Hydro disk brakes only work when pumped I live in a very wasteful student neighborhood, and just found a lightly-used Kona Lisa DS (ca 2007ish) with Hayes Sole hydraulic disc brakes in the garbage. After a thorough dusting, it's in great shape, and I'm ecstatic.

The brakes, however, fail to stop (or even slow) the bicycle unless pumped repeatedly. I can depress both levers fully and wheel the bike around with little to no resistance. If I pump the levers repeatedly, both front and rear brakes seem to gain the pressure they need, and begin to function as expected. I'm not sure they're working well, as I'm terrified to ride the thing in this condition, but they are working much better. Release the levers, wait a few seconds, and I'm back at square one.

Notes: This is occurring after giving the brakes a full bleed. (Both brakes were also useless prior to the bleed.) I am new to teching hydro brakes, but know my way around a wrench and think I did a reasonably good job. This is a pressure issue, not a pad/rotor surface issue.


Why is this happening?
Is this repairable? If so, how?
Given the age of the brakes, and my very limited student budget, is this worth repairing?


Thanks for your help and experience,
Chris
Probably air in the lines. Assuming that's the case, yes, worth repairing. You'll need to bleed the brakes. To do that, you'll need the appropriate bleed kit. Probably $20 or so. Here's the service doc. Do not use the wrong kind of brake fluid, as that can damage the seals.