Just got myself some Tech 3 E4s with the braided hoses and could do with shortening them a bit – anything to know before attempting it? Have heard the braided hoses can be a bit tricky to cut?

I normally use one of these Jagwire things for standard hoses, which gives a nice quick clean cut. Would it be alright with braided? Also have some cable cutters if that’d be better, but they tend to squash the hose a little…

Would be good to know what’s best before hacking away at my new brakes! 😀

Sharp knife to cut the plastic outer, then normal cable cutters – a very good walk through guide here
Hope Braided Hose Assembly

Getting the used olive over the cut cable can be a faf, the process often frays the braid making it impossible without re trimming, I always have a spare new olive and cut leaving an inch of so extra so you have contingency.

cut leaving an inch of so extra so you have contingency.

Defiantly do this!!

Use sharp knife to strip plastic away to a olive width beyond the cut line. Slide olive up hose then cut at the olive.

Saves a bit of shouting trying to get new olive on without buggering the braiding.

Thanks for the advice! The brakes came with a spare olive and insert each, so have a fall back if I manage to mess it up.

Will I get away without bleeding, or am I best off getting some DOT before I attempt anything?

Our hose cutter works well with braided hoses and will give you a perfect 90deg cut without crushing the hose.

Hydraulic Brake Hose Cutter

It’s always a good idea to have a bleed kit on standby just in case but it is pretty straightforward to shorten hoses without loosing fluid. We have a guide on Shimano hose shortening if it’s of help:

http://www.epicbleedsolutions.com/blog/shorten-shimano-hoses-without-bleeding/

Got it done! The Jagwire cutter wouldn’t even start to get through the hose, but a quick snip with cable cutters did it fine. Hardest part was getting the new hose insert in, though I’m assuming (hoping!) tightning the hose back into the lever squeezes everything together properly anyway? All seems fine so far though…

Pumping the pistons out meant I didn’t need to bleed the front, but then forgot to do it with the rear… :/ Quick top up at the lever sorted that out though. Hope brakes are easy!

Cheers again!