I bought a second hand Charge Mixer a couple of years ago.

After a year the original Deore brakes failed (leaking pistons). I bought a set of Deore M615 brakes from Merlin. Eleven months later these are starting to fail (again, leaking pistons).

I’m tempted to order some Shimano SLX as a replacement (I’ve made a warranty claim with Merlin in the meantime), as they have a different caliper. I’m hoping that these will be more reliable, but I’m starting to think that hydraulic disc brakes and commuter bikes don’t mix?

Will I be better off going down the mechanical route?

Thoughts/experiences appreciated.

Hope.

No hope !

never had any issues like that ever, hope, avid, shimano and 5 bikes in the shed,

have you tried maintenance ??

have you tried maintenance ??

11 months? You’d be pulling pistons and changing seals after 11 months?.

I always thought one of the advantages of hydraulic brakes was the low maintenance.

What type of maintenance could I have carried out that would have prevented the pistons leaking?

Personally i wouldnt bother with hydraulics for commuting…boggo cable discs are more than enough.

Other than pads and (very) occasional fluid changes I haven’t done anything to my two sets of Hope brakes, one set must be over ten years old now.

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They are within warranty, just get them swapped and see how the replacements fair. You sopund to have been unlucky, shimano brakes are the most reliable out there.

Maybe lower end shimano ones aren’t made the same as SLX/XT? Or commuting means the pistons get exposed to road crap/salt? We have SLX and XT, both with heavy off road use and 4 years old. Each bled once in that time. Can also recommend Magura (I have two sets of Louise FRs that are 11-12 years old now and still working brilliantly despite being on her winter commuter and my crappy weather single speed).

Don’t touch Hope, that way misery and an intimate knowledge of how good Hope customer service is (it is excellent, the problem is it needs to be). Would never fit avid again, formula were a pain in the arse (forever needing adjusting and bleeding was the job from hell).

If you want ultimate reliability then mechanical are hard to beat and the finer aspects of performance won’t be an issue on a commuter.

Personally i wouldnt bother with hydraulics for commuting…boggo cable discs are more than enough.

This. Hayes MX4 with Avid levers.

All the Shimanos use basically the same design for caliper pistons. Commuting is hard on hydros, there’s a reason cars and motorbikes are double sealed and even they don’t last forever. Parts designed for mountain bike use won’t necessarily transfer well to road salt etc.

I’m using one of my ancient sets of formula oros, and they’ve been pretty superb, I was expecting to kill them, I just put them on because they’re worth nothing and my commuter is the place mountain bike kit goes to die.

Shimano seem to have failures in their brakes just like everyone else, it’s just cheap to get a new caliper or lever.

I’d also echo the road grime and sale thing as not being great for any bike parts.

On faith in Hydraulic brakes I’d still go with Hope each set gives me about 4-5 years of good use before they get relegated to the second bike.

Thanks for the responses.

I also have a set of XT fitted to my MTB which are over 2 years old and have so far been faultless, so it could be bad luck.

I did wonder if salt/grime might be a contributing factor. The bike gets ridden everyday so is exposed to the worst of the weather/road salt. I don’t have the time or inclination to wash it too often, which is why I chose a hub and disc brakes. 🙂

I’m going to have a go with mechanical brakes and keep my fingers crossed.

I also have a set of XT fitted to my MTB which are over 2 years old and have so far been faultless, so it could be bad luck.

So the real title ought to have been “problems with hydraulic brakes on my commuter, what do others recommend?”…

Ive found shimano (deore at least) and avid juicys- really bad don’t do too well on the commuter, I do a lot of miles in all weathers on the commute thru London, ive found cable discs tektro and avid and hydro- older hope minis are very reliable tho

I have an original set of Hope Mini’s on my commuter, over 11yrs old and haven’t been bled for years. They even spent about 4yrs hanging up in the shed & still worked perfectly when fitted.

I have had SLX brakes on my two bikes for about 5 years . One set has been on two frames the other three. During that time apart from the odd bleed and new pads they have been perfect. I think you have just been unlucky!

I’m going to have a go with mechanical brakes and keep my fingers crossed

Awaiting post in a months time saying ‘my mechanical callipers on my commuter have gone rubbish due to having lots more moving parts expose to road grime and salt’.

I’d very much stick with hydraulic

Just realised the calliper mount on a mixer is on the chain stay… This conveniently orients the end of the cable outer to be pointing upwards….. Wet and grime dribbles straight down the inside of the cable outer nicely helping to corrode the cable and get bunged with grit.

This conveniently orients the end of the cable outer to be pointing upwards….. Wet and grime dribbles straight down the inside of the cable outer nicely helping to corrode the cable and get bunged with grit.

That issue did cross my mind. 🙁

Darn it. Now I can’t decide.

Darn it. Now I can’t decide.

Stick with the hydraulics, and rinse them out occasionally? 😀