I’ve never had to shorten any hoses before and after a new brake set and Reverb purchase i’ve got to tidy up my hoses. For outer brake cables i’ve always used normal wire cutters and if the end of the outer cable is crushed I use an Awl to re-form it and had no issues – nice clean cut – but is it good enough for hydraulic hoses to ensure a good seal with the olive/barb? The brakes have braided hoses if that makes a difference.

Cheers.

Just happen to have shortened a Reverb hose last night.

After faffing around with a cheap (yes I know) pipe cutter, I ended up using a Stanley knife against a block of wood. Put a new blade in first though. The inner of the hose is just plastic, there’s no metal braiding. I found this to be a better tutorial than the official one – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOYvvwdJcvE

Edit: Make a practice cut first near the original end of the hose then you can see what’s needed.

Superstar have some cheap ones, I’d just get one of them rather than mash up the end with some cable cutters.

Epic bleed solutions also do a cheap cutter.

I’ve just used std shimano cable cutters for braided hoses. For non-braided hoses just use a sharp stanley knife or similar.

I used a new stanley knife blade, the hose clamp thing that comes with Magura brakes to make it square and a block of wood.

Then I got a hose cutter and barbed thing driver. The driver makes the whole job so much easier and no more wrestling inserts into reluctant hoses.

If you cut hoses even semi-regularly then I’d get the right tools for the job.

As above a proppa cutter makes life easier. Clean cut without crushing the hose the last 2 Shimanos have cut clean enough to push the barb in by hand

The Jagwire tools pictured above are the best tools for the job. Pretty cheap if I remember, got mine on ebay £15 for the pair, well worth it.

I used a seat rail clamp off a broken seat post to hold the cable, and my best carving knife to slice through.
Didn’t crush them, barbs went in easy enough, but I squirted the kitchen with brake fluid so had to bleed the afterwards.
I’m so glad it isn’t harmful, the fluid went everywhere.

I’ve always used a scalpel. It works fine. But getting the barb in the olive is a bit fiddly so I might look at those jagwire tools for that.

I used my gear cable cutters when I shortened my reverb hose and it worked fine if not perfectly.

Here
http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/hydraulic-hose-cutter.htm

£7.69 with free potage. Have used this seller before – just ordered one myself.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/gobike88-Jagwire-WST025-Space-Age-2-0-Hydraulic-Hose-Cutter-J69-/161115512168?

They also have the TMARS 27.2 dropper post for £43

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/gobike88-TMARS-Mechanical-Drop-Seatpost-27-2-x-400mm-560g-Black-R89-/161172390535?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item25869f8287

Stanley knife / cable cutters work just fine

People struggling with pushing the barbs in; have you tried doing it while wearing latex gloves?
You get much better grip on the barb and cable & in my experience they go in a lot easier.

When I did my Avids I can’t remember if I used my cable cutters or a fresh Stanley blade on a block of wood but it worked fine.
Although that jagwire tool is hardly expensive and looks like it will do a good job.

Stanley knife for hoses here too, perfect tool. For pushing in barbs, the shimano blocks or similiar are ideal, you can make your own by drilling and cutting a block of wood though

Sharp knife here too. Never had a problem. Never notice any squishing as the hoses are pretty stiff things.

Just take steps to ensure you can place the hose somewhere good to cut against a surface. Especially if you want to keep the hose higher than the bars (as I did when shortening reverb hoses) so you don’t lose oil.

I used to use my cable cutters but treated myself to a cheap hose cutter a while ago and find it neater, easier and quicker than the cable cutter.

wwaswas – what’s the barb driver/holder thing called? Does it have a part number?

nevermind I’ve found it (wst026)

give me a chance! 😉

Park cable cutters here.

And I’m still alive, I think.

the Epic one costs less than a new bit of hose..

Might as well do it without risk of a squint/ragged edge..