I bought a used bike. Everything is functional including the brakes. However, these connector on the front & rear brake hoses are rusted.
Is there a way to easily replace them? I’m new to bike mechanics.. got a few wrenches, but don’t know how to bleed.
How do I maintain them, or is it safe to leave them rusted as-is?
by xpisme
7 Comments
Should be fine until you want to change out hoses and it’s a huge pain. For now I wouldn’t touch it unless you actually are charging hoses, since it’s a process to set new barbs and install, and you said it currently works fine
They shouldnt be more then 5 dollars on amazon and it should be fine to run as is but if it bothers you its a 5min job just be careful not to squeeze the brakes when the bolt is loosened and the cable is out.
Personally, I wouldn’t worry too much about replacing it. You can remove the rust with a specific product.
If you plan to keep the bike for years, next time you give it a good service you can replace the whole cable.
Have you seen the caliper as well? Gross. If you’re going to replace something, consider a full do over. That brake is corroded as all get out. I’m sure its inners are rotten also.
Just leave them as-is.
It’s an involved process to change them, you can’t just unscrew and remove them, you have to cut off the end of your hose that has the compression fitting to be able to get this off and put a new one on. If you’ve never done it, I wouldn’t do it. You also need to replace the ‘olive’ in the end of the hose and they can be tricky to ensure you get the right one.
Your caliper is showing a fair bit of corrosion – I would start planning for a brake upgrade at some point in the future, not super urgent, but it’s only going to get uglier. Maybe once your brake pads wear out, or if you want to refresh your braking.
Edit to add: wait, this is in a trainer. …?
Replacing them involves:
Unscrewing them,
Cutting fittings off,
Put new nut on line,
Install new barbs/olives,
Reinstall hose to caliper,
Bleed
So if you have the tools, not bad. But could be pricey if brought to a shop.
Is it Shimano? Unless the rest of the bike is similarly corroded it could be from someone using (super corrosive) DOT fluid to bleed the brakes, when they should have used mineral oil, if this is the case I’d look at getting a new set of brakes (levers, calipers, pads) ASAP.