Home Forums Bike Forum The great Shimano mineral oil drought of 2021. When/where can i get some?

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  • The great Shimano mineral oil drought of 2021. When/where can i get some?
  • Chest_Rockwell
    Free Member

    Got a couple of brakesets that need their fluid replacing. Was considering buying a 1l tub, for future changes, none available anywhere. Same with the smaller bottles.

    Some eBay sellers do the smaller quantities but I dont want to, unwittingly, buy any of that Ali express stuff.

    Assuming I can’t source any Shimano fluid, what else is out there? Cyclo is about all I can seem to find.

    duncancallum
    Full Member

    I’ve used Lhm suspension fluid before.

    scuttler
    Full Member
    b230ftw
    Free Member

    Its the same stuff as Citroen LHM suspension fluid. Get it in huge bottles in Halfords. Exactly the same stuff.

    https://www.halfords.com/motoring/engine-oils-and-fluids/brake-clutch-fluid/comma-l.h.m.-plus-1l-124424.html

    Bit cheaper at places like GSF or try your local motoring factors.

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    Citroen LHM

    Yep, should be under a tenner for a Litre…

    nickjb
    Free Member

    I’ve used LHM before, its not exactly the same but I’ve not had any issues. For the cost I prefer to use Shimano but that’s not much help if you can’t buy it. Halfords do an own brand (bikehut) small bottle of mineral brake fluid

    scuttler
    Full Member

    Why are shops that sell car parts called ‘motor factors’?

    b230ftw
    Free Member

    Why are shops that sell car parts called ‘motor factors’?

    I said exactly the same words to myself when I typed it in originally!!

    BillOddie
    Full Member

    LHM is defo more viscous than Shimano Fluid.

    I wouldn’t use it if I had the choice as more patience is required to get a good bleed.

    oikeith
    Full Member

    Juice Lubes Mineral Oil

    DezB
    Free Member
    tomd
    Free Member

    I got a bottle of the cyclo stuff recently, filled 2 sets of brakes with it and have yet to die. Same issue as you, couldn’t get the Shimano stuff. The cyclo stuff is £££ per ml though, even if the bottle is quite cheap. Will try the LHM stuff next time I think.

    uggski
    Full Member

    LHM is defo more viscous than Shimano Fluid.

    Could you mix LHM with normal Shimano? And would it help with the viscosity to make it easier to bleed? I have some Shimano MO but not really enough.

    soobalias
    Free Member

    a mate of mine bought crypto, i bought shimano mineral oil.

    whose laughing now eh?

    benpinnick
    Full Member

    Motorex who make some lubes for Shimano also make Fluid 75 which is I am sure totally different and will void your warranty and cause your world to implode, but also works fine.

    marksnook
    Free Member

    I’ve just bought some shimano mineral oil on eBay, was £7 for 100ml but it’s out there..

    P-Jay
    Free Member

    I’ve got about 1ltr of the stuff sat on in the shelf in my garage an no Shimano brakes to use it with. Am I sat on a Gold Mine?

    eddiebaby
    Free Member

    Why are shops that sell car parts called ‘motor factors’?

    Factor: A doer or transactor of business for another person
    A person or organization that buys and sells goods for others, on commission

    Because of the huge amount of stock items they might need parts companies had stuff they stocked but only paid for when they sold it, acting more as sales men on commission.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    I’m sure I’ve seen someone using baby oil before?

    I’ve got a bottle of LHM, it’s much closer in viscosity to suspension or engine oil than brake fluid. It works, but the brakes feel different and it was a bit of a PITA.

    Shortages aside, the Shimano stuff is normally £16/big bottle, it’s not worth the agro of trying other stuff. The motorex stuff sounds like a good bet though.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Would diesel work?

    I’m wondering if you could get a perfect bleed in them the same way trials riders bleed DOT fluid brakes with water in a bucket? Just a bit messier to clean off.

    oliverracing
    Full Member

    I’ve used cooking oil from a french refuge when in the alps before and I pulled a shimano hose off in a crash. Luckily had goodridge fittings so was just a case of shortening the snapped hose, but I made sure to fully flush out any of the blue stuff (magura I think) that was already in the system and rode like that for about a year no problem. Did end up scrapping the brakes due to piston leak but the other end that was running shimano genuine stuff died around the same time too!

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Thinking about it, 2T oil must be a similar viscosity? and I presume it’s designed not to boil so that it coats the crank and cylinder?

    StuE
    Free Member

    I’ve been using the LHM stuff since Shimano started making disc brakes and have never had a problem with it

    oceanskipper
    Full Member

    Is this the stuff?

    1Ltr Mineral Oil on Amazon

    EDIT – just noticed the delivery charge 😮

    Chest_Rockwell
    Free Member

    Bought 100ml of the eBay stuff which, they claim, is genuine. Repackaged from bulk purchase, allegedly.

    It’s the right colour, anyway.

    chakaping
    Full Member

    Morgan Blue Hydraulic Mineral Oil works superbly with Shimano brakes IME.

    It’s available for about £30/litre – how does that compare to the Shimano stuff or other alternatives?

    retro83
    Free Member

    b230ftw
    Full Member

    Its the same stuff as Citroen LHM suspension fluid. Get it in huge bottles in Halfords. Exactly the same stuff.

    It’s not the same, just compare them side by side. I had problems with the pistons not retracting after using LHM.

    grannyjone
    Free Member

    Would I have to drain all my shimano mineral oil before using a different type of oil ? Or can I just add it to what’s already there

    Scienceofficer
    Free Member

    LHM will work, bit it isn’t the same. Its more viscous. I used it for a while, but my brake were definitely more sluggish. Especially the levers.

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    Allegedly Johnson’s Baby Oil is mineral oil and pretty low viscosity, people claim to have bled brakes with it.

    A quick google suggests it only a couple of quid for 500ml.
    Now my search history has ‘baby oil’ in it…

    Jordan
    Full Member

    As if it didn’t already….

    TroutWrestler
    Free Member

    I have used LHM from Halfords with no ill effects. I also once bled a brake halfway down the KLL side of the Devil’s Staircase with water sucked up from a stream and dribbled into the reservoir. (Not my bike. Not my worn pads. Not my basic error popping the piston while changing pads. I just happened to be the mug that had to remedy the situation.) That worked all the way down to KLL via the Ciaran Path. I replaced it with mineral oil as soon as we got home.

    TroutWrestler
    Free Member

    Other recommended fluids can be read about here.

    Pentosin CHF7.1 can be bought from EuroCarParts

    reggiegasket
    Free Member

    I recently got some from ze Germans (R2bike) but they are currently out of stock.

    Alex
    Full Member

    Magura Royal Blood in my new Shimano brakes on the Mojo4. No issue with bleed or performance. Only 4 rides tho.

    jairaj
    Full Member

    I’ve also used the LMH stuff from Halfords and found while it worked OK it was more viscous than the Shimano stuff so getting a really good bleed was harder and the lever feel was different; little bit slow and dead feeling. But when you squeezed the lever the bike stopped, so it was OK but not great.

    I’ve since stopped using it and I have used Epic Bleed’s Shimano compatible mineral oil and the Bikehut mineral oil brake fluid (different to the LMH stuff) in the past and that had a much better feel and as far as I can tell gives same performance as the Shimano stuff.

    https://epicbleedsolutions.com/collections/fluids/products/shimano-mineral-oil?variant=30362383319114

    https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-parts/bike-brakes/bikehut-mineral-oil-brake-fluid—125ml-169049.html

    Epic Bleed solution do 3 types of mineral oil (Shimano, Magura, Generic) and the description on all of them is that they are compatible with Shimano, Magura, Formula. So I’m guessing that all those brand’s brake fluids are cross compatible?

    endomick
    Free Member

    If you’re in the UK I can send you some genuine shimano mineral oil poured from a litre bottle into a thoroughly cleaned and dried out little 200ml bottle, just cover the postage.

    timbog160
    Free Member

    I don’t have any Shimano brakes any more but simply used to use ISO10 hydraulic oil. I always have 20-25 litres of this in stock as we use it in vintage vehicle brakes, machinery etc. The problem with baby oil and the like I’m guessing is it won’t have the required additives to prevent foaming, overheating etc but will have perfumes. Whatever pressure and heat is encountered in mtb brakes, I can’t imagine it being more than would be found in 10 ton vehicles…

    timbog160
    Free Member

    Just to add – just checked the viscosity of iso10 and it looks to be about half as viscous as LHM so may be better as a short term option.

    Tim
    Free Member

    I’ve got loads in my shed. Maybe I should start bottling it for eBay 😜

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 54 total)

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