So, I thought I'd pass on my experiences on shortening my brake hose.
After the successful conversion of my bike two years ago, I decided last summer to upgrade the front brake to the ever popular budget Shimano MT200 hydraulic disk brake. I was very impressed with that, so this summer I decided to go ahead and fit a rear one as well.
Lever: Shimano BR-MT200 Caliper: Shimano BL-MT200
Turns out the 1700mm brake hose that came with the kit was far too long (by about 200mm) So, after watching several Youtube videos I went ahead and cut the hose and went to fit the new olive and barb. One simply has to tap the barb into the end of the hose. Well it would not fit, the barb was too big.
So an inspection of the old barb in the piece of hose I had cut off revealed it to be silver coloured and the new barb that would not fit is brass coloured.
So, some internet research revealed that Shimano make two hose sizes, the BH59 and the BH90
BH59 Outer Diameter(OD): 5mm, Internal Diameter(ID): 2.3mm
BH90 Outer Diameter: 5mm, Internal Diameter: 2.1mm
So, the OD is the same but the ID is smaller on the BH90 (apparently a smaller ID is better)
Now, after reading this website:
https://epicbleedsolutions.com/blogs/articles/bh59-or-bh90-which-insert-do-i-need
It says the MT200 should have the BH59 hose but mine is definitely BH90, perhaps Shimano have upgraded the MT200 to BH90 (dunno)
So basically this has taught me that one should not assume your hose is BH59 and before you start the job make sure you order both barb types (BH59 and BH90) and after you've cut your hose, inspect the old barb for colour, silver for BH90 and brass for BH59. You don't need to worry about the olives, they are all the same size.
Other thoughts: Watch a bunch of Youtube videos, keep the lever well above the caliper at all times, cut the hose with anything sharp, poke and wiggle a 1.5mm allen key in the end of the newly cut hose to make the hole round again, simply slip a new olive on the hose and tap the new (correct size) barb into the hose end, tighten everything up, pump the lever a few times until it goes firm. Job done.
By some miracle that I don't fully understand one does not need to bleed the system after this procedure.
After the successful conversion of my bike two years ago, I decided last summer to upgrade the front brake to the ever popular budget Shimano MT200 hydraulic disk brake. I was very impressed with that, so this summer I decided to go ahead and fit a rear one as well.
Lever: Shimano BR-MT200 Caliper: Shimano BL-MT200
Turns out the 1700mm brake hose that came with the kit was far too long (by about 200mm) So, after watching several Youtube videos I went ahead and cut the hose and went to fit the new olive and barb. One simply has to tap the barb into the end of the hose. Well it would not fit, the barb was too big.
So an inspection of the old barb in the piece of hose I had cut off revealed it to be silver coloured and the new barb that would not fit is brass coloured.
So, some internet research revealed that Shimano make two hose sizes, the BH59 and the BH90
BH59 Outer Diameter(OD): 5mm, Internal Diameter(ID): 2.3mm
BH90 Outer Diameter: 5mm, Internal Diameter: 2.1mm
So, the OD is the same but the ID is smaller on the BH90 (apparently a smaller ID is better)
Now, after reading this website:
https://epicbleedsolutions.com/blogs/articles/bh59-or-bh90-which-insert-do-i-need
It says the MT200 should have the BH59 hose but mine is definitely BH90, perhaps Shimano have upgraded the MT200 to BH90 (dunno)
So basically this has taught me that one should not assume your hose is BH59 and before you start the job make sure you order both barb types (BH59 and BH90) and after you've cut your hose, inspect the old barb for colour, silver for BH90 and brass for BH59. You don't need to worry about the olives, they are all the same size.
Other thoughts: Watch a bunch of Youtube videos, keep the lever well above the caliper at all times, cut the hose with anything sharp, poke and wiggle a 1.5mm allen key in the end of the newly cut hose to make the hole round again, simply slip a new olive on the hose and tap the new (correct size) barb into the hose end, tighten everything up, pump the lever a few times until it goes firm. Job done.
By some miracle that I don't fully understand one does not need to bleed the system after this procedure.
