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What's the Best Mineral Oil?

Lelandjt

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2008
2,508
822
Breckenridge, CO/Lahaina,HI
Do you guys have any preference in brake mineral oil? Is there something that works best in all non-DOT brakes due to its viscosity or resistance to thermal break down? I heard once that Shimano oil is too thick, contributing to pump up, so some guys were using Reverb oil in their Shimano brakes.
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,536
5,470
UK
Dunno about "best" but
Putoline HPX R 2.5W Premier Synthetic MX Fork Oil
 

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
23,926
14,438
where the trails are
I've heard of people running Pentosin mineral oil (auto grade) as it's more consistent at extreme temps, perhaps an "upgrade" but it could be placebo effect. YMMV. I just use the red Shimano oil (at least until the big shop jug runs out)
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,851
9,556
AK
Dunno about "best" but
Putoline HPX R 2.5W Premier Synthetic MX Fork Oil
Yeah. I can't say it's distinctly better, but it's different...I still run it.

I did look up the SDS on Magura Blood fluid. The worst thing that happens if you drink it is you die.
 

Flo33

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2015
2,057
1,298
Styria
Guys, there is a thread about improving brakes and in the op's first post a link to a g drive spreadsheet. And in said file one can also find data on brake fluids. Thx to @Udi

Redline Like Water
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
I've had great experience with Motul when I was using Saint m810s but I doubt it was the best. I just had a good deal on it from the times I used their dots
 

shirk007

Monkey
Apr 14, 2009
499
354
Aeroshell MIL-PRF-5606H

If it's good enough to aircraft brakes and meets military spec it's good enough for me. It's also $20 for a lifetime supply from Aircraft Spruce and I tagged it onto one of my 4130 tubing orders.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,851
9,556
AK
Aeroshell MIL-PRF-5606H

If it's good enough to aircraft brakes and meets military spec it's good enough for me. It's also $20 for a lifetime supply from Aircraft Spruce and I tagged it onto one of my 4130 tubing orders.
I don't agree. The usage of aircraft brakes is radically different than something like a race car or high tempo autosport. After high braking effort stops, (RTO, high auto-brake levels) there are often required cool down periods where the aircraft is effectively grounded, even if it's ready to go, to wait for the brakes to cool down enough for another takeoff...with the possibility of rejecting that takeoff again (always a possibility). They are more like a one-time deal in that way. There's a little braking on the ground for taxiing, but it's nowhere near the system use during landing and that use is very different than braking in other applications IMO.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
Its been years since i ran mineral oil brakes but I remember running Redline Likewater suspension oil in some which made them feel great. That is of course ignoring all the important stuff about brake fluid like boiling point etc, but its possibly comparable on those points anyway.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,920
borcester rhymes
Interesting to see that Magura is so similar to pentosin. I used to use pentosin 11 after a recommendation by everybody's favorite nutter Verdone. Worked fine in my hands, but back then shimano oil was unreasonably expensive. I think they lowered to price so mortals can buy it again. Pentosin seems to still be working fine in my XT brakes on the commuter, but that's not exactly pushed to the limit.
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,536
5,470
UK
A long long time ago I filled HS33s with water once.
They were shite to begin with and I honestly didn't notice them becoming any worse for it.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,851
9,556
AK
I used J&J baby oil in my old M755s ... those brakes are STILL in use at what, 20 yrs old?
Supposedly, those brakes did not suffer from the wandering bite issues and were the best they ever made.
 
Feb 21, 2020
817
1,139
SoCo Western Slope
Finally got around to filling a set of Saint brakes with Redline Likewater.....

red_line_like_water_suspension_fluid.jpg


Holy crap, what a difference! They feel so snappy and responsive at the lever, almost like a new brake. Sooo nice!
$15 for a huge bottle.

The ride I did was pretty damn cold, temps in the low to mid 30's, and the brakes were unaffected. Previously using Shimano or Finish line mineral oil they would feel extra sluggish and the levers would pump up if pulled rapidly at those temps. All that is gone.
1128221519d.jpg




I have been running Shimano brakes for 15+ years, don't know why it took so long to find this out. Best upgrade ever, thanks @Udi !
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,851
9,556
AK
I don't see much difference with shimano at low to mid 30s, it's typically in the low teens to high singles that shit starts going sideways for pump-up and feel and then getting below 0 significantly it's basically on/off with zero lever travel. I do get the pump-up on the steeps earlier in the 30s...but that's kind of a linear problem that exists in hot temps too, just increases as temp decreases. When I changed to the HPX 2.5 wt, it was maybe a slight difference...but not substantial. The brakes still behaved more or less the same at the temps I described above.

Last ride was at 0-5F, hope brakes worked great...just like they do when it's 80F.

I do want some like-water for my Mastodon though. I have some light oil in there...but I don't think it's as light as Redline.
 

Flo33

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2015
2,057
1,298
Styria
Finally got around to filling a set of Saint brakes with Redline Likewater.....

View attachment 185536

Holy crap, what a difference! They feel so snappy and responsive at the lever, almost like a new brake. Sooo nice!
$15 for a huge bottle.

The ride I did was pretty damn cold, temps in the low to mid 30's, and the brakes were unaffected. Previously using Shimano or Finish line mineral oil they would feel extra sluggish and the levers would pump up if pulled rapidly at those temps. All that is gone.
View attachment 185538



I have been running Shimano brakes for 15+ years, don't know why it took so long to find this out. Best upgrade ever, thanks @Udi !
This matches my experience 1:1, best fluid I ever tried and also improving the mighty DRT.
 

JerseyMojo

Chimp
Oct 11, 2018
7
2
Seen on Vital today they tested the BleedKit.com gold mineral oil and claimed that it did improve the WBP® issue feature. Anyone tried it?
 

FOTB

Chimp
Jan 31, 2024
6
3
Does the 2020 update of redline likewater make the fluid too light? Causing piston leaks?