Shimano brake lever interchangeabilty

jimothy78

Hi all,

I think my rear brake has a leaking seal on the reservoir. The only place i can find a replacement part is a shop in Germany that only want £2 for the part but £7 postage, so I'm wondering if it might almost be better to bite the bullet and buy a new lever (at least then if I'm wrong in my diagnosis is wrong I'll still be fixing the leak one way or the other).

I'm currently using Deore m596s, but am I right in thinking that any lever with the same basic shape (Deore m615, SLX m675, etc) will give the right stroke-to-volume ratio to work with the calliper?

Also, is there any point getting the SLX? - as far as I can see, the main difference is that with the m615 you don't get any freestroke adjustment, but that hasn't been an issue on my 596s.

declan1

The 615 calipers are basically the same but with Ice-tech pad compatibility. I would personally just pay the £9 to get the replacement part instead of risking it with a new lever though.

jimothy78

declan1 wrote:

The 615 calipers are basically the same but with Ice-tech pad compatibility.

So are the levers are the same, then?

I would personally just pay the £9 to get the replacement part instead of risking it with a new lever though.

In what way "risking it"? To my way of thinking, the risk is that I buy the seal but that doesn't work, and that's £9 wasted, whereas I can spend £16.50 on a whole new lever for a guaranteed fix.

declan1

jimothy78 wrote:

declan1 wrote:

The 615 calipers are basically the same but with Ice-tech pad compatibility.

So are the levers are the same, then?

I would personally just pay the £9 to get the replacement part instead of risking it with a new lever though.

In what way "risking it"? To my way of thinking, the risk is that I buy the seal but that doesn't work, and that's £9 wasted, whereas I can spend £16.50 on a whole new lever for a guaranteed fix.

I didn't realize the levers were that cheap! I don't know if they're exactly the same, but the levers are very similar with only the 'silver bit' that looks different. I suppose a new lever would be a better option.

The Rookie

All Shimano levers area interchangeable.....

jimothy78

The Rookie wrote:

All Shimano levers area interchangeable.....

Thanks for that. I assume I'd need a new olive, too - anything else?

The Rookie

Lever only, use the olive already on the hose, also fluid and bleed kit.

jimothy78

The Rookie wrote:

Lever only, use the olive already on the hose,

Really? Assumed olives were single-use.
Thanks again.

The Rookie

Nope, Olives can be re-used just fine unless they have got damaged.

plugp7

Just get a new M596 lever. There are still some around.