How Much To Bleed Bike Brakes

Getting an excellent bike for the money is the story’s first half. The second half would involve you taking care of the bicycle. And without carrying out maintenance on the bike, you can not simply expect to offer outstanding overall performance for a prolonged time.

Now, when it comes to maintaining the bicycles, one of the things that you would need to do is bleed the brakes. But how much to bleed bike brakes to make them function properly? Also, how often do you need to bleed the brakes? Well, you can get to know all about the questions by going through our in-depth discussion.

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Types of Brakes That Need Bleeding

You might already know that there are different types of bike brakes out there. But among them, the ones that will need bleeding are the disc brakes. And there are mainly two types of disc brakes. But only one of them requires bleeding. Here is a brief description of each:

Mechanical Disc Brakes

The most popular type of disc brake for bikes is the mechanical-disc brake. You will find them on pretty much most of the mountain bikes around. The way these works is through cables. Yes, the operational mechanism is pretty much like the rim brakes. As these rely on cables, they will not require any bleeding.

Hydraulic Disc Brakes

One of the recent addition to the mountain disc brakes is the hydraulic brakes. And instead of relying on housings and cables, these will utilize hydraulic hoses, brake fluid, and reservoirs for the brake fluid. As you might have guessed, these are the ones that will require bleeding.

How Much Will It Cost to Bleed the Brake Fluids?

When it comes to the cost of bleeding fluids, it will depend on whether you are relying on a professional. If you do it yourself, you will be looking to spend as little as $16. And the highest you would need to pay would be $25. On the other hand, if you go to a mechanic, you might need to spend anywhere from $25 to $50.

On that note, if you are rocking a particular bike model, you might need to spend as high as $100 or even more. Yes, the high-end brakes do require a good amount of work. And the mechanic will not charge you less for all of the effort that they will put into the process.

How Often Should You Bleed the Bicycle Brakes?

The general rule of thumb is that you will need to bleed the brakes periodically if you ride your bike a lot. For example, if you are an experienced or professional rider, you might need to bleed the brakes once every six months.

On the other hand, bleeding once every twelve months should be more than fine for the medium-level riders. Finally, for the entry-level riders, the recommended bleeding period for the brakes would be once every two years.

How to Bleed the Brakes by Yourself?

As we have mentioned earlier, it is much cheaper to bleed the brakes by yourself. And the process is pretty easy as well. Here are the steps:

Get yourself a bicycle bleed kit and Allen wrench
With the Allen wrench, adjust the brake and make it level properly
After adjusting, you will need to open the bleed kit and get the bleed pump
Stick the end of the bleed pump in the opening of the brake and tighten it properly
Remove the cap that you will find on the caliper
Fill the kit’s syringe with oil, which should usually come with the kit
Attach the syringe into the opening where the dust cap was
Using the Allen wrench, loosen the valve
Start to inject the brake oil into the valve

Final Words

So, how much to bleed bike brakes? Well, if you bleed the bicycle brakes on your own, you can do it by spending as little as $16. And relying on a professional mechanic means you have to pay at least $25. And sometimes, it might even cost you around $100 for the high-end bikes.