A riding buddy has bust his brake lever (Shimano M615) and has bought a replacement. I’ve offered to swap them over later on and re-bleed the brakes etc…

He’s just asked if the olive can be re-used. Now I would if it was my bike, but its not. I’ve re-used a Hope one in the past without issues (Hope brakes), is the Shimano setup going to be the same or should he pick one up first?

Cheers

You’ll your doing is disconnecting the hose then connecting it to the new lever, so wouldn’t bother changing the olive and barb for that

Same as legend – remve wheels, pump the calipers in, swa over hoses (keep the ends well above the calipers), push calipers back in, job done, usually no bleed needed

Edit – sorry – you will need a bleed, I was talking about swapping left to right, etc. Must read full posts.

wouldn’t bother changing the olive and barb for that

Plus, changing the olive and barb would involve trimming the hose, which may or may not be what you want.

Nice one. 🙂

No problem with the pistons, bleeding procedure etc… just wasn’t sure if the olive HAD to be renewed.

cheers all

Just wrap some ptfe tape round it. Works for plumbing…

cant be re-used if shortening the hose but just disconnecting and reconnecting should be fine.

Before you swap it over, remove the pads from the caliper and pump the pistons out a bit further.
Then once you’ve completed the lever swap and tightened the hose back up, simply push the pistons all the way back in and if there has been any fluid loss on the hose, it should push any air back into the reservoir, saving the need to bleed.
Try and keep the hose vertical during the operation.

Just wrap some ptfe tape round it. Works for plumbing…

^Don’t do this… 😕

tillydog – Member
Just wrap some ptfe tape round it. Works for plumbing…

^Don’t do this…

Hahaha, not a chance.

I’m mechanically proficient, but not having Shimano stuff, my mate riding tomorrow, him wanting his new lever on and with the brakes not being mine I had to ask about the olive.

Then once you’ve completed the lever swap and tightened the hose back up, simply push the pistons all the way back in and if there has been any fluid loss on the hose, it should push any air back into the reservoir, saving the need to bleed.

Would need to push the pistons out a hell of a long way to fill the new empty lever with fluid….

Obviously the lever needs to be filled with fluid. Hence why I said “once you’ve completed the lever swap”, implying that that had already been done. 🙄

Quick update that all went well and didn’t need to replace the olive and insert. 🙂

Thanks

why oh why are the holes in my frame too small to allow the olives through 👿