Hydraulic Brakes

[Alan Quay]

So, Chain Reaction were good good as their word, free delivery and the Shimano m355 brakes turned up within a couple days. Thanks guys.

Installation was not hard, I shortened both hoses to fit with the supplied spare olive and barb and did not have to bleed as I was careful to remove pads and advance pistons before cutting hose. I also ensured caliper was below hose during cutting. Probably took me 1 hour in total.

Before fitting I cleaned both discs with propanol to ensure no contaminants were present.

Result: A massive improvement in braking power and control. Arguably the second best improvement you can make to a bike, after the right tyres.

£40 all in seems like very good value to me.

Thanks for the advice all.

 

[awol]

Installation was not hard, I shortened both hoses to fit with the supplied spare olive and barb and did not have to bleed as I was careful to remove pads and advance pistons before cutting hose. I also ensured caliper was below hose during cutting. Probably took me 1 hour in total.

I bought a set of those last year and have still to get out of the box.
I did't give the hose length a second thought and did not get any spare bits to adjust the hose length though. Could you say what bits I would need to buy and give a small guide on how I would do it.

 

[Alan Quay]

Chain Reaction sell a barb and olive kit for £2.50. You need one kit for each hose you want to shorten. Mine came with a little yellow jig to clamp hose in a vice. I could live without if I had to, or make one in a pinch by drilling a 5mm (a guess) hole in a block of wood, the cutting in half.

The basic idea is to move the pistons out, giving you a bigger reservoir for oil, then keep the caliper lower than the hose. Then you can cut the hose at the lever end, re-assemble and bleeding won't be necessary. If you have ever done any compression fit plumbing (or pneumatics) it's the same idea.

This is a good guide:

http://www.epicbleedsolutions.com/blog/shorten-shimano-hoses-without-bleeding/

 

[Nealh]

Equally I have done mine on the bike and used mole grips for the clamp blocks.

 

[awol]

This is a good guide:

http://www.epicbleedsolutions.com/blog/shorten-shimano-hoses-without-bleeding/

A great guide, thanks.
I don't understand how the hoses are to be kept horizontal during the process without loosing fluid though?

 

[Alan Quay]

A great guide, thanks.
I don't understand how the hoses are to be kept horizontal during the process without loosing fluid though?

It's a small bore pipe, filled with a viscous liquid. It won't loose much, if any. That said, I kept my hoses vertical whenever possible.