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FrostBike 2013: Formula Rips your Brake Line in Two, with Quick disconnect SpeedLock

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Ever wished you could just disconnect your brake line somewhere along its length and reconnect it without having to bleed it? So has Formula. SpeedLock was first shown back at Interbike 2011, but it still seems to be something very few know about, which is a shame because it’s pretty cool – especially if you have a coupled bike. Initially, the thought was that this would help with factories building bikes with internal routing, so you could run the brake lines without having to bleed them, and it does. But the other big application is for anyone that has a coupled mountain bike they travel with, as SpeedLock would allow riders to easily disconnect the lines and pack up the bike. All without having to bleed anything once you get to your destination. SpeedLock is available either on the lever, the caliper, or in line, with a ton of options for length since the ends are fixed and you can’t shorten the lines. The only option that allows you to change the length of the line, is the caliper version since it uses a standard hose up to the lever. Otherwise, hoses are sold in 10 cm increments to match your application.

P.S.  – all of these were working samples, you could disconnect and reconnect them all you wanted and the brakes would still work.

SpeedLock fittings are available in red, black, and gold ano finishes, and retail for about $60 per line.

Formula is also changing up the caliper bore covers a bit with the older 6 point caps on the right transitioning to the 5 point cap on the left. We’re told knowing which you have will help you out if you have to call Formula for help with your brakes.

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Gregg C
Gregg C
11 years ago

Dry-break connections are pretty common on the auto racing side. Commonly used for quick brake changes on endurance cars where they swap a whole new caliper/rotor/hub/upright instead of just changing the pads. This also allowed Audi to do a 7 minute rear-end swap (trans/suspension/etc) at one Le Mans race. Cool stuff.

BenG
BenG
11 years ago

@Gregg
It’s good to hear that this has been used successfully in other industries. It’s an interesting idea and one that I could see being useful, but it also sounds like asking for air in the lines. Nice to know that it’s been pulled off before.

The Goats
11 years ago

Love the small details that make a difference. Could be a big leap forwards for air travel with bikes! Also good to know it has been employed in other sports.

XOXO

Goats

Chase
Chase
11 years ago

anybody ever remove the caliper bore cover on a RX? want to remove mine and raw/polish it.

Dario
Dario
5 years ago
Reply to  Chase

I need to clean the RX caliper, but can’t find the tool to renove the bore cap!!!

SW
SW
11 years ago

Anyone know if these lines can be attached to other companies’ systems? I’m thinking a RockShox Reverb stealth…

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