Shortening the hose in pre bled disc brakes.

freshe
freshe Posts: 63
edited June 2013 in MTB workshop & tech
Hi,

I need to shorten hoses in my pre bled shimano slx set and Im not sure how to do it without letting the aur getting into the system.

Found this video http://youtu.be/Bpdw2TpYDhM

Can this be done without need of bleeding the brakes? On this video that guy inserts a metal pin in the hose - I only have one of those - cant remember with which brake it came. Do I need that pin for both brakes tho? How do you cut hose ? With stanley knife or can I use park tools cable cutters ? I have some yellow plastic parts for what I presume is needed to do that kind of job.

I checked shinanos website but theres no instruction there. The video is the only one I could find. I also read on CRC in some review that these hoses can be shortened without need for bleeding the brakes,

Comments

  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    Most people need to bleed the brakes after shortening he hoses. Shimano do have a guide in the tech docs on how it can be done but most people fail and still have to buy a bleed kit.
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  • sniper68
    sniper68 Posts: 2,910
    freshe wrote:
    Hi,
    Can this be done without need of bleeding the brakes? On this video that guy inserts a metal pin in the hose - I only have one of those - cant remember with which brake it came.
    The "pin" is the re-useable barb and both brakes/hoses have them and will not work without it.
    As Nicklouse said hoses can be shortened without bleeding but many people seem to make a mess of it :|
    Lynskey R480

  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    Re-useable maybe. Easier to get new ones.
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  • YeehaaMcgee
    YeehaaMcgee Posts: 5,740
    ibbo68 wrote:
    freshe wrote:
    Hi,
    Can this be done without need of bleeding the brakes? On this video that guy inserts a metal pin in the hose - I only have one of those - cant remember with which brake it came.
    The "pin" is the re-useable barb and both brakes/hoses have them and will not work without it.
    As Nicklouse said hoses can be shortened without bleeding but many people seem to make a mess of it :|

    I'd always advise to bleed the brakes if you've interrupted the hydraulics in any way, it's never a bad idea.
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  • hard-rider
    hard-rider Posts: 460
    Can be done and is not difficult at all. Just be careful and take your time. I just did it to my new SLX brakes today and took less then 40mins to do both. Followed this document

    Yes you can cut the hose with a Stanley knife, I did, just make sure you keep the hose vertical. No fluid dripped from my levers when I did it. All went together fine and levers feel good and firm. On the front brake I had to crack open the bleed port on the lever to let a little fluid out to otherwise I wasn't able to push the pistons back into the calliper.

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