Well title says it all. Decided to finally fit some ebay R1'brakes after finding my rear Avid's had mysteriously again lost power. I could not find a shop that stocked olives and barbs ,so proceeded to shorten my brake hose, using the no need to bleed method, recycling the barb but not the olive.I made an olive from plumbers tape laying around and went for a big forty miler ride.
So far so good. To be honest i don't have any bad expectations from this fix as i used plumbers tape to add thickness to leaky new pistons which I bought for my old Juicy carbon some two years back. I've thrashed these at races and winter riding no problem.
Saying that, I should find out why my Avids have recently started to lose power after bleeding.If there were leaks at the piston surely there would be an almighty squeeling.Could be worn bits at the lever possibly.
I must be missing something. How does tape stop a piston leaking? Or form an olive. I would imagine that the olives are compression style like plumbing?
You went for a "40 mile ride". Fair enough, how many times did you use the brakes? 😉
The olive is meant to bite into the brake hose to stop it being pushed out of the fitting by the system pressure(which is why it has sharp edges). You "Tape fix" may well have sealed the brakes, but it won't keep the brake hose restrained for ever..........
^ exactly.
Maybe just buy some nice new Deore brakes and bin the ones that are obviously bodged/knackered.
maxtorque - Member
You went for a "40 mile ride". Fair enough, how many times did you use the brakes?The olive is meant to bite into the brake hose to stop it being pushed out of the fitting by the system pressure(which is why it has sharp edges). You "Tape fix" may well have sealed the brakes, but it won't keep the brake hose restrained for ever..........
what he said!
I would buy an olive asap. Leave the Plumbers tape for threads that need it, BB shell next?
I used the brake quiet frequently over in a Epping Forest. I did order a Shimano barb and olive online, before i done my fix.
I get Maxtorque's point that the olive is also used to retain the hose by biting into it, so I guess my plumbers tape won't do that job as well.
I guess it's gripping onto the hose at the moment but it could potentially shoot out if enough pressure is applied to braking, so I have to admit this is a very temporary fix.Luckily braking requires a feathery touch in current conditions. The R1's are very sharp too!!