Hello and help!! I’m trying to assemble a small Kaffenback for my girlfriend, and I’ve got the cheapo Clarks M2 hydraulic brakes, which appear to be very good quality but the hoses are waay too long for the frame. I believe that cable shortening is pretty straightforward, I just would like to know whether cable olives are pretty standard throughout (this being a bike, the chances of compatability is ZERO, I know) or whether I need to find the exact correct ones, which is proving to be a pain in the arse. Please don’t tell me that I’m going to need to spend millions on this! I’m buggered if I’m taking it to a bike shop to be done either.

It was so much simpler in the days of v brakes…

I’ve got it in the back of my head that the olives are the same as Shimano ones….. It’s a gut feeling though really.
To be honest any good LBS should have a variety of olives and should be able to match something that’ll work well. That’s where I’d go. 🙂

I know the brake pads are the same as Shimano, and they take mineral oil too so wouldn’t surprise me if the olives are Shimano style too.

There service page lists 2 kinds of olives(described as bushes) with pics so maybe do a comparison.
http://www.clarkscycles.com/index.php/html/category/pagetype/aftermarket/id/service