The Potters struck the crucial early blow when Gifton Noel-Williams laid the ball out for Lewis Neal in the 11th minute.
He picked out John Eustace who headed home from six yards into Alan Combe's top right-hand corner.
Ed de Goey was called into action for the first time in the 33rd minute.
He performed heroics when Michael Branch's cross from the left was deflected to Andy Gray whose shot was brilliantly saved by the Dutch keeper.
The Potters were gifted a golden opportunity to grab a second goal ten minutes into the second half when Kris Commons crossed from the right to Akinbiyi but, despite being unmarked, he could only head the ball straight into the arms of keeper Combe.
Stoke's dominance shone through again when Eustace struck the foot of the post with a 25-yard volley but Bradford did have small glimmers of hope when Nicky Summerbee crossed from the right for Branch whose header flew over the bar.
After that it was one-way traffic with Bradford rarely getting a look in.
Tony Pulis' men could have scored several more goals and even had an effort cleared off the line five minutes from time.
One of Bradford's coaches, Wayne Jacobs, said after the match: "From the bit we'd seen of Stoke they are a big powerful side who try to bully teams and we set up our team to try and not let that happen.
"I wanted to create more chances and play fluent attacking football but we are near the bottom of the League and we are currently without a manager which doesn't help."