Do you shorten the hose for disc brakes when they are bought

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stockae92
Posts: 295
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 5:13 pm

by stockae92

Wondering if you would shorten the hose for the disc brakes when you are buying them new? The brakes are usually come in ready to roll. Cutting the hose will need to be rebleed, right?

by Weenie


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Hamfist
Posts: 84
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2008 3:04 pm
Location: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

by Hamfist

What brand are you referring to? With Shimano, you can cut them and connect without re-bleeding. The olive is already in the lever. Caveat - I've only done XTR and this was the case.

wingguy
Posts: 4318
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:43 pm

by wingguy

If the choice is between shortening them or riding with two giant loops of brake hose in front of the handlebar which would you prefer? :wink: Many brakes will barely lose any fluid and will run ok straight off, though a quick lever bleed to get rid of any air is a good idea.

(And obvs, if your bike has internal routing you'll need to redo the rear brake anyway.)

bumpkin
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 3:47 am
Location: USA

by bumpkin

I was able to shorten my SRAM guides with no bleed. They seem fine.

TheRookie
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Location: Midlands, United Kingdom

by TheRookie

Shorten, this is weight weenies after all!
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DeeHubbs
Posts: 107
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2015 11:05 pm

by DeeHubbs

ALWAYS! Sloppy cable routing is my biggest pet peeve on bikes. No matter how nice or bling your bike is, I cant look past sloppy or poor cable routing.

Dirtperson
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2016 7:09 pm

by Dirtperson

+1 for shorten and bleed. Brakes aren't the thing to save time by cutting corners.

Steve_W
Posts: 272
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:40 pm
Location: England

by Steve_W

Shorten, don't be afraid to rebleed, it's dead easy....I forget the kit I bought, it came with really useful step by step instructions.
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KWalker
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by KWalker

What was your experience with formulas?
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TheRookie
Posts: 926
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Midlands, United Kingdom

by TheRookie

I'll chip in as I'm also running Formula.

There is a knack to bleeding them correctly, if you bleed as if they were other brands they end up under filled, the diaphragm has some 'pre-load' so once you've bled it you then need to push more fluid in to fill up the reservoir controlled by the diaphragm against a small amount of load (really small by the way) before removing the syringe and fitting the plug.
Impoverished weight weenie wanna-be!
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02GF74
Posts: 724
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:04 pm
Location: Sunny UK

by 02GF74

Always, it is not just about weight but I cannot stand long loops of hose dangling. Sometimes you can get away without having to bleed them.

I also adjust the angle of the hose entry to the callipers by undoing the banjo bolt just enough to rotate it, then retightening it.

The same applies to gear shifter cables.

by Weenie


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