kaplang

Any recommendations on Mineral oil other then Shimano that can I use with some confidence of reliability. I dont race and just looking for a brand that is more in my budget. My opinion on why Shimano went away from DOT to mineral oil was to make it propriety to their braking system and sell more at a premium price. That's my story and I'm stickin to it.

veganbikes

What brakes do you use? If they are Shimano, then Shimano Mineral Oil, if Magura, Royal Blood, if SRAM use SRAM DOT fluid.

Basically use the brake oil intended for your system those systems are designed for a specific fluid and you can potentially damage seals using something incorrect. Shimano hasn't used DOT fluid since the 70s and it was not a proprietary thing at all it was that mineral oil is less caustic and doesn't take on water/humidity.

Sure you probably could get away with using different mineral oils in different mineral oil brakes and be ok but why bother. It is unlikely you will get a performance gain from using non-Shimano fluid in your XT calipers if you would Shimano probably would have done that at this point or made a different fluid for those brakes.

100ml of Shimano fluid is generally around $15-20 and you probably won't need to bleed that often so that is about 5 cups of coffee a year or something pretty insignificant like that. The Finish Line Mineral Oil is around the same maybe a buck or two cheaper and their DOT fluid is about the same price. Not really worth it if I can get the right fluid for my brakes. If you cannot afford $15 a year or in some cases every few years you might need to rethink things a bit. I know there are people struggling and $15 is a lot of money for them but if you have a bike with hydraulic disc brakes you cannot be doing so terribly.

If small purchases to keep your bike running aren't in the budget you might want to talk to someone you know who is better at budgeting or read some stuff online about budgeting or check something out at your local library (when it opens back up or is safe to start going out like that).

sch

Lube/fluids costs for bikes and their riders (ie HEED etc powders that work out to $0.50 or more per liter) can rankle a bit.
But 15 or so yrs ago I sat down and worked out the consumables cost/mile IME. This would be chains (3k miles), tubes
(5-30k mi) tires also 3k mi) cassettes (7k mi) CW (10k mi) cables (3-5k mi) cable housing, then BB and headset
bearings. Once you factor duration and costs, I was surprised to see that riding a bike ran me ~ $0.08-0.10/mile.
Given price changes since then maybe $0.12-0.16/mile. Cassettes and tires are up about 50%. Did not factor in
wheels, but they could add $0.005 a mile easily if rim brakes (brake pads: disk brakes new pads every 3-5k miles
at $10....are a different calculation than replacing brake worn rims)

This is consumables only, no factors for the very considerable depreciation. Throw in the expenses of driving to
ride starts, snacks and drinks bought on rides and as a hobby it is not expensive, but not cheap.

dsbrantjr

Brakes being as important as they are, to me at least, I follow the manufacturer's recommendations to the letter.

Iride01 

This sort of reminds me about the time back in the mid 1990's that I got concerned about seeming like I was going broke replacing light bulbs in the house. I was tracking all my expenses at the time in such great detail with my computer so I could go back and pull up all my expenses for light bulbs or most anything I wanted.

The results of the search was that in none of the previous five years or so that I had kept that detailed purchase history did I spend more than $1.80 on light bulbs. Of course back then a pack of light bulbs were very cheap. So it still was a lot of bulbs I was changing. Just didn't amount to a significant enough part of my expenses to realize any benefit even if I figured out how to get bulbs for free.

Gresp15C

An amusing irony about modern life is that for most of us common folk, being conscious of where relatively small amounts of money are going, is how we get ourselves to the point where we don't have to worry about where relatively small amounts of money are going. If I was pouring 100 cc of oil into my bike every year, I would probably take note of the expense, but more importantly, I'd be wondering where all of that oil is going. I hope a bike isn't like an English motorcycle. Even my Sturmey Archer doesn't drip that much.

ddeand 

For some strange reason, I think brakes are fairly important. We have no problem sinking big bucks into upgrading our bikes (1x drives, better tires and wheels, nicer saddles, special pedals, upgraded brake pads, etc.), but when it comes to basic maintenance, we want to cheap out on some items. If stopping is important, then give your ride the best opportunity For it to do its best - use the recommended parts/fluids.

dsbrantjr

+1 Cars too, tires and brakes are the only things between me and disaster.

squirtdad

it never fails to amaze me people trying to be cheap, in a total inconsequential way dollarwise, on key components like brakes. and in general also look at all the threads grease, brake fluid, chain lube...it goes on and on

Amt0571

I've been using Finish Line mineral brake fluid for 10 years with my Shimano discs and Magura hydraulic rim brakes with no issues.

On my Sram equipped road bike I use Motul DOT 5.1 fluid.

No reason to buy the "official" overpriced fluids in my opinion.

I have also been using Repsol motorbike suspension oil for the forks oil bath successfully. Bought a 1L bottle for 7€ and have been servicing the fork for 10 years with oil to spare and not a single issue.

As long as the oil is within the manufacturer specs, it should work. Mineral oil specs are somewhat confusing TBH, but I can assure you that finish line works well and is cheap.

jp911

Personally, I'm glad DOT fluid is not used in all disc brakes. Having spent a lot of time working on cars I can tell you that hydraulic brake fluid is nasty stuff to work with...eats paint, rough on skin, contaminates easily, and shouldn't be stored once a bottle/can has been opened.

NoWhammies

Considering how many hills I ride up - and then bomb down - I'm ok shelling out the of couple extra bucks for Shimano mineral oil. For me, why risk my life or serious injury just to save a few dollars over a couple of years/seasons?

veganbikes

So I used Billionaire Jeff Bezos' Amazon to do this because cheap is mentioned. For 4oz of your cheap Finish Line Mineral oil it is 10.99 (so $2.74 per oz) for over 16oz of "official" overpriced Shimano Mineral Oil it is 24.69 (so $1.46 per oz) Now I get one has more fluid so that is typically cheaper because you are buying more but damn calling Shimano Mineral oil overpriced is just silly. Even in other comparisons with other sites it is usually not much more than $1-2 different.

I am not arguing it doesn't work, I use Finish Line products all the time and they are great but to call one overpriced is kind of silly.

HerrKaLeun

Shimano mineral oil lasts forever and actually can be stored forever. DOT is hygrophile and can't be stored long once the bottle is opened. Makes it cheaper and more sustainable and more practical. It also has a higher boiling point. You only really need to bleed a tiny bit to let air out unless you cook your brakes frequently.

It is not a conspiracy, it is quality.

Amt0571

I don't know prices in the US. I'm in Europe and finish line was less than a quarter of the price per L of shimano when I bought it.

Shimano was definitely overpriced.

Amt0571

There's a little catch though.

If water manages to get inside your mineral oil brake system, it will pool on the lowest part (the caliper) and probably boil off when you need the brakes most. That means you should replace mineral oil "regularly".

When water gets inside a DOT 5.1 system, it doesn't pool anywhere, so it's way more difficult for it to boil (well, a small part of it may boil, but you won't find a huge gas bubble inside your caliper when trying to brake hard).

I've seen this happen once and the crash was not pretty. It wasn't me, fortunately.

I personally have both, DOT 5.1 bikes and mineral oil bikes. When working on them I agree that mineral oil is way better. Even if you make a mess, you just need to clean it without worries. SRAM brakes are always more fiddly and require more maintenance, and if oil comes in contact with paint, you better clean it fast (I always have water and a sponge ready when bleeding DOT 5.1 brakes).

veganbikes

Ahh maybe in Europe pricing is really odd.

HerrKaLeun

How does water get into the brake? DOT attracts water, so some will diffuse through seals and the material.So they absorb from the humidity in the air. I'm not saying you are wrong, just wondering how in practice the water gets in. My commuter bike is the only bike I have that sees a lot of rain and I wonder if that is impacted. I'm not sure if Shimano has recommended complete fluid flush intervals. Cars have a 3 year flush (complete) interval due to water.

After an accident it is hard to determine if boiling fluid was the cause since at time of investigation the vapor is liquid again.

Amt0571

Water gets in because no hydraulic disc brake system is completely sealed. For the same reason, air gets inside sometimes and brakes need a bleed. This air carries moisture BTW, which as you know, means water.

You can determine that there's water boiling inside a system when it works perfectly until you brake hard for long and suddenly the lever goes to the bars and you loose all braking power. After cooling, the brake will work again. It stops working when the water turns to vapour, and starts working again when it returns to a liquid state.