Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

sram breaks with mineral oil?

32K views 50 replies 31 participants last post by  Groove_c 
#1 ·
anyone tried it on srams latest breaks, just running guide r's.

ta
 
#2 ·
I am sure no one has because mineral oil is not compatible with any SRAM brake. You have to us DOT brake fluid, no way around that. The only reason anyone would want to do that is if they wanted to destroy their brakes and buy new ones.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for pointing out the obvious. Don't be so naive, loads of people Have run breaks on water when in a pinch. Dot fluid is corrosive so will definitely damage seals designed for mineral oils, but I've never had a definite answer on the other way round, so someone with experience would be nice. Personally I don't want to use dot fluid.

I'm probably going to buy some cura 4's as the lever throw is to long on the srams with topping up the main cylinder mid pad life for me, but if I can get away with mineral oil in the guide r's then happy days.
 
#4 ·
with brake systems the only answer is use what the manufacturer says to use

it is critical safety equipment. deviate and you are now in untested and unsupported config and if your brakes fail as a result, and at a critical moment...[what happens?]
 
#6 ·
Well these guys did it and it didn't seem to go well. OP wasn't being naive with my answer just using common sense. Oh and using water in a pinch. Well moisture or water is not the same as using a completely different type of fluid. Plus the DOT brakes (not breaks by the way) are exposed to water all the time. Brake fluid is hudroscopic. That is why you should t use old brake fluid that is sitting around. It lowers the boiling point of the brake fluid and can cause brake fade. Much more of an issue for cars though.

Mineral Oil + SRAM brakes = ??? - Endeavor Cycles
 
#15 ·
DOT is fine and in many ways superior to mineral oil, which is why it's used in cars, trucks, motos, etc... I started dealing with it doing the brakes on my beater cars in the mid '70s and since in cars, motos and later bicycles. It's not corrosive (whatever you might mean by that) and is certainly no big deal. Get over it.

I love the smell of DOT in the morning.
 
#21 ·
Why would you want to do this in a non-emergency situation?

And what could possibly cause an emergency situation where you've got all the equipment to bleed the brakes, but not DOT fluid, a thing you can get at most every gas station, hardware store, and auto parts supplier?


As far as DOT fluid being less compressible than mineral oil... they're both liquids and incompressible by nature. The DOT may entrain less air, it may have a higher boiling point, it may expand less when warm, but less compressible? I'm not buying that claim.
 
#24 ·
Putting mineral oil in a system designed for DOT fluid is a recipe for failure and expensive reconstructive surgery.
However I have a dim recollection of SRAM announcing a line of mineral oil brakes for the Euro market around 2014-15 because DOT fluid is more strictly regulated in the EU.
 
#28 ·
Most likely the seals will be the only problem, they will fail if brake fluid is different than what the seals are designed for. The cylinders and pistons will likely be just fine. So technically if you would replace the seals with some other type which can cope with mineral oil, the system should work just fine.

The seals will most probably withstand water just fine, so using water technically works with no problems. The problem however will be low boiling point and corrosion...
 
#40 ·
Most likely the seals will be the only problem, they will fail if brake fluid is different than what the seals are designed for. The cylinders and pistons will likely be just fine. So technically if you would replace the seals with some other type which can cope with mineral oil, the system should work just fine.

The seals will most probably withstand water just fine, so using water technically works with no problems. The problem however will be low boiling point and corrosion...
and finally we get a sensical answer lol, thanks.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top