Yep the metal pads are more apt to squeal...vs. the resin.
Bleeding Shimano hydraulic brakes
- Thread starter scottm
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
do you guys wear spandex pants?
ok, I see those guys around here, the lance armstrong wannabes.
I see a lot of guys on mountain bikes wearing that gear. I like to ride, but I can't hang with that.
Cube Dweller
Moderator
I use $0.99 perfumed baby oil on mine. No issues in the past 7 years.
Cube Dweller
Moderator
The baby oil I mentioned in my post above worked fine riding serious downhills in Tahoe, the Sierra foothills and racing the Downieville Classic. No fade or pressure drops.
scottm
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #29
I use plain mineral oil for a lot of things, but several sites cautioned against it here. One site went into technical detail about the properties of different mineral oils and hydraulic and brake fluids, can't find it now.
NSMB.e.MAGAZINE - Freeride, Extreme and North Shore style Mountain Biking
NSMB.e.MAGAZINE - Freeride, Extreme and North Shore style Mountain Biking
You have never ridden a set properly adjusted then. Properly set up and adjusted, they have modulation very close to good hydro brakes (some guys say better, but my experience is nearly as good). Avid Mechanicals are still extremely popular with many hard core riders for the simple reason they work well with little fuss.
I've been mountain biking for about 12 years and finally bought a bike that came with hydro brakes. Man! What a difference between discs and vbrakes. I'll never go back to the Vbrake configuration as the hydros offer much better wet and dry modulation, especially when honking down hill covered with slick roots.
My friend has the Avid mechanical disc brakes, and while I know people like 'em, I think the brake lever feel on the hydros are better. Performance may be similar, but when you crank on the Avid lever, you know you're tugging on a wire. Not so with the hydros.
My friend has the Avid mechanical disc brakes, and while I know people like 'em, I think the brake lever feel on the hydros are better. Performance may be similar, but when you crank on the Avid lever, you know you're tugging on a wire. Not so with the hydros.
Spud,
There was a free recall on XTR to fix the dragging pads. Check w/ your local shop on having that done.
I have never had a hydro line pop. in racing, in training, ever. It is not a very high pressure system.
I ran Avid Mechanicals before upgrading to hydros.
I thought the Avid Juicy7 was good too but only had that for a summer.
Ohhh, I will check on the recall.
I did not mean "pop" as in some kind of spontaneous event, or due to pressure. I meant that there is a decent chance that you could smash it on a rock, cut a line by abrasion, get a stick caught and rip out a line etc. as in s*** could happen and leave you without brakes. In the field, a hydo setup is unfixable IMO.
Ohhh, I will check on the recall.
I did not mean "pop" as in some kind of spontaneous event, or due to pressure. I meant that there is a decent chance that you could smash it on a rock, cut a line by abrasion, get a stick caught and rip out a line etc. as in s*** could happen and leave you without brakes. In the field, a hydo setup is unfixable IMO.
While I am not a big fan of hydros, there have been virtually no problems with this in the field (if there were, you would be reading about it on MTBR). The biggest problem in the field is the brakes loosing their bleed or a leakage onto the pads. Both are very rare and virtually never happen without warning.
Interesting...
My assumption was that it was happening on occasion. I subpose MTBR would know, (the Mud of MTBing).
Well, I am happy with what I have. My original chime in was just me throwing in my opinion about the pro's & cons of mechanical vs. hydro. I subpose I was imagineing a "worst case scenrio" to weigh them out.
scottm
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #39
Ok, that worked, no surprises. It was no problem doing it solo, I could comfortably reach the brake lever and rear bleed screw. When I opened the bleed screw, the brake lever went almost immediately to the limit, it would've been difficult to coordinate that between two people. I pumped a lot of fluid through the rear caliper, one tiny bit at a time, refilling the reservoir every five pumps of the lever. The piston in the reservoir didn't always return fully to give a complete stroke, but seemed to improve with fresh fluid.
The brakes seem better in a quick ride on the driveway, the rear brake lever doesn't need as much travel.
The bladders that sit on top were expanded quite a bit when I took them out, which indicates some fluid loss since new. I haven't noticed any fluid loss, but this bike gets pretty messy sometimes. It's a year and a half old, but has ridden daily through two Michigan winters.
It was a little messy pouring a liter can into the small reservoir, I kept plenty of paper towels under the reservoir to catch the spills. Mineral oil is pretty forgiving, glad it wasn't brake fluid. The clear hose stayed tight on the bleed screw, no spills around the calipers. The other end of the hose is tight through a hole in the water bottle lid, so it stays put and doesn't spill even if it tips. I drilled a small vent hole in the lid as well.
The brakes seem better in a quick ride on the driveway, the rear brake lever doesn't need as much travel.
The bladders that sit on top were expanded quite a bit when I took them out, which indicates some fluid loss since new. I haven't noticed any fluid loss, but this bike gets pretty messy sometimes. It's a year and a half old, but has ridden daily through two Michigan winters.
It was a little messy pouring a liter can into the small reservoir, I kept plenty of paper towels under the reservoir to catch the spills. Mineral oil is pretty forgiving, glad it wasn't brake fluid. The clear hose stayed tight on the bleed screw, no spills around the calipers. The other end of the hose is tight through a hole in the water bottle lid, so it stays put and doesn't spill even if it tips. I drilled a small vent hole in the lid as well.