First off, this blog has been more than a little quiet lately, and most un blog like.  I realise that a dead blog is a very frustrating web page to land at.  I feel I must appologise for this slackness.  It has been quiet, not because there's been nothing to write about, but because there has been so much going on (and consequently lots to write about), that there has been no time to write.  I mean, fair enough, I could have done some writing on Friday evening after I got home late, but frankly I'd rather not think about bikes ALL of the time....  There is life after bikes, honestly.

Last week some new HEL braided brakelines arrived courtesy of Toby from Propel. HEL are big in the motorcycle industry and are now transferring their experience to the MTB arena.  Of course I got them in Commencal white! 



I fitted them to the XT brakes on my Supreme DH pronto. They use a swage fitting instead of the screw in fittings like Goodridge, which made fitting a piece of cake, and 100% tamper proof.  The box comes in a single kit which fits virtually ANY brake on the market.  Nice!



The collar slides over the hose and the hose fitting presses into the hose.  The collar is then crimped in a vice using the crimping tool supplied with every set.  The fitting is secure and job is done.



The system is neat and seamless. 



The supplied banjo bolt uses brass washers to seal the fitting.  This is nice; it is much more durable than the standard rubber o-rings - a few of which I've seen disintegrate.

And the white looks good, eh?



I had never heard of HEL til Toby mentioned them, and consequently made me try some!  I'd be interested to hear if anyone has heard of them, heard about them, or tried them.  I suppose the big question is how they compare to Goodridge?