I’ll be replacing my Shimano R8170 front caliper soon. I know I’ll need to bleed the brakes afterwards, but I’m wondering if I can reuse the existing hose.
The hose is integrated and seems to be cut pretty much to max length (is there a way to test this when assembled?). Last time it was set up by a shop, so I’m not sure there’s any extra length left to shorten it for a new barb and olive.
Is it possible to replace olive and barb without cutting the cable, or is that just asking for trouble? I’d love to avoid disconnecting everything and running new hoses through the frame if I can.
Thanks in advance for any tips or experience with this!
This is not recommended, but I have refitted hoses without changing out the barb and olive a number of times without issue (aka leaks). I torque the nut to spec, bleed the brake, clean off around the fitting thoroughly with isopropanol and let dry, apply a good amount of force to the brake lever (equiv to hard braking) for a minute or two, then examine for leaks. I ride, then check afterward. If it doesn’t leak, it’s all good. If it does, well it was worth a try.
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Thank you for the honest reply. Do you know if it’s also possible to replace olive and barb on same hose, without cutting it prior? Or would that make it even worse than just reusing the current setup.
The olive is crimped down onto the hose and squeezes the hose against the barb, which extends inside it. There’s no way to get the olive off without damaging that part of the hose. To minimize how much hose I cut off, I take a barb and hold it alongside the crimped olive to see how far it extends into the hose, then cut the hose at that point. It’s usually a little more than a cm so not much. I can’t image a hose installation being so tight that there wouldn’t be enough slack to allow that.
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