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Does anybody know of a way to get Shimano Hydraulic brake hoses to exit the levers at a 90-degree angle?

I ride a recumbent and at the moment I have to put up with a huge loop in front of my eyeline to get them down the steerer. If it came out at 90 degrees, it would clip direct to the steerer, look neater and probably be a bit more aerodynamic.

Could I just fit the same connection as is used to enter the calipers?

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  • Are you able to mount your brake levers facing the other way? Brings on new issues with the lines hanging down, hooking things and interfering with your legs. How tight can you radius the brake line before it crimps ?
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 5:10
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    IN theory a 90 degree elbow might do the job, but you'd have to have something that clamps as good or better than the line, to avoid leaks. Brakes is the one area that "a dirty hack" is undesirable.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 5:12
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    After thinking about it, you might want to talk to a car brake shop. They have ways and means to bend and flare brake pipe, and to support both ends of the rigid elbow to protect it from vibrations.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Aug 15, 2017 at 23:45
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    The aero effects of your brake line are probably negligible.
    – Batman
    Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 17:13
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    Asked around car parts but no luck. The aero thing is a little tongue im cheek but lots of negligibles add up to a substantial eventually. It's more the obstruction than anything.
    – Mike
    Commented Aug 25, 2017 at 12:18

2 Answers 2

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If you are willing to switch to a Zee, or Saint, brake the hose is connected at the caliper via a banjo-style connector, which allows for usually about 270deg. of motion around the axis of the fixing bolt. Many brakes use this kind of connector, but on Saint and Zee models, the fixing bolt is parallel to the caliper mounting bolts and pads, allowing the hose to be positioned at a 90deg. angle from the caliper, as seen from above. I'm not sure which direction you want the hose to point, but other brakes have the fixing bolt in other orientations. SLX and XT have it perpendicular to the previously mentioned models, so the hose pivots parallel to the pads. Tektro/TRP, Sram, Formula, and Hope all make brakes with banjo fittings. Check photos of the calipers, there's definitely something out there that cant point the direction you want!

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  • They were asking about the lever, not the caliper.
    – Andrew
    Commented Nov 18, 2022 at 21:15
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You can try cutting the hose down in length, provided it is still a safe length, then zip tie it to the frame.

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  • Politely disagree - If you try and bend hydraulic hose through a smaller radius bend then it can crimp and limit the fluid flow through the bore. Also over time, this fold is a weakness and vibrations will encourage a crack then a leak here. All this is to be avoided in your brake lines.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Mar 11, 2018 at 9:40
  • @Criggie OP was complaining about an excess of brake hose and I never said bend it so it crimps. You’re assuming to be combative.
    – wski
    Commented Mar 11, 2018 at 14:45
  • @BillSkiCO Nope - OP is asking how to have the brake line leave the lever at a different angle, to avoid needing a large loop of line in his way. If he cut the hose down to remove the large loop, it would have to follow a path with a tighter bend radius. Yes, there may be a halfway where removing a little line helps without making bends too sharp, but we can leave that to OP to decide (with no photos of the actual bike its hard to answer definitively.)
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Mar 11, 2018 at 19:10

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