Are Olives and pins all the same?

Just swapping over levers on some new brakes that unexpectedly came FL, RR ( thank you Merlin). I have found some new olives and pins in the spares box but can’t remember what they came with and I have had three different manufacturers lately. So, use them and risk having to do them again or hang on until I can get some that are definitely Shimano? Oh, and are all Shimano olives the same?

From recent experience Shimano, Magura and TRP/Tektro are all interchangeable.

Hope use their own different olives/barbs.

Shimano have 2 different sizes though not sure if they just changed over time, are road/MTB different or different for another reason

The olives are the same, it’s the inserts which differ – bh90 uses the silver inserts. The inserts must be the correct ones for the hose or you will have issues with leaking air/oil. You can interchange the hoses so long as the inserts are correct for the hose in use.

Shimano olives are the same but they have two different sized pins depending on the hose. Usually one is gold and one silver. Other brands are different but may work.

Magura olives have a squared centre bulge, not tapered like Shimano. Tektro olives are not symmetrical and have a shoulder on one side.

TRP/Tektro use two different sizes of olives

Thanks for the info. Further internet research found a very useful chart on the Epic Bleed Solutions website which lists which Shimano brakes use which insert. Turns out mine are BH90 and the inserts I have are silver which hopefully means that I am good to go.

Has anybody managed to simply plug the existing hoses and olives into the new brakes when stopping left to right?

I was going to suggest that as we have done it before when just swapping hoses over from left to right and they have worked fine

Has anybody managed to simply plug the existing hoses and olives into the new brakes when stopping left to right?

Does anyone do something else?

Can’t seem to get them in without extreme violence

If you’re just swapping left to right and don’t need to cut anything then just undo them, do them back up on the opposite levers and bleed?

Yep, if just swapping sides, unbolt, swap, retighten. If it does weep over time, you know what the problem is.

You might even get away without a bleed. Tying the levers back after this will help in two ways. Air will rise to the reservoir where it isn’t an issue and it will prove if they weep over night.

When did they start being called pins as opposed to barbs?

Can’t seem to get them in without extreme violence

It’s a absolute arse of a job if you don’t have the correct tools. Can’t grip the hose too tight or you collapse it, but if you don’t grip it just slides through the holder and the barb won’t go in.

I just hold the brake line in my finger and thumb and whack the oil pin / barb with hammer. I’m an adept botcher.  Wouldn’t bother though if I wasn’t sure I had the correct barb, or olive for that matter.  Micro leaks are a real hassle.

Tektro olives are not symmetrical and have a shoulder on one side

Only older Tektro /TRP brakes. Newer ones use symmetrical olives.

Sorry RD, that’s me just having an age related moment of word blindness!

When doing a hose swap, I remove the disc, then pump the brakes so the pads are touching. I then disconnect and swap the hoses.

Any air will only be around the joint where the hose screws in. Pushing the pads back will push any air into the lever reservoir where it should cease to be a problem.

I do the same as trout but find one or two pumps are enough, you only need to create a bubble of fluid on the end of the hose before sticking it in the lever and then push the pads the rest of the way back after tightening the hoses

£10 tool from Amazon makes cutting hose and inserting a new barb a 2 mins job.