Disconnecting hydraulic hoses

[Serge_K]

Hello! Question, given i started using hydraulic brakes only this year.
On 1 bike, i have to invert left and right brakes.
On another, i plan to travel with the bike, so i assume i'll have to disconnect the brake hoses (ltwoo er9)

Question: do you automatically have to use a new barbs & olive every time you disconnect the hose from the shifter? Which presumably also means you have to shorten the hose every time you do that? Or you leave the barb but put a new olive? Or can you re-use the olive?
Also, i dont think i have such spares for ltwoo, what's a good source for these bits?
How do you seal the open end of the hose for travel without it leaking oil everywhere?
Is the barb + olive thing applies on both ends of hoses? I haven't tried to disconnect the hose from the brake calipers.
I do have a bleed kit with the right fittings.
Thanks!

[kbernstein]

You MAY be able to reuse barbs and olive if you can get it out and if you haven't tightened the olive too much but it's heavily recommended to cut and put new barb/olive as you likely lose some seal. This is why you are often advised to leave as much hose as possible in the bike. If crimped properly the olive shouldn't come off anyway
You can pick up a pack of olive/barb/hose kits for 4 bucks on ali, or for 30 at your LBS who will urge you not to get them from aliexpress as they might explode. The olives are universal afaik but the barbs and hoses are not, i think the standard Ltwoo uses is BH59, same as shimano road
You seal the open hoses with a toothpick
And yes both ends of the hose have a barb and an olive

[Serge_K]

Clear, thank you!

[jonathanf2]

I'm curious with the hydraulic hoses on fully internal frames. On semi-internal frames you can just detach the stem/bar from the bike and pack the bar sideways next to the frame in a box.

On fully internal frames, is this not an option for travel? Do you have to detach the hoses for travel? Sounds like a big hassle if that's the case.

[Serge_K]

I'm curious with the hydraulic hoses on fully internal frames. On semi-internal frames you can just detach the stem/bar from the bike and pack the bar sideways next to the frame in a box.

On fully internal frames, is this not an option for travel? Do you have to detach the hoses for travel? Sounds like a big hassle if that's the case.

That's maybe the biggest drawback of fully integrated bikes: you can't travel with them w/o major headache. There are rigid bike boxes where you dont have to detach the bars, precisely because of that (VERY expensive and take a ton of space when not in use).
It is changing a bit in that you have an increasing number of options that are fully integrated AND allow to detach the stem w/o unplugging everything, but it will take years to trickle down. There's a question of stiffness too: my integrated cockpit is super stiff. If tomorrow they start selling a version with more convenient cable integration, it may be a pool noodle.

[Sebastian]

has anyone ever tried these quick connectors for hydro lines? I've been eyeing these when building my bike up but ended up not using them.
But they could be a good solution. My bike has the hydro lines showing under the stem. You could put the quick connectors there and just detach the bars.

[Ludo]

I saw them on gmbn video or another YouTuber last week, looks interesting

[coffeebreak]

On fully internal frames, is this not an option for travel? Do you have to detach the hoses for travel? Sounds like a big hassle if that's the case.

Traveled abroad at the start of May. Plan was to bring VB GF002 with me. Got Trek box for XL sized Madone and started dismantling the bike. I was thinking that the frame, fork, handlebar all tied together because of internal hoses will somehow fit in the box. After numerous permutations and combinations and 3 hours later I decided to call it quits. In the end I brought along rim brake SSE. The handlebar was kept in the rear triangle. Everything beautifully wrapped in foam. The GF002 is still lying in my home completely disassembled. Only a dedicated hard case will fit the carcass of full ICR bike without disconnecting hoses etc. Major pain.

[jonathanf2]

Traveled abroad at the start of May. Plan was to bring VB GF002 with me. Got Trek box for XL sized Madone and started dismantling the bike. I was thinking that the frame, fork, handlebar all tied together because of internal hoses will somehow fit in the box. After numerous permutations and combinations and 3 hours later I decided to call it quits. In the end I brought along rim brake SSE. The handlebar was kept in the rear triangle. Everything beautifully wrapped in foam. The GF002 is still lying in my home completely disassembled. Only a dedicated hard case will fit the carcass of full ICR bike without disconnecting hoses etc. Major pain.

I guess I'll keep my semi-ICR frames for now. I travel by air every so often with my bikes, and I can just dismantle my stem/handle bars and everything fits in the box. No need to disconnect hydraulic hoses either. If the bike is electronic, there are only 2 external hoses. So it's still quite minimalistic, but far easier to travel with.

[Serge_K]

I guess I'll keep my semi-ICR frames for now. I travel by air every so often with my bikes, and I can just dismantle my stem/handle bars and everything fits in the box. No need to disconnect hydraulic hoses either. If the bike is electronic, there are only 2 external hoses. So it's still quite minimalistic, but far easier to travel with.

What setup do you use exactly? I know SP Cycle has a cockpit where the bottom is open, so that should work, for example, but beyond that...
Very interested in setups that allow easy enough plane travel.

[jonathanf2]

What setup do you use exactly? I know SP Cycle has a cockpit where the bottom is open, so that should work, for example, but beyond that...
Very interested in setups that allow easy enough plane travel.

Anything semi-internal packs easily by removing the stem+handle bar and placing the bar sideways in the box. No need to disconnect any cables or hoses. I always get a used bike box from the LBS. You can either get them free or dirt cheap (like $10 USD or less). In the US, Alaska Airlines waives all fees for bike boxes (non e-bike) of any size and weight. They're my go-to airline for bike travel. The  only packing issue I've faced is with disc wheels. With center lock rotors, I've had to remove them to fit them in the box. Though I recently switched to 6-bolt disc wheels for my gravel bike. Hopefully I can fit them without having to remove the bolts. I also use bubble wrap and wrap every section of the bike and wheel hubs of the bike. You can also use spare bike bibs/jerseys in a bag as padding in the box.

Last bike I transported was an alloy gravel frame I gifted to a family member and total weight with box + a bunch of stuff in the box came out to to just under 15kg or 33 lbs.

[mirphak]

I'm curious with the hydraulic hoses on fully internal frames. On semi-internal frames you can just detach the stem/bar from the bike and pack the bar sideways next to the frame in a box.

On fully internal frames, is this not an option for travel? Do you have to detach the hoses for travel? Sounds like a big hassle if that's the case.

I realized the same thing with my titanium gravel bike. Fully internal sucks big time. Never ever again !!!!!

[jonathanf2]

I realized the same thing with my titanium gravel bike. Fully internal sucks big time. Never ever again !!!!!

Running electronic shifting with semi-internal cables doesn't look so bad. Only the brake hoses stick out and they can be fairly trim against the frame.

[Yunglord]

What I usually do with integrated cables handlebars is unwrap the bar tape and loosen up the shifters off and it gives enough "play" to remove the handlebar and pack everything in my Evoc travel bike pro bag which is the version where you have to remove the bars.

So far so good but it cost me a bar tape everytime.

[Serge_K]

To close the loop on this thread.
I ended up not having to disconnect the hydraulic hoses to pack the bike. I used a box a LBS gave me (a humongous Scott box i had to trim in length to something more manageable). In the position pictured, the bars wouldn't fit in my evoc bag, so next time i use that bag i will either have to get creative to get the bars at a 90 degree angle, or disconnect the hoses.
To be fair, i ended up re-bleeding the brakes anyway because i'm in the mountains for the summer and wanted all the stopping power i could get, and if you travel with (all) your tools, it's not too bad to trim, olive, barb, re-bleed. But obviously, better if it can be avoided. Especially if you only travel for a few days.

Also, a point to note: if you have enough random stuff to stuff into a cardboard box, and are ready to play duct tape games to fix things and what not, you end up with a bike that's better protected than in these soft ("semi rigid" = not rigid = soft) bags. So... given the cost of these bags, if you live close to a LBS with a constant supply of boxes, if you dont have to take public transport with your box, if the taxi is big enough for the box (a lot of ifs), a cardboard box will likely offer better protection, and you can recycle the box when you're done, instead of having to store an awkward shaped bag.