Park Tool BKD-1 Hydraulic Brake Bleed Kit - DOT

The Park Tool BKD-1 Hydraulic Brake Bleed Kit is an all-in-one answer to bleeding pretty much any DOT fluid brake, including today's SRAM 'Bleeding Edge' brakes. Paired with Park Tool's excellent how-to videos, it should do any mechanic right. It's very expensive for what it is, though.

What Park Tool is charging a pretty hefty premium for here is all the bits to suit the popular DOT brands, the handy syringe holder, and a case. You also get Park Tool's Lifetime warranty, of course, and spares availability.

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In the box are two plastic syringes with shaped plunger heads and two-fingered handles, and thickly-threaded hose fixings. There are two really supple 8in hoses, with machined and sealed fittings to fit colour-coded adapters for SRAM, SRAM Bleeding Edge, Hayes, and a universal M6 thread adapter. Inside the robust box lid is a sticker to remind you which adapter is which.

The SRAM Bleeding Edge adapter is large enough to turn with your fingers once attached to the bleed port, facilitating its tool-free port opening/closing. There are a few other bits too, including a compression sleeve to clamp the hose onto a bleed port.

There are two bleed blocks, to cater to twin-piston callipers. The blocks have 10 and 12mm thick ends, again covering various calliper dimensions, and holes for pad-retaining pins or zip-ties to keep them in place while bleeding.

Finally, the syringe holder is a nifty bit of kit, a 'third hand' to hold a syringe at the bar, fork or frame. It can fit at any angle, freeing you to wrangle the other end without having one syringe dangling, which would likely allow bubbles to escape or cause stress on the couplings. It holds syringes firmly, can be rotated easily and the rubber fixing strap is thick and strong.

In use

Park Tool has, as usual, made some excellent videos to accompany the BKD-1 set. The instruction video is very clear, but doesn't (at the time of writing) include the process for non-Bleeding Edge road levers. Fortunately SRAM's own video is very clear, and includes the rather important 'fluid degassing' step, which is easily done with the Park Tool kit.

The adapters all thread snugly with no leaks, and the syringe holder does the job perfectly. The syringe action is smooth, and even exerting quite strong vacuum pressure to draw out bubbles sees no leakage around the plunger. The ergonomic handle makes a one-handed vacuum pull easy to modulate, so you can get things done perfectly.

> Everything you need to know about disc brakes

You need to be careful not to roll the O-rings off the end of the adaptors, as they come off easily and are very, very small. Fortunately, spares of each O-ring/adaptor gasket are included.

> 8 reasons not to get disc brakes…

Each syringe is labelled as DOT – handy if you also have or plan to get the matching Mineral Oil kit (same price) because they look exactly the same apart from the adapters (cross-contamination is a no-no as you could knacker an entire set of seals and/or yourself when a seal fails). DOT fluid is glycol-based and harsh enough to strip paint off metal, whereas mineral oil is petroleum-based and safe enough to use in cosmetics. DOT fluid will destroy anything but EPDM rubber seals.

Value

The only real fly in the fluid is that £100 really is a lot for two plastic syringes, some bits and a box. If you're prepared to wait for it to ship from China, generic kits like this one will do pretty much everything the BKD-1 does for £20.

Even UK-sourced kits such as this mineral oil EZmtb Bleed Kit can be had for around £24, while this Clarks Universal Bleed Kit is £35.

Conclusion

The Park Tool BKD-1 is a very good kit that promises years of use with DOT brakes of almost every kind, but it's arguably not quite as premium as its price suggests: metal and glass syringes and at least a token amount of brake fluid would certainly sweeten the deal.

If you're expecting to make heavy use of your kit and the price works for you, the Park Tool BKD-1 promises great performance, strong manufacturer backup and a certain peace of mind. For just one or two bikes at home, though, this is overkill.

Verdict

Does the job without leaking, but bleeding expensive...