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Many months after fitting my new brakes, I still haven't shortened the hoses. They've not really bothered me, but I keep remembering that I'm supposed to do the job.
I was thinking of doing them a bit longer than the originals, so they'd fit a future bike without needing two new hose kits at £40 an end. These are nice brakes (Hayes Dominion A4) so I'd likely carry them over to any new bike.
The fork is 140mm and I can't see me ever running one longer than 160mm, so I was thinking to cut the hose 2cm longer than the original (82+2). It's currently 98cm (16cm too long).
The rear is a bit less straightforward, as there are many ways to route. The bike is externally routed, size medium 130mm 39er with 430mm chainstays. A future bike might be 150mm travel with 445mm chainstays, possibly high-pivot too which I understand can lengthen around 25mm on full compression. That's 4cm longer with the same routing, so I was thinking to cut 8cm longer than the original (144+8cm). It's currently 179cm (35cm too long).
Ask STW once, measure twice, cut once, etc. Thanks in advance!
Just loop them into a coil, cable tie and be done with it!
If they don't bother you leave them be.
Just loop them into a coil, cable tie and be done with it!
If they don’t bother you leave them be.
This.
I cut my hoses to fit my bike, then bought a longer bike. I thought it was tight, but ok, but they got yanked out of the lever end twice after a few offs.
You shouldn't need to spend £40 per end though, as long as the olives/connections are sound just buy hose by the metre - 4m for £20 was fine for me
I've rarely if ever shorten my hoses as it doesn't really bother me to have a slight loop and can't be bothered with buying/fitting new hoses if I buy a new bike. There's also the bonus of not needing to bleed them after shortening them (I know it's not always necessary).
If they're really massive then I'd just look to trim as little as possible
You don't need to buy two new hoses.
Buy one new house, fit that to the rear then use the rear one for the front.
👆 this is a good point - I only replaced both as I used the opportunity to get rid of the braided ones in favour of matching black.
Live for the moment! Cut it to correct length. Aesthetics matter.
Hoses/cables should loop around the far side of the head tube, extending equal distance out both sides for balance (ideally kind of inline with the outer edge of the fork crown) Dropper/rear brake cut to match identical arcs (bonus points for taping/wrapping them together), same with the front brake/shifter cable.
Or is there something wrong with me?
Loop the rear line around your steerer then people will assume you throw sick bar spins all the time...
Having had a front brake hose yanked out of the lever just as I dropped into a very steep shute by a wayward branch just get them cut to a safe length and enjoy them. Then do this:
Buy one new hose, fit that to the rear then use the rear one for the front.
when you get a different bike.
Or is there something wrong with me?
Not just me then, phew 🤣
One of the many things to like about Hope brakes is that both hose ends have removable fittings so all you need is lengths of relatively inexpensive hose. Anyone used aftermarket kits like Uberbike that give the same flexibility? Are they any good?
Not uberbike, but I did order a bag each of Shimano and SRAM fittings off AliExpress for pennies. Probably enough for a lifetimes supply then chopping and changing hoses is a 5 minute job if it needs doing for any reason.
In a pinch it turned out they're interchangeable, albeit one hammers in where the other screws in.
Thanks, I think I will give them a try next time I need a new hose. Annoys me to pay the price of crimped on fittings.
I’m the same with my dropper cable and TBH I can’t be arsed.
You could always loop around the headtube and pretend to be a slopestyle rider.
Thanks for the advice. They're 4.5mm and pretty stiff, so don't loop well. I'll get them cut to be safe, leaving a few cm for future.
Those of you buying fresh barbs and olives, why? Hold the cut off end lightly with a pair of needle nosed pliers then use a lighter to soften (or just plain melt) the hose stub.
Live for the moment! Cut it to correct length. Aesthetics matter.
Hoses/cables should loop around the far side of the head tube, extending equal distance out both sides for balance (ideally kind of inline with the outer edge of the fork crown) Dropper/rear brake cut to match identical arcs (bonus points for taping/wrapping them together), same with the front brake/shifter cable.
Or is there something wrong with me?
That looks lovely. dont by an american bike like I did. Brake hose goes in the left side.
Am I the only one annoyed about hose coming in metre increments, 2.5m makes more sense for me letting me do both brakes, 25 or 30cm increments would save a huge amount of waste, how many of us have ended up with useless lengths ranging from a foot to 18" after buying 2 metres.
As a Hope user, uberbike hose works well, the ID is ever so slightly smaller but it's not a problem, its a bit pricier now though, superstarcomponents hose is slightly bigger ID so I didn't trust it, but it would probably work fine if the hardware is tightened up a bit more, as for reusing old barbs, I've found ones a few year old have somehow got smaller externally when measured against a brand new one.