key for lever

2mm (I think) allen key for top cap bolts

3mm allen key

Plastic tubing

An old bottle

Some tape

DOT 5.1 fluid

Copper grease

A rag

Dust sheet /big rag

What to do:

*Put the bike in a convenient place to work on it, ie bike stand or somewhere it’s not going to get knocked.

*Remove the wheel and pads from the calliper to prevent contamination from leaks. Push pistons ‘home’ into calliper using tyre lever or a spanner

*Put dust sheet / rag under the bike where your working to catch drips

*Set up brake lever so the top of the reservoir is flat to prevent spillage.

*Put ring spanner over bleed nipple, followed by plastic tube. Feed tube into the old bottle, and tape the bottle to fork/frame to it doesn’t get knocked over

*Now, remove top cam and diaphragm from the lever.

*Undo the bleed nipple ¼ of a full turn (anticlockwise) and squeeze the lever slowly all the way to the bars.

*Close the bleed nipple.

*Let the lever return to normal position. – note how the fluid level decreases during this step.

*Repeat this open-pull-close-release procedure until all fluid is replaced. Remember to top up the reservoir periodically. If you see the reservoir empty, you will have introduced air into the system – keep going and don’t let it get that low again!

*Watch the tube on the bleed nipple for a colour change (showing you when the new fluid has flushed the system) and for bubbles. Keep going until no more bubbles are seen. It is worth tapping the lever and calliper periodically (sharply with a spanner or similar) to free trapped air.

*Once you are satisfied, close the bleed nipple and top up the fluid reservoir to the brim.

*Now get the rubber diaphragm (may be stuck under top cap) and roll it on from one side so as to minimise air trapped beneath it (if you just plonck it on top, there will be trapped air which may work its way into the system when bike is upside down). Keep the rag directly under the lever at this point, its can be messy with overflowing fluid.

*Then replace top cap, and wipe down lever.

*Remove bleed equipment from the calliper, make sure there is no fluid present that may contaminate pads or disk.

*Wash hands before reinstalling pads/disk – your fingers will be covered in fluid!

*Now dab copper grease on the back of the pads (helps reduce noise and seizing pistons) and reinstall them, followed by the wheel.

*Pump the lever to re-centre the pads.

*Ride! :'(

Thanks to nmt_oli for the guide. :'(

[nmt_oli]

no problem :'(

The procedure above refers to all hope brakes using the mini lever (mini, M4, mono mini, mono m4, mono 6ti), however the procedure for the older brakes is fundamentally the same.

If you have an old hope, it is worth investing in a hope spanner, as it fits the top caps perfectly and helps prevent rounding off liek you get when you use an adjustable.

If you have an open system ( O2, DH4, Enduro 4 ) using sport or pro levers then follow the procedure above, with the only difference that the resevoir cap unscrews rather than unbolts, and it doesnt have a diaphragm.

If you have a closed system ( C2, XC4 ) then instead of pushing the pistons home, you have to unwind the silver dial on the resevoir cap before removing it (similar to the way you unwind maggie tpa before bleeding). you shouldnt then need to push pisotns home, but is worth checking. then follow instructions above.

Also note that some old hope claipers secure pads with split pins rather than screw in pins. the old split pins ARE NOT resusable, unlike the new screw pins.