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I filled my mountain bike brakes with baby oil for a year and here are the results! - YouTube
Channel: unknown
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This is my Diamondback El Oso fat tire mountain
bike, and well, it’s not exactly what you
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would call svelte.
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The tires are almost 5 inches wide which is
like 3 normal mountain bike wheels side by
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side.
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We already know these tires are massive enough
to use the bike as a floatation device.
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And once you get them spinning, they sound
like tie fighters.
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Yet, even at that speed you can stop these
massive wheels from spinning with the flick
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of a finger thanks to some run of the mill
hydraulic brakes.
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These are similar to what you’d find on
the majority of mountain bikes sold today,
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and indeed they came on my fat bike.
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But they didn’t come with baby oil in the
rear brake.
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You see, the front lever, hose, and caliper
are filled with Shimano brand hydraulic brake
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oil just like factory.
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But just over a year ago we purged the rear
brake, and refilled it with baby oil.
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Here we are a year later, and it’s still
in there.
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And I’ve been using this bike.
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The question is, why do this?
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Well, you can find forum posts and comments
spanning a decade, from those claiming that
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baby oil can be used in place of brake oil—on
certain brands.
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Namely, those that use mineral oil blends
like Shimano, TRP, and Magura.
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So the questions we’re attempting to answer
today are:
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1. is baby oil the same as brake oil?
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2.
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Is baby oil easier to obtain?
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3.
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Does baby oil work as well as brake oil?
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4.
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Is it cheaper?
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5.
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Will it damage your brakes?
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6.
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Is baby oil safe for the rider?
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7.
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Is brake oil safe for infants?
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Well maybe we’ll pass on that last one.
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I still don’t fully understand why you need
to fill babies with oil.
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But before we answer the first six questions
I need to reiterate that we only filled one
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model of one brand with baby oil, and that’s
not science.
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So this video is just for your entertainment.
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With that being said, let’s move on to the
first question:
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Is baby oil the same as brake oil?
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No.
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The only thing baby oil shares in common with
any of these brand specific blends is that
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it’s based on mineral oil, but even pure
mineral oil has a different viscosity and
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boiling point than any one of these solutions.
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Not to mention all of these blends have different
properties than each other.
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And baby oil smells like diaper.
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So these aren’t the same thing.
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Next question: is baby oil easier to obtain?
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Yes.
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Baby oil or straight mineral oil can be obtained
at the grocery store.
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You can get it 24/7.
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Meanwhile some bike shops don’t even sell
brake oil, keeping it on hand only for service.
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Usually you’ll need to order bleed supplies
online, so yes Baby Oil is much easier to
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obtain.
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But does it work as well as brake oil?
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Well that question’s not as easy to answer,
but in the case of my fat bike, It seemed
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to work just as well.
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But again that’s only a test on one brake
on this bike, in this climate, at this elevation.
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We can assume that reputable manufacturers
perform torture tests on their brakes where
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they burn through a full set of pads in only
minutes.
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So perhaps in really demanding situations
where the pistons heat up, we would see different
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results.
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We can also assume that when engineers design
brakes, they’re plugging numbers into formulas
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that correspond to the properties of their
own in-house oil.
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Since brakes are designed around the fluid
they’ll be using, it’s hard to argue they’ll
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work exactly the same using something, but
to what degree is up for debate.
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Next question: Is replacing brake oil with
baby oil cheaper?
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That depends.
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For argument’s sake let’s assume that
baby oil works just as well as the real thing.
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Then yes, it would save you money.
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Name brand baby oil is about $1 per ounce,
and if we use the cheap stuff it’s $0.25
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per ounce.
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Shimano oil costs $1.30 per ounce which is
clearly more expensive.
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But that’s just the cost of the oil.
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Should you send your diaper scented brakes
in for a warranty claim, you may be denied,
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and that would cost you money.
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Also the cost of legit brake oil is actually
less than brake cables.
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An entire purge and refill of your front and
rear brakes would cost under $1 using Shimano
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oil, and most riders don’t even do that
yearly.
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Next question: Will baby oil damage your brakes?
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Before making this video I went to Sauatch
bikes in Brevard North Carolina, to get the
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opinion of a professional bike mechanic.
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Pat purged these brakes, took them apart,
and removed the seals so we could examine
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the most vulnerable parts under a microscope.
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Again, the front lever was filled with legitimate
Shimano brake oil, while only the rear was
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filled with baby oil, making the front lever
a control.
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We examined the seals and o-rings side by
side, looking for differences between the
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two levers.
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To make a long story short, we could not see
any difference.
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Given that there’s nothing but rubber and
aluminum inside of brake levers and calipers,
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it’s hard to imagine there would be.
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After all, baby oil is not exactly what you’d
call a harsh chemical.
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With all that said.
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We still don’t know how baby oil affects
brakes exposed to high heat, lofty elevations,
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or long term abuse.
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So is it safe to use on your brakes?
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It was in my case, but but we can’t comment
on other brakes being used in different ways,
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for different periods of time.
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As for the rider...
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Well, I slept just fine knowing my brakes
were filled with baby oil, but I can’t recommend
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that others do the same.
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Brakes are just too important, and this was
at most an unscientific test.
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Now I know some of you were rootin’ for
the baby oil.
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It’s fun to think you can get something
from the diaper isle to run your brakes on.
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And I would love nothing more than to expose
brake manufacturers for ripping off their
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customers, while simultaneously providing
a cheap alternative to their kool aid filled
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brake fluid.
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But that’s just not the case.
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Brake oil is far from expensive.
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And there are no compelling reasons to use
something else, unless you simply have no
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choice.
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So unless you’re in some theoretical Apollo
13 situation where you’ll die in space without
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a brake oil substitute—you might want to
order the right stuff for your brand, or at
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the very least something designed for brakes.
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Speaking of which, this test has left my brakes
completely devoid of any oil, so we need to
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fill ‘em up.
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If only I could find that big jug of shimano
oil…
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Thanks for riding with me today and I’ll
see you next time.
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