Specialized Roubaix comp

[100%JR]

I don't know what the difference is between MTB and road hydraulics but I've never had to bleed MTB brakes after initial fitting.I had a set of Hope Tech M4s on 3 different bikes for over 8 years,including shortening them once and they never needed a bleed.
My Shimano hydraulics have been on the Lynskey 2 years and they haven't been bled since the initial shortening and fitting.
All Shimano MTB brakes,like Hope do not require bleeding even if the hoses are removed to shorten.I assume this should be the case for road hydraulics also?
People seem to be bleeding Road hydraulics every few months,there should be no reason to if they're bled correctly.They should,unless a seal or something goes,never require a bleed!

[OETKB-YENTC]

Sure, I'm just pondering why they don't seem very good and why the levers are close to the bars!

[100%JR]

I don’t think it’s possible to get the same feel and modulation as MTB brakes.Every road hydro I’ve tried seems to have the same travel before biting.I think it’s just how they are.I wonder if this is why folk with road bikes think they need to keep bleeding them?
I fitted braided hoses from the outset but they still lack the feel of my MTB hydro's.They work fine there’s just very little feedback 

[OETKB-YENTC]

Is it a lot of travel? Never used hydro before, so not sure if there's a problem or no, just doesn't seem right.

[100%JR]

They all seem to travel about half way before engaging.
On MTBs they can be adjusted so they engage after 4 or 5mm.On STis it's more like 25-30mm.I think it's just the way STi hydros are
There's nowhere near the same amount of adjustment.I could stand my MTB on it's front wheel with 1 finger braking

[mike the bike]

They all seem to travel about half way before engaging.
On MTBs they can be adjusted so they engage after 4 or 5mm.On STis it's more like 25-30mm.I think it's just the way STi hydros are
There's nowhere near the same amount of adjustment.I could stand my MTB on it's front wheel with 1 finger braking

I think that road bike hydro brakes seem to have lots of travel at the lever because of the varying hand positions available.  When you're on the hoods, touching the top of the levers, there seems to be very little free play.  But when you are on the drops and pulling at the bottom end of the levers it suddenly seems a lot.  My theory is that free play is built in to please every rider in every position.

(I was only bleeding mine because the fluid in the little reservoir was dirty, not because of excess movement.  And someone once told me that mineral oil lasted only a couple of years before dying a lingering death.)

[Colin the Giant Killer]

They all seem to travel about half way before engaging.
On MTBs they can be adjusted so they engage after 4 or 5mm.On STis it's more like 25-30mm.I think it's just the way STi hydros are
There's nowhere near the same amount of adjustment.I could stand my MTB on it's front wheel with 1 finger braking

I think that road bike hydro brakes seem to have lots of travel at the lever because of the varying hand positions available.  When you're on the hoods, touching the top of the levers, there seems to be very little free play.  But when you are on the drops and pulling at the bottom end of the levers it suddenly seems a lot.  My theory is that free play is built in to please every rider in every position.

(I was only bleeding mine because the fluid in the little reservoir was dirty, not because of excess movement.  And someone once told me that mineral oil lasted only a couple of years before dying a lingering death.)

On the contrary Mike, it's the DOT fluids that only have a couple of years shelf life. That is because they (DOT) fluids are hydroscopic in nature and begin to absorb water as soon as the seal on the bottle is broken. Mineral oils are hydrophobic in nature so won't absorb water the way that DOT fluids do, even after breaking the bottle seal.

The upshot of this is that if your brakes use DOT oil (Sram, Hope, Giant, Clarks & Hayes) you should only buy it in small bottles because what you have left after bleeding starts to deteriorate straight away. However if you have Mineral oil brakes (Campag, Shimano, Magura & Tektro) you can buy in bulk because it won't deteriorate once opened.

[mike the bike]

See what I mean, every day is a school day and I now know more than I did yesterday. Mind you, it still doesn't amount to a lot.


Who was it who said in their autobiography that, after a long and successful life, all they had learned was that they knew nothing?