Originally Posted by jjvw
I'm going to offer a cheaper and more reckless solution. Find a safe street, ride fast, and brake until the lube is burned off through friction. I've done this before on rim brakes without incident, and I can't imagine disc brakes and pads being as delicate as others are making them seem.
bicycle disc brake pads are much more porous than your typical rim brake pads. and the heat generated by braking a bicycle wheel is not as great as braking a car wheel, DOT 4, or 5.1 fluid boils at over 300 degrees fahrenheit, at which point, yes it would burn off, but on a bicycle, brakes just don't get that hot, unless you're riding your brake the whole way through a DH run. just about any amount of lubricant, brake fluid, mineral oil, chicken grease will contaminate and ruin them. if i so much as look at my brake pads while just holding a bottle of brake fluid, i change them. i have had success with sanding the pads down a bit to clean them, but once they glaze over, they often start to squeal and performance diminishes. new pads are like, $10-$20, pretty cheap, considering it's a vital part of your bicycle.
i have literally taken pads out, wrapped them in fresh saran wrap (face-in), then sealed them in TWO zip lock bags for a brake bleed, finished the job, sprayed everything out with alcohol, then sprayed everything out with air, then sprayed with alcohol again, let it evaporate, put the pads back in, and they still wound up getting contaminated. nowadays, i include the cost of new brake pads with every brake bleed that i do, i haven't contaminated a set recently, but i still let the customer know that it's a possibility. if they need to be replaced, i don't go over the written estimate, if they don't, then i come in under the estimate and everyone is happy.