Epic Bleed Solutions is a small business providing cost effective, high quality alternatives to manufacturers own hydraulic brake bleed kits.
– Epic Bleed Solutions
If you are wanting to bleed your brakes at home you’ll need three things: the bleed kit; some brake fluid; and the know-how to bleed the brakes! Buying a manufacturer-branded bleed kit is one option, but these kits from Epic Bleed Solutions provide easy to follow instructions, plus all the bits and pieces you’ll need to do the job. They come in a tad cheaper than the official kits too.
We gave a local bike mechanic – Andrew ‘Biketec’ Buxton – a Shimano kit plus Epic’s Universal bleed kit, which caters for all brake types. Here’s what he thought:
I had a message telling me that there was a present for me at the Bike Magic office so rushed up there. What was it? An EPIC bleed kit! Not just one either – several EPIC bleed kits: for specific brakes and also a universal kit containing the fittings for all brake types. My first note was that the universal kit doesn’t come with any brake fluid, whereas the other individual kits do, so take that into consideration when viewing the prices of either. For the minimal price difference you might as well buy the kit specific to your brakes as it’s unlikely you’re going to be bleeding lots of different brands of brakes.
We bled the brakes (Shimano XTR) with the Shimano specific bleed kit (as opposed to the universal one) following their instructions. It was just like bleeding a brake… It doesn’t differ from a standard Shimano bleed kit apart from the instructions. The instructions were a little long-winded but definitely work. They are very well laid out in a simple, easy to follow step-by-step guide with some illustrations too.
The bleed kit worked. It’s very hard to get a bleed kit that’s anything particularly special to be honest because they are all syringes, tubes and attachments. The one thing I didn’t like was that when I unscrewed the 20mm syringe it left the adaptor in the lever as opposed to coming out with the bleed kit.
Negatives
– None particularly, although it’d be nice if it came with the allen-key or torx key to remove the bleed ports
Positives
– Good quality gloves included that could be re-used
– Cheaper than official branded bleed kits
– Individual kits include correct fluid
Verdict
Overall this is a no-frills bleed kit – if you want a bleed kit a few pounds cheaper than the official one then buy an Epic Bleed Kit.
Price: from £8.99
More information: Epic Bleed Solutions
All photos by Ben Winder
