kikker05

Does anyone have experience with installing a new hydraulic brake assembly from Shimano (just from the handles to the calipers)? My LBS warned me of deals too good to be true and that mounting isn't as straightforward as I might think. He says even though the new brakes are shipped filled and pre-bled, the tubes would still need to be trimmed to fit the bike and of course refilled and bled once again in which case I should have it brought in for mounting. This will be mounted on a large men's bike, and the tube lenghts are 900cm and 1700cm, respectively. I don't have the bike in front of me at the moment, but this seems about what they should be.

Any truth to this statement that they need to be cut to size? Why would Shimano ship them pre-filled with oil then? I can't imagine the install to be that difficult if I have to remove the old set, such that I can see where everything needs to go. Here is the set in question and thanks for any suggestions:


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Shimano-Blac...item43b358e6b7

dsbrantjr

A few seconds of Web searching brought me to this page: https://techdocs.shimano.com/techdocs...&bmUID=i.RoqPC
,which should have the documentation you will need.

Please note that according to your preference you may need to undo the brake lines anyway to switch the "handedness": "These are set up for European riders with a left hand front brake and a right hand rear brake."

dabac

"Need" is null word in this case. Hydraulic brakes were sold for years and years with fixed lengths, before reusable fittings were introduced.
If you're OK with maybe a tad longer loops at the front than actually required, then you're good to go. If you insist on the slickest possible installation, then you'll probably want to trim them a little.

The ugly way of dealing with brakes being of the wrong handedness is simply to run the levers upside down. Some levers - but not yours - are actually symmetrical, making it a non-issue.

kikker05

Yeah, I have that already, thanks. Was just curious about the lengths and the "need" to trim the tubes. Funny about the European riders bit. In the US at least and most probably all of N. America, brakes are also in the same right left configuration as in Europe. Maybe in Asia it's the opposite?

Oh, maybe it's also a UK thing, where the front is on the right?

jimc101

Shimano ship their disc brakes pre-bled with set hose lengths, and handed for the country they are being sold in, unless you have a perfect fit out the box, you can virtually guarantee that you will need to trim the hoses, that's why they ship a replacement olive & insert with the brakes, so you can do this. It's not a 'too good to be true' deal, it just how it is.

For the money that you are looking at for the brakes in the link, if they are going on an MTB, would be looking at M596, as the Afline are 4 finger, and a generation old in design.

tomacropod

They can be trimmed without rebleeding.

Remove compression nut from lever with 8mm spanner and leave it on the hose.
Trim off to required length using sharp knife and board.
Slide new olive over hose. Press new barb into line.
Slide hose back into lever recess, ensuring barb is seated to the end and remains there.
Slide compression nut back up and thread into lever.
This step compresses the brass olive onto the line and holds the opening in the barb against the port in the master cylinder.

Tip: use the open, not ring, end of your 8mm spanner for this last step.
tip: don't touch the lever while the hose is disconnected, don't wave the hose around and keep the open end upright while disconnected.

- Joel

fietsbob

Many bikes now use zip tie housing/hosing guides now . to simplify things.