just bought some slx brakes new which i am totally impressed with but they are front brake right hand rear left hand lever which was not mentioned on the web site .should this be mentioned or is in normal practice. if i swap the hoses will i have to bleed them or put new olives on will i have to buy a bleed kit

front brake right hand rear left hand lever

normal for UK, presumption is that way around unless stated otherwise.

Opposite if buying from a continental shop.

You should be able to just swap the hoses over and get away without needing to trim/install new olives/inserts. But if you’re unlucky you will need some new brassware.

rotate the levers so that the hose hole is high to prevent any fluid dropping out. Any bubbles trapped when you reinstall the hose ought to rise to the reservoir

So they didn’t come with spare olive/insert/cutting guide etc? my old SLX did which I thought was a nice touch. I bought them from merlin in the UK tho.
new olives/inserts are just a couple of £ and for a bleed kit all you need is a length of clear plastic tubing and a bottle of mineral oil so it won’t break the bank.

normal for UK, presumption is that way around unless stated otherwise.

Opposite if buying from a continental shop
thats what i thought it is a uk shop, maybe they dont realise they are that way round they all came in a sealed plastic bag

They should be that way round, that’s how UK brakes are set up.

oops sorry front brake is left hand right rear they did come with one olive and insert and some plastic blocks

lol, they probably bought them from germany before selling them to you.

It’s no problem to swap the hoses over without bleeding.

Remove the pads, and pump out the pistons until they touch the rotor.

Undo the hose at the lever end, pull out the hose (it sometimes helps to twist it a bit.

Refit hose to correct lever and do up nice and tight (don’t strip the threads though!)

Use a tyre lever to push the pistons back in to the calliper.

Pull the lever a couple of times and you’re good to go!

thanks boriselbrus will give it a go

A slight highjack but did you get any pad retaining bolts or are the pads held in just with a split pin. A fired bought some from Rose recently and they just had a split pin to hold the pads and no bolt.

SLX use split pin, XT use bolt – see shimano exploded diagrams.

Remove the pads, and pump out the pistons until they touch the rotor.

do the pistons not fall out? Must be getting close to.

mav12 – did you get all the bleed spacer blocks etc…? If so, remove wheel from bike, remove brake pads. Insert bleed block and pump lever until pistons contact the block.

swap hoses over & shorten if required.

remove blocks and push pistons back in with a plastic tyre lever.

Re install pads.

There are numerous guides to hose shortening etc… on the massive Xt brake thread:-

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/psa-xt-m785-brakes

Seems strange to use a split pin when the caliper has a thread in it. Anyway I couldn’t get the split pin back in. Di you need a special tool?

it’s the same casting/forging and then machining as XT, just differentiated by paint, logos & the split pin vs. screw.

As above, make sure you pump the pistons first. My girlfriend was shortening her SLX hoses, first one she did and it was fine, second she didn’t and lost a load of fluid.

You don’t have to pump the pistons, I shortened a set of XTR hoses at the weekend without doing so. I certainly wouldn’t pump them all the way out to touching the rotor with the pads removed.

do the pistons not fall out? Must be getting close to.

No, done this loads of times with no issues.

pads are held in with just split pin they came with 3 plastic blocks two with a groove in which i think is to hold the hose in a vice not sure what the other one is and two orange plastic spacers which were in the calipers 1 olive and and one insert spoke to the shop this morninmg they said another customer had ordered a continental set up and i must have got theirs

quick noob question if i am transporting the bike with awheel off would i need to put a spacer in the caliper to stop the pistons falling out or would the pads hold them

@mav12 you’re right about the 2 blocks being used for holding the hose in a vice. The block you aren’t sure about is used when you bleed the brakes. You remove the brake pads and push the bleed block in between the pistons. Allowing you to pump the brakes during bleeding without the risk of ruining your pads.
The pistons won’t fall out when transporting the frame without the wheels. But if you pull the brake lever without the spacers installed, the pistons will push too far out and you won’t be able to fit the disc in between them when you rebuild the bike.