I was wandering if anyone could guide me as to how to shorten my XT brake hoses without letting air in, or spilling mineral oil everywhere.
Is it possible to do it without needing to bleed afterwards (apparently it is, but I can't see how?)
Many thanks!
Very easy job. Sharp knife. Use the yellow block to hold the hose when you cut. Keep it as vertical as possible and it shouldn't lose oil. Lots of good guides on the net.
Thanks, won't loads of oil fall out of the lever when the hose is disconnected?
Wait, DW found this in case anyone else had the same problem!
Cut it quick and get the cut end up in the air.Keep it up in the air while you remove the old olive etc.. from your brake (zip tie to the bars is good place) then when u tap in the new end for the pipe also keep it pointing skywards (a rubber mallet is good for tapping the new end into the cut pipe as it won't damage the soft metal).Slide your olive over the pipe and get it all locked back in place with the barrel nut (sliding barrel nut onto cut pipe first then new olive)
I used this method recently on SLX brakes and it worked fine.Lost a wee bit of mineral oil but not enough to even need a top up of the resevoir.
You can reduce the risk of getting oil on you brake disc by wrapping it up in an old carrier bag before starting.
Just done this yesterday it is as simply as in sounds. You won't lose fluid from levers (under vacuum). The other thing is to take pads out and squeeze the lever to close the pistons slightly, then cut hose etc do as above then when you open the pistons and replace the pads the brakes won't need bleeding.
06awjudd - I followed the instructions in the document you posted and it was pretty simple.
Okay, thanks all