Yea, I've never really understood why people think the Shimano process is so easy. I've found it janky and poorly thought out. I also find a lot of people overfill the reservoir, which I theorize aggravates a lot of the issues with cold weather performance and shifting bite point on Shimano brakes.
At any rate, the bleed I did on the Hayes with the SRAM syringes was a huge mess. Like DOT fluid running down my arm mess. It was a disaster and DOT was everywhere, the system also ingested a ton of air. So despite those fittings "working", they didn't for me.
Using the Hayes kit went much better, but I'd still get DOT fluid dripping from around the fitting. It wouldn't ingest air the way it did with SRAM fittings, but it would still drip some fluid out around the fitting. IMO those brass fittings need some kind of rubber seal to prevent this. The first few bleeds felt fine, but I found more DOT fluid leaking than I had with other brakes, even dual syringe SRAM bleeds pre-Bleeding Edge. Especially when removing the syringe from the caliper, I found DOT would come out of the bleed ports until pressure in the system normalized (which is better than air making it's way in, but still, it's a mess). Eventually, tightening the fitting slightly with pliers kept DOT from dripping out while I was bleeding, although it still likes to come out of the caliper when I remove the fitting.
The SRAM Bleeding Edge process is probably not really a fair comparison, but it's much cleaner and less likely to leak DOT everywhere. I think that's probably more the exception than the rule, although with the dual syringe SRAM bleeds, I still didn't get the same level of mess I do with Hayes. The Hayes brakes are still easier and less messy than Shimano, which I've found to be a pain in the *@$ every time I bleed them.
Jan. 30, 2020, 5:56 a.m. - Shinook
Yea, I've never really understood why people think the Shimano process is so easy. I've found it janky and poorly thought out. I also find a lot of people overfill the reservoir, which I theorize aggravates a lot of the issues with cold weather performance and shifting bite point on Shimano brakes. At any rate, the bleed I did on the Hayes with the SRAM syringes was a huge mess. Like DOT fluid running down my arm mess. It was a disaster and DOT was everywhere, the system also ingested a ton of air. So despite those fittings "working", they didn't for me. Using the Hayes kit went much better, but I'd still get DOT fluid dripping from around the fitting. It wouldn't ingest air the way it did with SRAM fittings, but it would still drip some fluid out around the fitting. IMO those brass fittings need some kind of rubber seal to prevent this. The first few bleeds felt fine, but I found more DOT fluid leaking than I had with other brakes, even dual syringe SRAM bleeds pre-Bleeding Edge. Especially when removing the syringe from the caliper, I found DOT would come out of the bleed ports until pressure in the system normalized (which is better than air making it's way in, but still, it's a mess). Eventually, tightening the fitting slightly with pliers kept DOT from dripping out while I was bleeding, although it still likes to come out of the caliper when I remove the fitting. The SRAM Bleeding Edge process is probably not really a fair comparison, but it's much cleaner and less likely to leak DOT everywhere. I think that's probably more the exception than the rule, although with the dual syringe SRAM bleeds, I still didn't get the same level of mess I do with Hayes. The Hayes brakes are still easier and less messy than Shimano, which I've found to be a pain in the *@$ every time I bleed them.