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My experience of bike hire abroad is way out of date. Last time we just removed the sram brakes and simply turned them over and put them on opposite ends of the handlebar, sorted.
The guy in the shop just now looked at me like I was a Martian when I asked if we could swap them over, so i reckon it's a DIY job.
Obviously SLX and XT don't flip, could anyone tell me which of the others do?
Please
DB8s for example....
Anything SRAM or Hayes pretty much… Most other brands the levers are sided and would require the hoses disconnecting.
Magura's?
Magura?
Bike shop dude seems to think XT brakes can be flipped too.
I guess they can do long as we don't try to bleed them upside down!
Anyone know?
We've hired a giant Reign with XT, and he's flipping them....
Eek
We've hired a giant Reign with XT, and he's flipping them....
Eek
Theoretically, you can just swap the hoses around on Shimano brakes and if you're very careful they might not need bleeding, but I wouldn't want a rental bike with Shimano brakes unless a competent mechanic switched them for me....
I had to rehose some SRAM guides the other week and once I'd taken the hose off the lever end it couldn't be squeezed to squirt out the old fluid so I reckon you could swap them over quite successfully too.
Between that and the Bleeding Edge port I was quite impressed, considering these are bog basic Guide T's.
With my engineering head on, a properly bled, sealed hydraulic system should work fine in any orientation. In reality probably something like the clamps not being in line with the lever blades or bolt position interfering with gear shifter position would likely be the bigger problem.
I've done it multiple times, successfully. It's not too hard.Theoretically, you can just swap the hoses around on Shimano brakes and if you're very careful they might not need bleeding
I rented a Pivot Phoenix in Morzine with Hayes Dominon brakes that the shop was able to flip for me in minutes.
I still hurt myself on it.
I've swapped the hoses on literally hundreds of bikes - either getting them ready for sale or before and after hire. In all the years I did that I twice had to bleed the brakes as a result.
SRAM code were surprisingly easy.
I initially didn't realise you could just reverse them and rode eurostyle for a day. For normal usage I was basically fine by the end of the day. The problem was in lizard brain situations I always reverted with predictable mess ensuing.
Took about 5 mins.
Other alternative is use them as they are. It's easy to get use to
Still remember my mate buying a new Kona stinky, bringing it to our local DH trail, and grabbing a handful of "back" brake to control speed as he approached a big steep greasy rock slab. Straight out the front door.
Yes, it's easy to get used to. I just wouldn't want to be getting used to it on DH trails.
I think the hose swapping is a bit easier too if you pump the pads a little in, then swap the hoses. With the hoses swapped, you push the pistons back in and any air introduced in the hose fittings goes back into the volume of oiling in the lever body.
We did this when we got some hope brakes bled and serviced from the factory and it worked fine. We had to remove the rear hose from the lever as it was internal routing.
Is it really a problem to just use them as they are?
The only time i have every crashed because of eurobrakes was because someone didn't tell me so instead of doing a sweet ass skid in the car park i did a sweet ass faceplant infront of most of Glentress.
Codes and DB8s. It’s what I did on our YT Decoys as I couldn’t be arsed to take them out, re-thread them through the right frame holes and rebleed.
As with Tracey, learn to use them as is. With swapped brakes if there's any road riding involved and there's a need to brake sharply at a left turn you'll end up on the deck in the middle of the carriageway. Less than optimal
Swapping hoses is the way forward. Most bike shops do this for new Euro/US bikes delivered into the UK and you're none the wiser when you take your new steed out of the showroom and onto the trails.
Many bike hire places also do it when requested to 'flip' the brakes and, anyway, you can try the brakes before you leave the shop and make sure there's no need for a bleed.
At the potential speeds I'm riding in the Alps at I'd have no desire to spend a load of time trying to get used to Euro style brakes, only to think I've cracked it, emergency stop and pitch myself OTB at warp speed.
I take my own bike, but if I was paying the 90-100E a day that the shops want for bike hire in the Alps I'd be wanting the brakes changed, whether it's flipping levers or swapping hoses. The rental shops are working on the fleet bikes all the time and even a hose swap is a pretty quick job for any decent mechanic. Just check with the shop at the time of booking.
Only time I've hired a bike, was a road bike in Majorca, the hire shop told me what models were UK brake spec before I hired (I accept road bike brakes are much more of a faff to play around with).
If trying to get used to the "wrong" way round brakes, do cross-check with the travel insurance thread and pay particular attention to dental cover.
As above, if I'm paying 100EUR they can bloody well swap the things round.
And always remember to pick your teeth up in the event of an incident 🙂
As with Tracey, learn to use them as is. With swapped brakes if there's any road riding involved and there's a need to brake sharply at a left turn you'll end up on the deck in the middle of the carriageway. Less than optimal
I ride Euro and English but I’m living the dream, if you’re on your hollibobs for a week it’s going to be waaaay easier to have the bike set up as you’re used to.
It literally could be the emergency eject lever you don’t want to sample 🙂
I also get to live the dream as the PT job allows for some trips abroad to sample new routes or for a jolly. Euro style brakes now hold no fear but there were some knocks on the way. It's a bit similar to picking up an automatic car at a foreign airport when you're used to UK manual cars. Concentrate for a couple of days until it becomes second nature.
yeah. Let's rig our entire ride up around one potential possibility...As with Tracey, learn to use them as is. With swapped brakes if there's any road riding involved and there's a need to brake sharply at a left turn you'll end up on the deck in the middle of the carriageway. Less than optimal
Last hire bikes I had, they'd fitted inline connectors to the hydro lines, was a quick swap, no bleed required.
Happy to report that the upside down XTs worked flawlessly for about 17km over the three days. Absolutely fabulous. And Moustache is my new favourite trail.....
Alas his brother's SLXs didn't last as long even the right way up. A few lever adjustments and new pads just about saw us right
Tignes is still my fave alpine destination by a long way.
Cheers
Edit WTF is with the aspect ratio on forum pictures.. insert a fat black bar above and below the picture and squash it flat to make room?... One of the few redeeming features of the old forum was that at least it showed pics well
For anyone suggesting what you can easily get used to brakes the other way round, this absolutely isn’t my experience. I remember renting a bike and trying to ride for a day on euro style brakes. This was ok on simple trails, or flow trails. But on one trail, there was a lot of exposure and slow techy, steep corners. Drop was 100’s or 1000’s of metres off to one side, in the alps. What seemed simple on a blue trail almost killed me in a critical situation when I grabbed a load of the wrong brake. Someone mentioned ‘lizard brain’. That’s exactly what happens in the most tight of situations imo. So my opinion is that it can be extremely dangerous to ride with unfamiliar setup. Of course, everyone’s skills are different. So I don’t doubt that other people would be fine. But I’d never ever again want to ride a black trail with euro brakes.
Magura 5’s are definitely symmetrical so 100% flippable. Guessing the other Maguras are, what are the chances of finding them in a bike.
Better off letting the hire company do it in case it does need a bleed.
if there's any road riding involved and there's a need to brake sharply at a left turn you'll end up on the deck
Am I the only one who doesn't understand this?
(I have no positive contribution btw. I've always had brakes flipped when hiring but mix up my left and right at the best of times. As I sit here typing I honestly don't know which of my hands controls the rear brake (right? Whichever that one is?). I assume though that my lizard (slug?) brain must know. Therefore swapping is essential.)
.
Mix of Euro and UK brakes here, both on my MTBs and road bikes. Honestly never been an issue, same as I don't forget not to freewheel on my fixed bike, or drive on the left when I go to UK.
Although admittedly maybe you need to screw it up once to never do it again (not a great idea on DH). I was helping out on a cycling clothing shoot, driving the photog's car while he laid on the tailgate snapping the model who was riding behind uphill.
I'd never driven an auto. Photog said, bit faster please. Accidentally hoofed it, heard the photog yell as he slid off the tailgate, then for some reason absolutely stomped on the brake with my left foot and the cyclist rode into the back of the car.
It's the thinking behind which side levers should be on. Safer to brake one handed (while indicating) with the rear brake.Am I the only one who doesn't understand this?