Steel braided brake hoses?

[Jashdown]

To answer the original question.

Braided hoses don't do anything.

You're joking right?

The people saying rubber lines work just as well as braided are talking out their arse. Braided lines shit ALL over rubber lines in every single way.

Braided lines are essentially metal piping that is flexible, with very little expansive ability. This means when you pull the lever, the force you are applying is going directly to pushing the caliper pistons against the pad and then onto the disc, barely any of it is wasted by expanding the line. When you have rubber lines, they are very flexible and hence some of the braking potential is being wasted on expanding the rubber lines, requiring you to pull the lever harder in order to achieve an equivalent level of braking as with braided lines. Also, when the brakes heat up, the rubber becomes even softer which requires more effort in braking which is called fade and will give you far less feel than if you were using braided lines. The only reason manufacturers aren't installing braided lines from the factory on production bikes is because it's not economically feasible, rubber lines are much cheaper and easier for the, and most noobs who buy them will never even understand the difference.

In my opinion, braided lines are the BEST modification you can do to your bike. The standard brakes/lines are pretty average on these bikes. Upgrading to braided lines, sintered pads and good brake fluid changes the brakes completely, they are fantastic, two finger braking is piss easy, you can easily have the back wheel swaying while two finger braking.

Definitely upgrade to braided lines, you will not regret it. I would either go with Goodridge (I have them now and they are fantastic) or Venhill. I avoid Hel because of bad experiences with them in the past. Do it, you will understand why, afterwards.

[Neosophist]

To answer the original question.

Braided hoses don't do anything.

You're joking right?

The people saying rubber lines work just as well as braided are talking out their arse. Braided lines shit ALL over rubber lines in every single way.

Braided lines are essentially metal piping that is flexible, with very little expansive ability.

Did you read the entire reply?

My old man switch from rubber lines to braided lines on his CBR600RR when it was only 8 months old. I road the bike before and after switching over the lines for him. There was NO difference at all in braking.

If you have failing old rubber lines then new lines are going to better, if you change the brake line configuration then you might affect lever feel, but this is due to brake line configuaration, not the hoses.

Braided lines are NOT metal. They are a PTFE tube with metal meshing over it. I've had braided lines pop, one quite recently actually.

The OEM brake lines have to meet the specifications for the calipers and braking system they are part of. So providing they are in good condition then there is no benefit.

What you failed to read is that most OEM brake lines should be changed every 6 years and aftermarket braided lines are often the only / cheaper way to go.

If your trying to compare braided lines with 20 year old OEM NC30 lines then that is not what I was talking about and you have missed the point completely.

Having literally back to back rides on the CBR before and after (kept the same line setup) there was no noticable difference between the Honda lines and the Goodrich replacement.

Another reason people think they might be better is the change of fluid and purging of air.. even on a newer bike you may have air / moisture in the fluid which will skew your opinion of the lines.

Also, when the brakes heat up, the rubber becomes even softer which requires more effort in braking which is called fade and will give you far less feel than if you were using braided lines

Brake fade is usually caused by over-heating the brakepads and discs, overheating the brake fluid or having an over-excessive amount of moisture in the fluid. Brake lines getting 'hot' is not a very common reason.

Also brake line flex shouldn't be excessive on new rubber hoses.

So while braided lines may have higher burst pressure and less expansion, with new rubber hoses I've never noticed a difference.. I could flip the cbr over on either lines using 2 fingers if I was too heavy handed.

The original point maybe was slightly unclear but if you are replacing the original NC30 lines I doubt you'd notice much, if any difference between a new set of rubber hoses from Honda or a set of goodrich.

Afterall, there is only so much pressure you can apply to the brake lever before you will lock the front wheel up, regardless of bursting strength of the pipe, new hoses shouldn't swell either.

For the OP though, all lines should be replaced and braided aftermarket are usually all that is now avilable.

But it's difficult to do a good comprairision, as you mention changing pads and fluid at the same time there are too many variables.

Even with old hoses (which I wouldn't advocate using) sometimes a proper bleed of the system can do wonders.

Oh and the standard Honda OEM Nissin pads are one of the best brake pads you can get for the NC30.

[Chrissy_J]

The people saying rubber lines work just as well as braided are talking out their arse. Braided lines shit ALL over rubber lines in every single way.

Thanks for that. Want to insult me some more? Go ahead, you keyboard cowboy.

[thunderace]

The people saying rubber lines work just as well as braided are talking out their arse. Braided lines shit ALL over rubber lines in every single way.

Thanks for that. Want to insult me some more? Go ahead, you keyboard cowboy.

Don't be too hard on him, he may have just run out of Fosters

[Jashdown]

The people saying rubber lines work just as well as braided are talking out their arse. Braided lines shit ALL over rubber lines in every single way.

Thanks for that. Want to insult me some more? Go ahead, you keyboard cowboy.

Don't be too hard on him, he may have just run out of Fosters

Hahah

Chrissy, if you took offence to that champ, then you have some issues.

Neo, braided lines actually ARE metal, they have a PTFE inner, which holds the fluid but provides no structural integrity, the stainless steel mesh around that is what creates the strength and prevents expansion, then another layer on top of the braid to protect the metal and fairing paint. They do provide an improvement, even if most of the improvement comes from different setup (which is kind of the point, because OEM lines only come in one setup), yes you can still get enough braking force to look the front wheel with both types of lines, but the force applied at the lever is significantly different, lever feel is also much better with braided lines and so is consistency. I didn't see any brake fade during aggressive runs through the twisties, while with the rubber lines I found a fair amount of fade just braking heavily into bends (yes they were oldish lines). On top of this, braided lines just look better full stop.

Anyway, if MotoGP uses braided lines, then there must be some sort of advantage over brand spanking new rubber lines. I know I'll always have braided lines on all my bikes though.

[Sasakura]

I put braided hoses on my YBR 125 and I could do stoppies everyday afterwards...