I’ve got some m486 brakes and I wanted to get the m785 levers to go ispec as I have ispec adapters.
Is it a straight swap as I have done previously with some 565 levers when I broke one?
Or have shimano changed the fitting size of the olive or outer casing or something that makes a straight swap not possible?

Hope you can help. Stoddy

The new xt brakes use a different inner diameter hose. Pretty sure the outer diameter is the same. Not sure whether the brakes will work well with mismatched lever and calliper though.

You can successfully swap some shimano calipers and levers to get different combos, but the main problem you will encounter is that m785 lever is servo wave and your old lever (i believe) isn’t. This means your caliper hasn’t been designed for use with servo wave levers, and this could cause prolems seals as well as the feel of the lever and performance. The XTR trail lever is non- servo wave, but to be honest you’re probably better off just buying a complete m615 deore brake for under £40, and that’ll be ispec b compatible.

Thanks guys, better keep looking for a good complete second hand set.

On this topic… Does anyone know if an M785 lever will work with a current Zee caliper?