Park Tool HBT-1- Hydraulic Barb Tool, One Size

Good tool. Works very well. Pricey.

I recently built a Ritchey hardtail with XT brakes. One brake came assembled and bled, the other came with the hose on the caliper and fluid in with a cap/plug on the other end of the hose. I ride with front brake on right hand side, so I needed to switch sides for the pre-assembled unit plus cut both hoses to length. The Park Tool HBT-1 cut the cable cleanly. I suggest using a small pick or punch to make sure the hose is perfectly round after the cutting, not ovalized. I started the barbed fitting by hand then clamped the hose into the HBT-1 and pressed the barb fitting the rest of the way in. Zero drama, easy assembly. The tool comes with extra hose-cutting blades. Seems like an expensive tool for the two simple functions ... you might be able to get by without it, but the tool definitely made the cutting and assembly easy and tidy.

... it cuts hydraulic brake hose and installs the barb. The HBT -1 does both of these tasks very well. It cuts brake hose at a precise 90 degree angle, so the cut is square. It does a good job of securing the hose end while install the barb. I suppose this second task is possible without this tool, but the HBT-1 install barbs quickly and easily each time.

I’m not sure how you could push in a barbed hose inserts without this tool. Sure if you’re only doing one or two bikes you figure it out, but this tool is the go to tool. I only gave four stars because I believe it could do a better job at holding the hydraulic line. It’s hard for me to find a fault in any Park Tool, so if it were a scale of 100 stars, I’d give it a 99.

Didn't always cut cleanly and for some brands of hose the tool would crush the hose, or best case, leave dents. Looked great in videos, not so much in real life.

There are all manner of cheap Chinese hydraulic hose cutters and joiners for the bike market. Some of them are actually excellent and priced a third of this Park Tool HBT-1. So why own this baby? It's simple, ... when you do hydraulic hose cutting and barbs all day long as part of your job, you want to reach for something that you don't have to fidget with to get to work. The HBT-1 fits the bill. It has a manly handle for professional bike mechanics to cut quickly and another large knob to hold the hose in place. When you push the handle down, ... the barb gets pushed in cleanly and with no wonkiness. The only downside, ... like so many Park Tools after COVID, this baby is now $90. That said, it is a five star tool which does its intended job exactly and correctly every time.

As others have said, the hose cutter is not up to what I'd consider Park Tool Quality. I'd recommend they put a plastic block facing the blade to give support as the blade is cutting. It would make it better. Maybe we are supposed to turn the tool while trying to cut, but I have a pair of Klien fiber cable cutters that snip the hose cleanly and easily. The time I used this to cut a hose, it made a mess of the hose end. (Haven't tried the pin install part yet. Hope it does well) Finally have a few uses of this tool, and my opinion has changed for the worse. The cutter is still a joke. The pin press to insert the pin leaves gouges in the hose and can't hold the hose without it slipping accentuating the damage. Quite an embarrassment in a Park Tool. Usually they are top notch, bar none; solid, well executed, however this tool SHOULD be executed. It needs a redesign and some better manufacturing to make it usable. I'm debating on returning this through Amazon, or sending it to Park and see what they say. Thank Ford I had a tool from redoing the brakes on a MTB many years ago. That tool wasn't specifically for Shimano, but it got the job done, after wasting 2 barbs and a chunk of brake hose with this tool. NOT GOOD!!

I purchased this tool along with Magura brake line inserts. This tool made the task of shortening my brake lines and installing new MT-7’s flawless. I highly recommend all my fellow self wrenching cyclists get one for your shop. You could also help people in the neighborhood that have brake issues.

Pro: Einpressvorgang funktioniert einwandfrei Contra: Schneidet die Leitung mittelmäßig sauber ab. Das Werkzeug ist in Ordnung, allerdings hätte ich mir bei dem Preis ein besseres abschneiden der Leitungen erwartet. Bevor ich dieses Werkzeug hatte, habe ich die Leitungen mit einer feinen Eisensäge abgelängt und anschließend sauber gefeilt/geschliffen - dies dauerte natürlich 4x solange.

Funciona a la perfección y es excelente

Very easy to use, cuts hoses at perfect right angles. The barb insert tool removes the hassle of barb fitting. It is a quality tool from Park Tool.