How To Change Shimano STI Lever Hoods

Replacing your brake lever hoods is a great way of freshening up the look and feel of your bike. This is a guide to replacing Shimano hoods.

Replacing brake hoods requires a couple of things; brute strength (good luck Dan) and alcohol hand wash.

If your hoods are starting to look a bit tired, shiny or worn out, it's probably time to replace them. Hoods are actually made from pretty touch rubber, so they're very difficult to tear off the levers. Instead, try pulling them off the lever.

Replacing the hoods is just as simple. Hoods are for specific sides of the bike, so make sure you get this one right. This is the point that you need the alcohol hand wash. Use it to lubricate the lever as you slide the hood on.

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[robby_outdoors]

This may be an "old" video by internet standards but it has come time for me to replace the hoods on my Dura Ace STI shifters. After fiddling with the new hoods for a while, this video showed me the "trick" and I got both of the sorted in a matter of a few minutes. Thanks for keeping info like this up as my components grow older and need replacement.

[Maxmaxz]

I've just bought some pure-white tyres and a pure-white chain to go with my pure-white bike. It looks great.

I haven't ridden it yet; I'm waiting for the Cyclocross season to start.

[SloppySalad]

Dan's pretty good at applying lube to rubber... He'd better be protected from those STIs now

[michaelbacon]

I wish more companies made aftermarket hoods. It's as personalized an item as bar tape, but only a couple options out there. I would really like options on the color, texture and suppleness. I cant even find replacements for Shimano Claris. A good tip : Place a small square of bar tape under the hood where your hands rest for a little extra padding.

[zxdfty]

All good tips!
I have white and yellow bar tape on my bikes, and found a good way to extend the life of your neatly wrapped bar tape: You can easily wash that grime off with a vigourous scrub using a soft brush and a slurry of OxiClean (dissolved in hot water). Then rinse them off with water and let dry...good as new!

[Metal.Is.A.Adicshun]

A year on from an upload date and I needed this. The tip about warming the rubber up is brilliant. Works like a charm. Belated thanks GCN!

[michaelgearing]

Being 70 years old, I don't have the same hand strength I used to have. I cut off the old ST-R785 hoods, and used your GREAT TIP to use hand sanitizer to install the new ones. Thanks, the new ones look great on the bike!

[lewishutchison]

Still recommending hand sanitizer 😅😅 ... pretty sure it’s worth more than my new hoods #quarentinejobs

[malcolmhodgson]

I just changed my DA9000 hoods in 2 minutes flat using this method and no tears on the new hoods. The old hoods “tore” coming off. I had a few practices with the old hoods and realised like Dan shows the hoods are hard to tear by force BUT they do cut easily. If you look at the 9000 levers there are two exposed metal actuators underneath the levers. When putting the new hoods on DO NOT let the hood touch these metal sections as they simply slice through the hood. If you push the hood up far enough then keep a finger under to stop the metal cutting the hood, use your other hand to carefully drag the hood over the top you don’t “tear” i.e. cut the new hood pulling it on. Hope that helps. You can clearly see the two metal strips to watch out for when the old hood is off.

[COREEEE]

crashed a couple days ago and tried to replace the damaged one. sweat, curses and failure. then i find your video and managed it pronto, BIG THANKS

[gregwang]

Was as careful as possible and new Dura-Ace hood I was trying to put on tore easily... moral of the story here I think is to do the extra work and take the shifter off the bar if you're going to do this and don't want to take the risk.

[jonzhuang]

Applying the hand sanitizer really works so well. Just a little force and the hood is in place!!

[RobertKoritnik]

It's even easier if you first turn the hood upside down, because the bottom part has a lot less rubber to push over the hood than the top part. I'm amazed they didn't do it that way in the first place. I've managed to do it off and on today without any lubrication. With much effort, but surely less than pulling it off as it is. If I used some lubrication it would be a snap.

[random]

Rubber doesn't  expand when it is heated... it shrinks... Engineering 101 -

It will soften though

[Jswalden]

Worth adding: besides the brake hood logo facing outward, at least the Shimano R-7000 hoods I just replaced on my bike have clear L/R indicators inside the hoods to point out which goes on which side. And I'd be surprised if most hoods don't have similar.

[charlieharper]

I used a pair of plyers to grab the hoods to pull them on and off. Helped a lot. Also used gel lube getting them both on and off. Used a screw driver to fine tune the hood at the end.

[smacl]

Worked a treat, many thanks, though I did rip one of the old covers getting it off and cut the remainder off with a scissors! Much easier getting the new ones on that the old ones off which was a pleasant surprise.

[hooktrunk]

Haha. Good advice except for the part about how tough they are. Mine immediately sliced in half on the shifting mech underneath the grx levers. With a new hood I covered the area with a bit of old hood to protect the new hood.

[KeenxLimit]

That bar tape (shudder)
Great video, I didn't know until last year that the rubber can be replaced.

[cootey]

We all laughed back then and asked "who uses hand sanitizer???" jokes on us, and we can now all change hoods lol