Most durable hydraulic brake systems?
 

I maintain a fleet of 30 Giant Talon Mountain bikes. We rent them for recreational use in Florida ( so no mountain climbs or descends ) only on rough trails. The bikes are all entry level with cheap components and all the stock Tektro brakes are failing. The seals all seem to be gone and they dont respond to bleeding, and I cant find replacement seals. The Giant rep gave us a bunch of Clark replacements, but they are also having the same problems, but at least we can buy seals and bladders. My question is, what are some durable hydraulic brake systems if we dont care about weight.
Thx

Leaking at the lever or the caliper? Are you thinking of replacing the leaky part as required or preemptively re-plumbing all thirty bikes? Do you want to stick with mineral oil?

If you are buying wholesale you might have a different experience than us consumers at retail. For us the Deore components are all great but usually expensive enough we can justify taking the next step to SLX or XT, and we buy brake sets.

Leaking at the lever or the caliper?
Not sure the bikes are dirty, I suspect the caliper since we replace a lot of fouled pads.
Are you thinking of replacing the leaky part as required or preemptively re-plumbing all thirty bikes?
As they go soft and dont respond to bleeding, we replace everything. For now with Clarks.
Do you want to stick with mineral oil?
Would prefer olive oil ;-)
If you are buying wholesale you might have a different experience than us consumers at retail.
Wholesale
For us the Deore components are all great but usually expensive enough we can justify taking the next step to SLX or XT, and we buy brake sets.
Which Deore? Seems like several versions.

Thanks,
Linn

Shimano stuff has generally been very reliable. The lowest level DEORE stuff in my mind is very good and really well set up for a beginner (long lever and easy for newbies to use). And honestly, it might be only slightly more expensive than the Tektro stuff.

If you want to be able to rebuild your brakes you can forget shimano. If a seal leaks at the lever/caliper you just replace the whole thing, there are no rebuild kits. Just had to replace a rear XT seized caliper myself that was only a year old. Now that maybe the better way to go with a fleet of bikes, quick and easy. Sram offers rebuild kits.

In the long run you might be better with mechanical disc brakes.

John

Shimano mt200 would be ideal. Easy to bleed, durable and relatively inexpensive. It's a lower end Shimano that's less powerful. If you need more performance deore would be the next step. Sram/Avid is a nightmare to bleed.

+1 for Shimano MT200. I use these on my mountain bike, and I'm satisfied with them.

That is exaggerated. I use to say the same thing after dealing with my really old Avid(Sram) Juicy 5s but their newer stuff is a lot easier. I have XTs and Sram Guide something or other and just bleed the Guides a few weeks ago. Yes they are more work than the XTs but we are talking a few extra mins per brake now.

Canker, regarding Guides you could be right. Haven't bled them, only experience is watching my friends deal with heat swollen pistons over the last couple of years, but those were within the range of that happening. They have to have that resolved.

Last set of Avids I dealt with last week. They did bleed properly. But the dot fluid degraded the hose after a decade and I was forced to spend $45 on a new hose since the barb couldn't thread in after shortening the length. Add to that I'm not a huge fan of dot fluid in the first place.

If sram used mineral oil and had an easy fool proof 1 syringe & a cup bleeding procedure. I'd have nothing to complain about. But they don't, so I do.

I would argue that most mechanical disk brakes are less reliable than deore hydraulics. Because most mechanical systems only have a single piston that moves, you get rotor warpage easily and cables need to be really clean to have them work well. I am still running old BB7's on on bike and like them, but they require much more work than my other brakes. The low end Deore brakes (the MT-200) are actually cheaper than the BB series of brakes as well.

Thanks! I don’t run discs, but I have heard the BB7’s were pretty bombproof and they were something I would consider for a front brake on my older mountain bikes.

John

Yeah, BB7s would suck on a rental fleet. TRP Spykes would be a bit better being dual piston.
But MT200s are probably the go. They are only US$18 an end in Europe so you should be able to bargain them down for 60 sets. Cheap pads too...

They are all a bit of a crapshoot from what I can tell. Shimano generally gets high praises for being trouble free, but my XTs have been a constant hassle for years.

Personally, I have found BB7s easier to deal with in the long run. You just need to keep up on them and check the pad throw frequently.

I have an 04 bike i got in 08, with Magura HS 33 hydraulic rim brakes I replaced the hoses to reach my bars I made higher.
I have done little to them ever since, other than replace the brake pads.. that's 12 years.. V Brake Post Mounted..

disc brakes? consider the hydraulic mechanical hybrid from TRP .. caliper self contained hydro, cable actuated..
No hoses to leak ..





...

Trp hyrd are for road/cx. They also run about $100 a caliper, shimano m201 can be found for $50 with lever.

OK if cost is your main criteria, Promax are even cheaper.. (it all adds up) you see those on bikes that don't cost very much.

My BB7's on three bikes are great. Replace the pads as needed. No mts? Shouldn't be an issue.

Hayes Stroker Trail

If you want durability in hydraulic disc brakes, there's only one brand: Shimano. Even the cheapest of the brakes is durable and requires almost zero maintenance.

They don't have spares though. If something leaks (improbable), you'll have to replace the whole caliper or lever. Not a big deal though. In may I bought a full MT400 brake for less than 30€.

SRAM offers rebuild kits because they know you'll need them :lol:

Jokes aside, you're right, but Shimano brakes tend to work for ages with zero maintenance. That can't be said of SRAM brakes.

I have bikes with both and found it to be generally true. Hell... most of the times I replace pads on a SRAM brake I end un having to bleed it.