Why is Shimano Mineral Oil now suddenly gone 3 or 4 times as expensive ?

This is an absolute piss take. 1 Litre of Shimano Mineral Oil is now £55 to £78 everywhere!
Not long ago it was £20.
What’s this about ? Worst value ever.

It always has been when there’s other options you can use at 1/2 or even 1/4 the price.

LMH 12.99 a litre at halfords

Brexit.

I can afford it easily if it’s needed but that £78 is an absolute piss take beyond belief compared to what else you can get for that sort of money. There has been many piss takes in this sport (Had to pay £76 for a bit of plastic I broke on a Levo battery rock guard and then pay £90 for braking a little bit of plastic on a dropper post) but this beats them all!

I was expecting to pay £20 for a litre like I did about a year or two ago and couldn’t believe it when I saw it £56-£78 with 5 Star reviews from the buyers!!! Robbing ****

Meanwhile there are still numerous websites listing it at £20 a litre but it is invariably out of stock at all of them!

You might want to read this thread from about 4 years ago.
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/psa-lhm-mineral-oil-from-halfords-for-3-per-litre/

I have a set of XT 4pot brakes from 2003. They had a new hose 15 years ago and were bled with LHM fluid. They’ve been perfect since and not been bled. LHM fluid is absolutely fine.

Looks like a stock issue rather than a pricing change.

Its on back order with Madison, ETA was something silly last time I checked, I would assume some people who have it in stock are trying to cash in on that.

It definitely used to be cheap, Ive got half a bottle Ive had for over 10 years, that cost me £12!

It definetely used to only be about £20 a litre!

At those prices it’s cheaper to just pay a mechanic to bleed the brakes for me than do it myself which is what I’ll be doing at least until (or if ever) it’s back in stock at a reasonable price.

As mentioned above LMH from halfords been using it for years, no problems at all.

It definetely used to only be about £20 a litre!

RRP is currently £22.99 for 1L from Madison/Freewheel, it used to be £20.

I have a set of XT 4pot brakes from 2003. They had a new hose 15 years ago and were bled with LHM fluid. They’ve been perfect since and not been bled. LHM fluid is absolutely fine.

Hmm. Sometime after 2003 loads of people started having issues with leaking calipers. I’d not risk it, personally. I mean, that’s expensive per litre but you hardly need any. I’ve bought 2 of the little bottles since I first had Shimano brakes in 2007 and I’ve got probably 1 bottle left.

Hmm. Sometime after 2003 loads of people started having issues with leaking calipers. I’d not risk it, personally. I mean, that’s expensive per litre but you hardly need any. I’ve bought 2 of the little bottles since I first had Shimano brakes in 2007 and I’ve got probably 1 bottle left.

All of my brakes have only ever been bled with LHM and the only leaking one I’ve had was leaking from new. I’ve also serviced lots of brakes for other people, again with LHM, never had an issue. It’s just mineral oil. There’s nothing special about it despite what Shimano claim.

It’s due in at Madison in about March! My LBS has run out, I looked on CRC to see if I could get any for them but all they listed were the 100ml ones and they’re out of stock of those too.

Guessing that the pricing is just reflecting that. No idea why there such a shortage though.

Still €20 for 1l on some German sites and in stock. Tempted to do some profiteering 😎.

Seths bike hacks used Johnsons mineral oil with no apparent issues.

I just did my friends brakes last night, if I’d have known maybe I wouldn’t have been so generous flushing his dirty fluid out.

Ive still got the oil fluid in a bottle. I might have to filter it and re use it at those prices 🤣

I filled a deore brake about 10 years ago with 3in1 oil, it’s still in regular use with no issues at all.
There’s nothing special about mineral oil.

I’ve been using up a bottle of Magura fluid in all my shimano brakes for about 3 years now with no issues.

When it runs out I’m going to try Baby oil.

Magura Royal Blood is £22 litre at Merlin.

I’ve a friend who ran her Shimano brakes on washing up liquid for a year, after an emergency on a weekend away.

Fairy is dead cheap.

Ive got a mostly full litre bottle in my garage and I dont even have any Shimano brakes.

Juice Lubes ?

How many brakes are you bleeding that you need a litre of the stuff?
I’m sure it gets oxygenated if you have it sitting around in the garage too long (I could be wrong, but my bottle of lhm is unusable now, I’ve had it so long)

Just to give you another option, I’ve been using Morgan Blue Mineral Oil on all my bikes for a few years, following a recommendation from my LBS mechanic.

I seem to have more reliable Shimano brakes than most other people on the internet, so it can’t be any worse than the Shimano stuff.

Not recommended, but I once filled a Shimano system with water halfway down the Devil’s Staircase due to a numpty popping a piston whilst fiddling with the brakes whist fixing a puncture. It worked enough to finish the ride and no-one died. It was VERY cold though (snow/ice).

IIRC Trickstuff use sunflower oil in thier mega ££££ brakes.

IIRC Trickstuff use sunflower oil in thier mega ££££ brakes.

Canola oil is the base, €40 a litre.

Is it just me that thinks it’s just not worth messing with brakes and you should just follow the manufacturers instructions?

Not sure I’ve ever read the manufacturer’s instructions for a set of brakes.

YouTube videos FTW these days.

Is it just me that thinks it’s just not worth messing with brakes and you should just follow the manufacturers instructions?

That sheet that tells you all the different ways the brakes might kill you, in 21 different languages, and then tells you to ensure your brakes are fitted by a professional mechanic on pain of death, but doesn’t actually provide any useful information?

Given that a whole brake system (front and back) is less than 50ml and there’s a 100ml bottle available for a tenner, that you might use every few years or so, why bother with a litre of the stuff?

I once filled an SLX brake with piss.

Actually no I didn’t, it was LHM £6 from carparts4less at least designed for a similar job.

There’s nothing special about it despite what Shimano claim.

Special? Clearly not. Different? Maybe.

Something that irritates me is people mistaking cycnism for knowledge. It might be the same as something else, but it might not. You’ve been told that these mineral oil based products all have different additives and that some additives could damage the material the seals are made of, by the people who have specced the seals. So for the sake of a few quid (you don’t need a whole litre!) I’m going to stick with Shimano.

Given that a whole brake system (front and back) is less than 50ml and there’s a 100ml bottle available for a tenner, that you might use every few years or so, why bother with a litre of the stuff?

You’ve missed the previous posts from the OP about how often his bike is being serviced haven’t you?!

Given that a whole brake system (front and back) is less than 50ml and there’s a 100ml bottle available for a tenner, that you might use every few years or so, why bother with a litre of the stuff?

Because otherwise it’ll probably be £500 a bottle next time the OP checks.

Shimano are pretty adamant that you shouldn’t use anything else. Hope. Well…just go for it.

https://bikerumor.com/2013/04/11/tech-speak-brake-fluid-break-down-and-implications-for-road-disc-updated/

Mineral oil can stay forever in the brake without regular changes.

Though air still gets past seals and they need bleeding eventually. Last time I bled Katie’s XTs after a few uplifted holidays the fluid was black and appeared to have particles floating in it!

TroutWrestler

Not recommended, but I once filled a Shimano system with water halfway down the Devil’s Staircase

How?

I’ve a friend who ran her Shimano brakes on washing up liquid

Must’ve been murder getting the bubbles out when bleeding!

Mineral oil can stay forever in the brake without regular changes.

It has a longer life yes – but wear particles do build up hence the need for fluid changes if you want a long life from them