Can a hydraulic brake line have invisible damage?

[PCeBiker]

That reminds me... The OE were resin.
I ordered semi-metalic to see if I liked them.

IIRC, you and I have the same Tektro brakes?

I've only ever used the OE Tektro brake pads,..


This is what I found out about the OE brake pads,..

Sounds like they're semi-metallic resin pads??

You can see all the chunks of copper and bullet proof fiber in the pad,..

 

[Gionnirocket]

True, but he could also cocked the olive. I get KISS, no problem with that. 3 years of age on mineral oil is still three years on oil that retains water. Changing it is not overkill, and it lets you inspect the system, especially when he has different brake problems on each side.

No worries, I won't be working on your bike anytime soon.

Anything is possible.. especially with the tool in question.
Honestly I'd be more than happy to read he took it all apart and back together with 3 in 1 oil. I need a good laugh.
I know what's recommended but I have 3 years and 11k mi on my brakes and last checked they are working perfectly and the fluid is near the original pink color. Mineral oil does not absorb water like the DOT can and Imo, the replace every 1-2 years is bs.
There should be some sign of loss of performance if worn or contaminated and I fall into the camp of don't fix what ain't broke on this one.

 

[PedalUma]

I get bikes that come in with no stopping power and the levers go back against the grips. The lower fluid is black. I would like to be able to store fluid in a slight vacuum that would preremove dissolved gasses. In a couple days I will be installing a set of four piston hydros on a bike currently with sucky mechanical brakes but will take shortening the hoses. The owner broke his ankle and decided that stopping could be a good thing.

 

[Gionnirocket]

I get bikes that come in with no stopping power and the levers go back against the grips. The lower fluid is black. I would like to be able to store fluid in a slight vacuum that would preremove dissolved gasses. In a couple days I will be installing a set of four piston hydros on a bike currently with sucky mechanical brakes but will take shortening the hoses. The owner broke his ankle and decided that stopping could be a good thing.

So there are symptoms and signs of a poorly maintained/worn system. But I'd address it at first sign, not total failure.
I don't think a vacuum is necessary, just don't agitate the bottle before use. But I guess you could put it in a mason jar and use a Foodsaver vacuum.

 

[spokewrench]

IIRC, you and I have the same Tektro brakes?

I've only ever used the OE Tektro brake pads,..


This is what I found out about the OE brake pads,..

Sounds like they're semi-metallic resin pads??

You can see all the chunks of copper and bullet proof fiber in the pad,..

Now I remember. I bought semi-metallic because I the Tektro pads on my Abound seemed different from those on my 2 Rad bikes, even though they were all marked E10.11, like yours. For one thing, the E10.11 pads on the Rads could soften in prolonged high humidity. They lost braking power, wore very fast, and left bumps on disks.

What Are Sintered Brake Pads? Organic Vs Sintered Brake Pads Explained

If you've got disc brakes on your bike, then you'll need to make an important decision as to which type of brake pad you wish to use: organic vs sintered brake pads. But what are sintered brake pads? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of sintered brake pads when compared to organic...

biketips.com

This page says resin pads lose their grip in rain. I had no trouble in rain, only in periods of wet nights. It hasn't been a problem with the E10.11 pads on the Abound or the replacement resin pads on the Radmission.

It says resin pads produce less heat. I doubt that. A certain amount of braking will produce a certain amount of heat. It says sintered pads need to warm up to have a good coefficient of friction. That may explain why when I've tested semi-metallic pads, they worked poorly for the first couple of tries. That points to resin for me, due to visual obstructions in town. I'll ride slowly with fingers on levers because I may not have milliseconds to spare.

 

[fooferdoggie]

One thing I found on my Shamans as the caliper wore out is I would get a little squeal with the normal pressure I use most of the time, no matter how clean the rotor was or pads, even when they were all new. Then the caliper started leaking. I replaced it and no more squeal. This has happened on two bikes now: our tandem, then my Trek. But that took about 18k miles.


I was able to compare rotor sizes now too since all three of my bikes have pretty close to the same brake config with different rotors. My tandem takes the most effort to slow on the 20% grade and it has 203mm rotors. But my analog commuter with 160mm rotors is pretty close to the same and it is far lighter. My Trek with 180s is the easiest.

 

[spokewrench]

Now I remember. I bought semi-metallic because I the Tektro pads on my Abound seemed different from those on my 2 Rad bikes, even though they were all marked E10.11, like yours. For one thing, the E10.11 pads on the Rads could soften in prolonged high humidity. They lost braking power, wore very fast, and left bumps on disks.

What Are Sintered Brake Pads? Organic Vs Sintered Brake Pads Explained

If you've got disc brakes on your bike, then you'll need to make an important decision as to which type of brake pad you wish to use: organic vs sintered brake pads. But what are sintered brake pads? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of sintered brake pads when compared to organic...

biketips.com

This page says resin pads lose their grip in rain. I had no trouble in rain, only in periods of wet nights. It hasn't been a problem with the E10.11 pads on the Abound or the replacement resin pads on the Radmission.

It says resin pads produce less heat. I doubt that. A certain amount of braking will produce a certain amount of heat. It says sintered pads need to warm up to have a good coefficient of friction. That may explain why when I've tested semi-metallic pads, they worked poorly for the first couple of tries. That points to resin for me, due to visual obstructions in town. I'll ride slowly with fingers on levers because I may not have milliseconds to spare.

Uh-oh, I misinformed you. The pads on the front of my Abound, that didn't have much bite and sounded scratchy, were the OE Tektro E10.11s, different from the E10.11s on my Rad bikes. The pads on the back, that were quiet and had done most of the work for a year, were the Corki ones with black plates, described as "resin, semi-metallic, sintered metal." I figured they must be worn, so I replaced them with the pair I hadn't used. On a closer look, they weren't very worn, so I put them on the front. When I took them off, I hadn't marked which was outboard, so I didn't know if they were backwards from before.

I pulled the left lever and my boat whistle was back only louder. What's more, there was no detectable drag, so I could keep it up all day. Dogs started howling. When they heard me coming, 18-wheelers would be pulling u-turns and rolling coal. (I like to scare them away in case they have air in their brakes.)

The new pads in back behaved like the old ones. Before long, the second-hand front ones quieted down and took hold.

So far I haven't seen pads advertised as "sintered bronze," but I find the pads that Corki calls semi-metallic better than the old or new Tektro E10.11.

 

[LandoftheGiants]

I must be doing something wrong, I have only ever once bled a set of brakes, and that on a 20 year old bike. And I have never replaced pads either, even on bikes with thousands of miles on them. Mind you I hate hills so rarely use brakes. My current little route has one brake stop at the end of the street, then about 18km of cycling, then one gentle stop where I sit and have a drink, then no more until a gentle stop in the driveway near the garage door. To me hills are to be avoided at all costs

 

[PCeBiker]

I've got 5000 km on my first ebike, and 8000 km on second ebike, and I'm still using the original pads on both ebikes.

I hardly use my brakes at all.
I can ride for 20-30 minutes without having to stop or slow down.

I remember practicing my emergency stopping on pavement, and hammered the brakes Hard half a dozen times to get a feel for it.

I checked the brakes afterwards, and after burning my fingers on the rotor, I noticed that it looked like I put five thousand km on my brakes in five minutes.

I forget why I bled my brakes the first time? I think it was because my rear brake lever got soft and was hitting the handlebars?
I've only done a top bleed at the lever, and haven't flushed the fluid at the caliper.

I also opened up the reservoirs on my brakes, cuz I needed to know what was going on inside there.

 

[spokewrench]

I forget why I bled my brakes the first time? I think it was because my rear brake lever got soft and was hitting the handlebars?
I've only done a top bleed at the lever, and haven't flushed the fluid at the caliper.

I had to bleed my front a second time, two days after the first time. Because the line was short and mostly vertical, a top bleed worked. The first time, it was a lot of little bubbles. The second, It was a bubble about 75mm long in the clear vinyl tube.

I'd noticed that one piston extended much farther than the other. I guess one didn't slide past its seal as freely as the other. Park Tool and other internet sources said one should extend and clean each piston when one changed pads. So I did. I didn't extend either far enough for oil to leak, but it seems as if air got in.

 

[PedalUma]