Experience with shortening hyd brake lines & bleeding ?

[MichaelB]

Hiya,

Most likely place is here, so thought I'd ask.

Anyone with experience of shortening hydro brake lines and subsequent bleeding ? Any particular tips and/or tricks ?

Pretty mechanical and handy around cars, but bikes are different, so any advice will be appreciated please

Ta

Michael B

[Oxford]

brand and model?

I've done it on Hayes 9's, that's all I have experience with. It's fairly easy on them.

[trailgumby]

Not hard at all. You need:
* a bleed kit with fittings for your brand of brakes,
* compatible oil: mineral OR DOT, depending on brand. Don't confuse them or you will destroy your seals, and then yourself when they fail unexpectedly.
* a new barb + olive for eahc hose end you need to cut.
* a brake shipping block to put in place instead of the pads so they don't get contaminated by any brake fluid spillages
* brake cleaner spray and a clean shop rag to decontaminate caliper and disc if required.

Once the barb and olive are compressed onto the hose end by installation onto the master cylinder they can't be removed for re-use, which is why you need a new set. If you're on Sydney's northern beaches I can probably assist. Avid Elixirs have a reputation for being difficult, but that will be a learning experience

[MichaelB]

They are TRP's and Mineral oil based.

Is there a std place to get the nipples/barbs/olives etc ?

Is that something that the LBS can help with ?

I can get a bleed kit from Wiggle.

Will think and research a bit more and then post some more Q's.

Ta

[Crittski]

Good advice so far, but in the end, you just need to do it. Biggest tip I can think of is to definitely take out the pads and make sure that there isn't any residual around your callipers before you reinstall them. I wasn't scrupulous with the clean up and after a couple of weeks of riding and cleaning the bike, some of that oil contaminated the pads and they wailed like a dozen banshees.

[HappyHumber]

..,and they wailed like a dozen banshees.

.. in an Oprah audience?

Nah.. been procastinating about bleeding mine. Mate gave me a hand to do it about 18 months ago. Original pads were still OK at time of checking then. Need to bite the bullet and be a big boy and do it this time for myself. Time for me to brush up on Zinn and go for it...

[Mulger bill]

Really something I should do on me MTB. Juicys bleed easy, seems Elixirs are functionally similar. *xfingers*
What is the best tool for hose cutting?

[MichaelB]

Is there a std place to get the nipples/barbs/olives etc ?

...

Ta

Thanks for the other advice, but re the parts required, need to source them from where ?

[trailgumby]

Really something I should do on me MTB. Juicys bleed easy, seems Elixirs are functionally similar. *xfingers*
What is the best tool for hose cutting?

Cable cutters.

[trailgumby]

Is there a std place to get the nipples/barbs/olives etc ?

...

Ta

Thanks for the other advice, but re the parts required, need to source them from where ?

My LBS doesn't stock them / doesn't sell them separately, so bought the last lot for my Shimanos from CRC. Before that I got some from Clarence St Cyclery's workshop.

What brand are your brakes?

[Crittski]

sorry dude, my brakes came with spares...

[MichaelB]

My LBS doesn't stock them / doesn't sell them separately, so bought the last lot for my Shimanos from CRC. Before that I got some from Clarence St Cyclery's workshop.

What brand are your brakes?

TRP

[Jean]

Ebay would be worth a check I'd reckon - same for bleed kits as people make up suitable kits for a good deal less than the OEM suppliers.

[trailgumby]

What brand are your brakes?

TRP[/quote]

Wow. These guys? http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/04/ ... kes_169011

[MichaelB]

Yep.

[MichaelB]

Here is a pic of the caliper and brake line if that helps. Is it the same as the hope ones ?

Damn, that was hard to do fro. This so called smart phone !!!!

Edit : From one of the links, it shows a banjo style fitting as having these internal bits



or is it something else ? The tes=xt in the Bike radar & Bike rumour sites mention that the Shimano bleed kit is similar (better than Avid's), but on the TRP site, there is no listing for the spare parts needed to shorten the lines.

Help ....

[MichaelB]

Hmmm, more searching shoes that it is the m/cyl end that needs shortening, and from this pic on the TRP site for a replacement hose set for their Carbon Dash calipers, shows a bit more detail

[trailgumby]

Of the four brass bits in the row closest to camera in the top photo, you need 1 each of the two on the left for each hose you're going to trim. The thin edges of the brass collar (called the "olive") at far left get crimped down into the hose by the force of tightening the threaded collar into the master cylinder or banjo (depending on the brand), and this stops the next fitting, called "the barb" from coming out of teh end of the hose.

You can't then get 'em off to be able to re-use them when you shorten the hose.

[MichaelB]

Cheers TG, the barb and olive are the bits I need (as suspected), and the copper washers (or are they brass on bikes) should be re-usable (or at the very least easily sourced from the LBS.

At least I have a picture now of what I need, so I'm miles ahead there.

Many thanks guys. Time to place an order tomorrow me thinks and take advantage of the Wiggle TDU20 code to save another few bucks

[Mulger bill]

Ordinary cable cutters you say Gumby? Sounds like a doddle then.

Cheers
Shaun

[Crittski]

Wow Michael, cutting edge!

[MichaelB]

Wow Michael, cutting edge!

Not really, just want to tinker and see if the Hydro hype is true or not, so whether I need to hold out buying the Volagi until Hydro STI's come out.

Plus I love to tinker ...

[MichaelB]

Got some feedback from Jason at Fairwheel bikes (who did the TRP parabox conversion on the Volagi for the Interbike 2011 show) re the bits required to change the hydro cable length, and this is his reply - brief, but at least he replied ....

Hi Michael,

I’m not sure which fittings are compatible with the TRP parabox. When ours arrived it included fittings to shorten the lines. I would assume that yours will include these as well.

Cheers

Jason Woznick
Fair Wheel Bikes

[Crittski]

I think it is reasonable to expect the fittings would be included, ESP with higher end gear. So in 6 months time when you get your hydro volagi, you can sell these to me cheap

[MichaelB]

Well, I'll soon find out, and post the details when the kit arrives.

Ended up ordering it from Merlin Cycles in the UK, who had one in stock (somehow, as others were expecting it in mid-March), and received confirmation that it is in the post

Thanks for all the help and advice offered, and I'm sure I'll revive this thread as the time comes to do the "operation" !!!!