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Not ridden my Spearfish for a while and I really don't recall the brakes being that bad.
The only difference is new bars that required longer hoses. Used halfords fluid and after 2 bleeds it still feels rubbish.
Both were mineral oil, yes?
Shimano fluid does have slightly different viscosity to other mineral oils IME.
I'm only using Shimano now.
I find Shimano oil to be thinner than others and this makes the brakes feel much better.
Similar experiences with Halfords mineral oil too. The brakes never quite felt back to 100%. I now only use Shimano oil in my Shimano brakes and find I get better results now.
Can't find the page now but I remember reading maybe on MTBR forum, someone saying that the Halfords stuff makes the seals and gaskets swell up. No idea if this is true or not but from my experience Shimano oil gives me better results.
I very rarely need to bleed brakes so don't really mind spending the extra for the Shimano stuff
I think Dot fluid in a Mineral oil system makes the seals swell...mineral oil in a mineral oil system 'should' be fine.
Did use Citroen fluid for years in shimano brakes (Saint/XT/SLX) without issue. Over the last year, however, my Shimano brakes started suffering the inconsistent lever pull and would never get a decent bleed.
Don't know if anything has changed (I read somewhere that something internal had changed) but switched to genuine shimano fluid and they are now brilliant without issue.
No surprise, really, but did have years of issue free brakes for years on Citreon fluid. Won't go back to it though.
This is worth a read:
[url= http://www.bikerumor.com/2013/04/11/tech-speak-brake-fluid-break-down-and-implications-for-road-disc-updated/ ]http://www.bikerumor.com/2013/04/11/tech-speak-brake-fluid-break-down-and-implications-for-road-disc-updated/[/url]
Shimano oil and halfords oils are different. DoT Fluid is a specific recipe and has strict guidelines to levels of x, y and z in it. Mineral oil is a general term and there aren't any specifics as what should be in it.
Shimano oil is a lot thinner and has a much higher boiling point than "normal" mineral oils.
mineral oil in a mineral oil system 'should' be fine.
[b]Magura mineral oil destroys Shimano seals[/b], see Bikerumor link
Shimano ordered.
Oh, that's exciting- could be quite a lot of folks caught out by that
could be quite a lot of folks caught out by that
I know of one, he's a regular on here, his LBS did it.