Anyone ever swap a hydraulic disc brake lever on a road bike? I crashed and the shifter broke, so I need to replace.
I’m familiar enough with hydraulic braking systems and have the tools to complete my own brake bleeds, but not sure if replacing a lever is more involved.
Can I just swap out the lever while the rest of the system remains closed (ie no need to drain and replace fluid) or does swapping a lever mean I have to fully drain the system and then refill with new hydraulic fluid? Trying to determine if I should give it a crack or take it to the shop.
I tried looking up videos or instructions for this but everything I can find is for setting up new brakes, and I think just replacing should be a less intensive job.
You will have to open the system to move the brake hose to the new lever so then a brake bleed has to happen. As part of that you should replace the compression fitting aka the olive.
You’ll likely need to replace the barb & olive on the hose for best results when removing it from a caliper/lever. After that, a simple burp bleed should do the trick – no need to do a full bleed.
I replaced a lever over the winter on a bike with Shimano Ultegra. Don’t tell anyone, but since the bike was going to be sitting on the trainer for a few weeks, I kept the old barb and olive on the hose and sealed it back up to see if it’d work. After a quick bleed it’s been rock solid and leak-free for thousands of miles ever since. That said, don’t do what I did
