Got a TRP Hylex brake (on the SS CX) with a cable that’s about a foot too long.

Never done this job before; manual calls for ‘hydraulic hose cutter’ and ‘hydraulic hose barb press’. I have only a regular cable cutter and vice/pliers etc for barb insertion.

All my other hydro brakes are Shimano, their faultlessness and ease of bleeding etc means I’ve never needed to disassemble a hose before.

Am I in danger of wrecking the brake using the tools I have, or is it easy enough to do without any specialist tool?

Cheers!

I spent £10 on this – works very easily. Hose barb press – 2 plastic blocks supplied with Shimano brakes clamped in a vice, barb tapped in with a small hammer.

I always cut mine with my normal (but very good) cable cutters. Sometimes leaves a little messy end if it’s a kevlar braided hose but easy to tidy.

Barbs can generally be done by hand but it’s not always easy. Flaring the hose out just fractionally (or rather, restoring the end of the hose to teh size and shape it was before you cut it) can help. The Shimano blocks are perfect but you can easily recreate that with a bit of wood- it’s basically just 2 blocks with a hole through them fractionally smaller than the hose. (or actually, I think, teh same size but not quite round)

Those hose cutters are £5 from epic bleed solutions.

Nice one, thanks folks!

I used wire cutters to cut the hoses on my shimano brakes. Seems to have worked ok. Knocking in the barbs without the aid of a vice is a PITA though!

If a little air gets into the system, I’d try this first rather than a full bleed.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/tech-spotlight-5-minute-bubble-bleed-2014.html

To knock the barb in I use the yellow plastic blocks clamped round the hose in a set of mole grips and gently chap the barb in with one of the small hammers.

Simple

I’ve always used some wire cutters or a knife for hose cutting.

Jamie

None of the below really helps you op.
Did my new Guide brakes today, as they were ridiculously long. Luckily the supplied barb has a tiny torx head and its threaded so it screws in easily. As usual I just cut the hose with my Ancient Park cable cutters and tidied up any little imperfections with a sharp Stanley blade.
Interesting to note too that Reverb bleed fittings are the same as the Guide brakes, even if the fluids used are different. Makes myunused spare Reverb kit an instant brake bleed kit!