is this an easy job? what bits do i need? also would a bleed be required?

cheers!

Easy enough job if i remember correctly. You’ll need to get an olive and a pin (I think, a while since I have done a shimano brake). This might help CLICK. You will need to bleed them as well.

HTH

cheers for the link, any idea where to get the olives and bits and bobs? watching a hope video it says hope ones dont need bleeding after shortening? how come its different for shimano?

olive and pin at crc or lbs. In theory you can do it without bleeding, in practise, and i’ve done it a few times, a bleed is required

Cheers

You might not have to bleed them. Just be careful when you pull the hose out of the lever. Make sure you keep it vertical and don’t pull the lever in and you should be okay. I’ve done both my bikes, one had to be bled and one didn’t.
A good LBS should have the Olive and Pin.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXmWziLAlBU[/video]
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMDit9Irbz4&feature=related[/video]

Chainreaction sell them but are out of stock of just the olive and pin CLICK

I was under the impression (again from memory) that the video for shortening the hose on the hope site ran into showing you how to bleed the brake. Pretty sure that you are going to introduce some air if you shorten the hose and not bleed it afterwards

thanks guys, your right the hope vid does continue into a bleeding video, but at the start he says a bleed isnt required as the oil is trapped in the lever cylinger thus no air can get in? i could have mishead that though 😆

cheers for the links guys ill have a look around 🙂

One thing to bear in mind, if you have older XTs (M765s or M755s) the connector at the caliper end is banjo shaped, so cut at the lever end.
If they’re newer XTs (M770) you have straight connectors at each end.

Either way I’d recommend taking the pads out, pumping the pistons out a little bit more, then shortening the hose at the lever end. Keep the lever end of the hose as high and vertical as possible once removed from the lever. Once all conencted back up, push the caliper pistons all the way back in, thus forcing any air out of the hose and back into the reservoir. Check the fluid lever afterwards and top up if needed.

You can usually get any air out of the top end of the system, which is where it’ll be if you’re just shortening the hose, by moving the lever back and forth with the reservoir top off – top up if needed – and/or zip-tieing the lever back to the bars and leaving overnight. If you think about it, there’s no reason for air to have got into the caliper end of the system, so a full bleed shouldn’t really be needed.

Coincidentally I did exactly this last night on a mate’s bike and it was fine – XT brakes, changed levers, no bleeding needed, just some waggling. Oh, and the little yellow blocks that come with Shimano hose kits are a big help, clamp them around the hose in a vice or some adjustable grips and tap the pin thing in with a hammer. Don’s forget to slide the plastic bolt cover, the hollow bolt and the olive onto the hose first in that order and the right way up first 🙂

yeah, but it’s quite hard to get the yellow blocks, the vice etc all higher than the caliper and hose such that it is always the highest point of the system….well it is for me anyway with the bike in a stand (suppose I could put it on the floor right enough !) always find it simpler to do things at waist level and bleed the brkaes once fitted – only takes 10 mins 😛