Bleeding SRAM brakes with a turkey baster actually worked

Stripped my bleed port on a set of Level TLM brakes last weekend and improvised with a turkey baster I found in the shop kitchenette. Got the fluid moving slow but steady using a piece of old housing as a tube. Anyone else ever rigged a bleed kit on the fly because a part gave out?

2 comments

2 Comments

rowan9691mo ago

My buddy at the shop told me about a guy who used a syringe from an old ink refill kit to push fluid through his Shimanos after blowing out a plunger. The turkey baster thing is honestly way more solid though, I can see how the flex on the hose gives you that slow control. I stripped a bleed nipple on some old Juicy carbons once and ended up using a cut-up straw and electrical tape, messy as hell but it got me through a weekend race. The real trick is getting the air out without sucking it back in, which sounds like what you pulled off. Glad to hear the baster held up, cause those Level calipers are picky about pressure.

michael6691mo ago

Man, that cut-up straw and electrical tape hack is wild. I respect the resourcefulness but I gotta ask, how the hell did you keep that thing from leaking all over your frame? I've had bleed setups go sideways on me and the mess is always the worst part, especially mid-race weekend when you got no time to clean up. Also, when you stripped that nipple, did you ever try the vice grips trick on the remaining threads, or was it a total rebuild after that?