Braided Brake Hoses

[BlindPugh]

Decided not to use all the complex pipe arrangement of the front brakes on my rebuild - so anybody got recommendations for braided hoses? My plan is to go from master cylinder with a double banjo bolt to both calipers without using any of the soild pipework on the back of the lower fork yolk. For the rear I need a new hose so might as well get braided here too.

Can anybody see major pitfalls with the above ideas - I know The brake pipe clamping will probably be a bit different - planning on using a rubber lined P-clip if I can find some.

[Maverick]

Contact HEL they used to be a friendly bunch and knew what to sell you first time around. If you going to use handlebar risers at some point mention this so they can accomodate the extra height

[raigo]

You can always compare your local prices with the prices of www.louis.de ,maybe it`s cheaper to buy from there .
for example http://www.louis.de/_2009dcb4fbd76ae...=109&anzeige=0

[Jenna]

make your own pipes up fron fittings and hose bought per meter, we always changed the MX bike pipes from new to braided.

best place we found was Rally Design as they have there own brand which is vastly cheaper than the big name brands but exact same quality..

pipe fittings are at: twin banjo £0.80 and single round eyes £2.40
http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/catalog...ath=85_248_249

and pipe is at: £3.50P/mtr
http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/catalog...ath=85_248_259

personally i would prefer to use a single banjo and then a 3 way 't' splitting down each fork, double banjos tend to come loose quite easy plus your putting a lot of load on a small ally thread area.

[Slimie]

Hexcoose the higgorance, Jenna, but how do you fit (swage?) the line to the fittings?

Do you need some special tool, or is it in the realms of the, ahem, "enthusiastic amateur", like me??

Cheers
-Simon

[Jenna]

na they are two part... bit like a plumbing compression fitting.

all you need is two spanners, best thing is if change your mind you can remove the fitting and reuse with a new olive.

I will nip down in the workshop and take a piccy of one in bits later, its easier than explaining!

[scdan3]

i wouldn't recommend making up your own. that means you have to use the nice threadlock (for lack of a better word) fittings. If you buy proper lines the ends will be machine crimped.

I have had the threadlock fittings fail on me. (yes it was fitted properly. if you ride through winter and don't look after them corrosion starts in the threads which "cracks" the outer (quite weak) ally nut. then the line falls off. Then you sh*t yourself. happens very suddenly)

I would never, ever touch them again with a 10 foot bargepole. I have known this to happen to 1 other person as well.

The crimped connections are fine. Busters do them for not much.

make sure you get the line plastic coated (nicer to the bike - less scratchy).

If measuring up your own, make sure the suspension is topped out when you find out how long the lines have to be... stops them ripping off on the first wheelie... (blade owner urban legend).

To be honest you should be able to route any line of roughly the right length easily. I disagree with jenna and recommend the double banjo out the master cylinder. Never had a problem... (ex courir, bike mechanic and bike instructor) so done the miles....

personally i'd pick up a set of any big traily lines from ebay and take me chances.... as long as they have crimp fittings.

dan

[Jenna]

a properly fitted aeroquip/Goodrich fitting is far far stronger than a swaged fitting, they are used in F1,Nascar etc and i have personally fitted them on WRC cars, touring cars, a BSB Ducati and Paris-Dakar builds(its part of the safety spec now) with never a single failure! these fittings are also now standard in the aerospace industry!



the fitting/pipe below shows the connection, the small coper olive is the only part (+1" of pipe) that you waist if you change the set up. to assemble cut the pipe to length, slide the lock nut on the pipe, next sepparate the PTFE liner from the braid by carefully stretching the braid back. Slide the copper cone onto the PTFE and make sure it is fully on (tap it with a soft hammer on)... push the chosen union's tail into the copper cone/PTFE liner then slide the nut up and tighten. A pipe correctly assembled will take 4250psi as per the Sae J1401 spec.

If your worried about the stainless scratching anything then before you fit both end fittings slide over the stainless pipe a length of heatshrink, fit all the pipes and then warm the heatshring up and it will hold the pipes in the position you want quite ridgedly (it also keeps the stainless very clean and shiney). you can buy clear heatshrink from maplin that fits the 3/8 stainless perfect.

[Slimie]

Cool, cheers Jenna!

-Simon

[Maverick]

Cool, cheers Jenna!

-Simon

Ditto, definitely going down that route when I change the hoses. Never had any problems with pneumatic brass fittings in all the years working with airtools and compressors so certainly not worried about the fittings failing.