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What kind of weird brakes do you have on your bike? I can easily buy Shimano Ultegra (which is pretty high-end) brake calipers on Amazon for roughly USD$65, an

What kind of weird brakes do you have on your bike? I can easily buy Shimano Ultegra (which is pretty high-end) brake calipers on Amazon for roughly USD$65, and a big bottle of brake oil is less than $15. Cheaper-brand or lower-end calipers are of course, cheaper, easily less than $50 each. And brake calipers aren't something you normally need to replace anyway. Pads are easily available too, both name-brand and Chinese knock-offs that probably last 1/3 as long for 1/10 the cost. What supply-chain problem are you referring to? I don't see any.

mnky9800n 4y ago
Also I don't really understand what the difference between the tiagra and Ultegra brake levers are except in comparison to like bottom rung stuff. But to each other I can't seem to tell a difference.
- midoridensha 4y ago
  Ultegra is better, of course :-) But you're making an invalid comparison: the real comparison is between Ultegra and 105. The two are functionally the same, but Ultegras are a bit lighter and use better materials (probably carbon fiber handles, for instance). The year I got mine, the 105s were physically larger too, so the internals weren't as advanced; not sure about today. Tiagra is a 10-speed shifter, while Ultegra is an 11-speed, so they're certainly not compatible at all. You can assume that Tiagra will be even more cheaply-made than the 105.
schoen 4y ago
> What kind of weird brakes do you have on your bike? Apparently hydraulics, instead of cables. Cf. https://www.bicyclehabitat.com/how-to/disc-brakes-101-pg362.htm https://www.bicyclehabitat.com/how-to/disc-brakes-101-pg362.... I have hydraulic brakes on one of my bikes too. They feel great (so accurate and responsive!), but I'm glad I haven't had to get them fixed yet...
- anotherboffin 4y ago
  You should be able to stay away from most repairs if you check your brake pads regularly and make sure you change them before they fully wear out. In addition, do know that the discs and even brake fluid will need to be replaced at some point to keep things working well, hope this can avoid a bad surprise!
- midoridensha 4y ago
  I AM talking about hydraulics in my post, I even specifically mentioned brake oil, something hydraulic brakes require for a simple bleed operation. Hydraulics are great, and I have fixed mine. The parts are NOT a problem to acquire at all. I will say, however, that bleeding them is a bit fiddly and a pain, compared to bleeding car brakes, in my experience. I've done bleeds on both Shimano and Tektro brakes; the Shimanos were definitely better, but still not as easy as car brakes. Which is why I happen to know Shimano caliper prices off the top of my head: I'm thinking seriously about swapping the Tektro calipers for Shimanos because they're easier to work with, both for bleeds and for pad changes (the Tektros require removing the caliper from the frame; Shimanos do not). So again, I'm wondering what the OP is griping about. There is no supply-chain problem with hydraulic brakes that I can see.
  - anotherboffin 4y ago
    Maybe OP is “stuck” with shitty hydraulics from a lesser-known vendor for which it’s difficult to get the parts? I’d say they look into the cost of getting the whole system replaced, my Shimano low-ish end hydraulics have worked fine for years and as you’ve mentioned, parts are easy to get.
    - ggm 4y ago
      Tektro HD-M275 front and rear. When I go online, its ali, ebay and grey market suppliers mostly, not a heap of returns from recognisable Australian bike shops. Maybe its my bad timing, buying a 2nd had bike when it was end-of-life for one model of brake, and now it needs work, people have moved onto the next 'best thing' and I am behind "can't get the parts" (I know one respondent disagrees and says they are both easy to fix, and easy to get. I am just reporting both what I was told and what I find when I look. "easy" is very contextually defined in both cases. It would be very easy for me to confuse myself, order the wrong bits, or manage to dismantle but never re-mantle things.)
ggm 4y ago
It may just be rumour, but the units Movida chose appear from what a number of people tell me, to be fragile: You should just be able to replace the brake fluid. You wind up losing things, because they don't come apart as well as they should and they don't go back together as well as they should. OK, so "wear the risk" -great: I take my bike in to the shop, and either I get it back at 3:30pm or.. its 3 months for replacement parts to make it, assuming the supplier has parts. Or, I have to ditch them and go back to cables. Or, an alternate vendor which means new levers, and pipes, and disks, and pads and ....
- midoridensha 4y ago
  Again, I have no idea what you're talking about. What brakes do you have exactly? There are only a handful of manufacturers (Shimano, SRAM, Tektro/TRP, Hope, maybe a couple others). And no, you shouldn't be losing anything. Bleeding is easy: you take connect a hose to the caliper, and a cup to the level/master cylinder, and pump some new fluid in there with a syringe. (In practice, it's somewhat fiddly and can be a little messy if you're not careful.) There's no parts to lose, except the screw that seals the master cylinder, and maybe the bleed port screw on the caliper if it doesn't use a nipple.
  - ggm 4y ago
    They're Tektro. That "in practice its somewhat fiddly" bit sounds like where I am. I'll go canvas my options with some other stores. Who knows? Maybe I'm being sold a line of guff here? (and its a Merida 200 not a Movida. I was having a bad hair day)
    - PascLeRasc 4y ago
      Your brakes use mineral oil, and you can use any kind of mineral oil you want in there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63VIuPiX3CA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63VIuPiX3CA
    - midoridensha 4y ago
      I have Tektro on one bike. They work fine, but maintenance on them is more of a pain than Shimano. I'm probably going to swap them out for Shimano later, because the Shimano brakes on my road bike are so much easier to work with.

mnky9800n 4y ago

Also I don't really understand what the difference between the tiagra and Ultegra brake levers are except in comparison to like bottom rung stuff. But to each other I can't seem to tell a difference.

midoridensha 4y ago
Ultegra is better, of course :-) But you're making an invalid comparison: the real comparison is between Ultegra and 105. The two are functionally the same, but Ultegras are a bit lighter and use better materials (probably carbon fiber handles, for instance). The year I got mine, the 105s were physically larger too, so the internals weren't as advanced; not sure about today. Tiagra is a 10-speed shifter, while Ultegra is an 11-speed, so they're certainly not compatible at all. You can assume that Tiagra will be even more cheaply-made than the 105.

schoen 4y ago

> What kind of weird brakes do you have on your bike? Apparently hydraulics, instead of cables. Cf. https://www.bicyclehabitat.com/how-to/disc-brakes-101-pg362.htm https://www.bicyclehabitat.com/how-to/disc-brakes-101-pg362.... I have hydraulic brakes on one of my bikes too. They feel great (so accurate and responsive!), but I'm glad I haven't had to get them fixed yet...

anotherboffin 4y ago
You should be able to stay away from most repairs if you check your brake pads regularly and make sure you change them before they fully wear out. In addition, do know that the discs and even brake fluid will need to be replaced at some point to keep things working well, hope this can avoid a bad surprise!
midoridensha 4y ago
I AM talking about hydraulics in my post, I even specifically mentioned brake oil, something hydraulic brakes require for a simple bleed operation. Hydraulics are great, and I have fixed mine. The parts are NOT a problem to acquire at all. I will say, however, that bleeding them is a bit fiddly and a pain, compared to bleeding car brakes, in my experience. I've done bleeds on both Shimano and Tektro brakes; the Shimanos were definitely better, but still not as easy as car brakes. Which is why I happen to know Shimano caliper prices off the top of my head: I'm thinking seriously about swapping the Tektro calipers for Shimanos because they're easier to work with, both for bleeds and for pad changes (the Tektros require removing the caliper from the frame; Shimanos do not). So again, I'm wondering what the OP is griping about. There is no supply-chain problem with hydraulic brakes that I can see.
- anotherboffin 4y ago
  Maybe OP is “stuck” with shitty hydraulics from a lesser-known vendor for which it’s difficult to get the parts? I’d say they look into the cost of getting the whole system replaced, my Shimano low-ish end hydraulics have worked fine for years and as you’ve mentioned, parts are easy to get.
  - ggm 4y ago
    Tektro HD-M275 front and rear. When I go online, its ali, ebay and grey market suppliers mostly, not a heap of returns from recognisable Australian bike shops. Maybe its my bad timing, buying a 2nd had bike when it was end-of-life for one model of brake, and now it needs work, people have moved onto the next 'best thing' and I am behind "can't get the parts" (I know one respondent disagrees and says they are both easy to fix, and easy to get. I am just reporting both what I was told and what I find when I look. "easy" is very contextually defined in both cases. It would be very easy for me to confuse myself, order the wrong bits, or manage to dismantle but never re-mantle things.)

ggm 4y ago

It may just be rumour, but the units Movida chose appear from what a number of people tell me, to be fragile: You should just be able to replace the brake fluid. You wind up losing things, because they don't come apart as well as they should and they don't go back together as well as they should. OK, so "wear the risk" -great: I take my bike in to the shop, and either I get it back at 3:30pm or.. its 3 months for replacement parts to make it, assuming the supplier has parts. Or, I have to ditch them and go back to cables. Or, an alternate vendor which means new levers, and pipes, and disks, and pads and ....

midoridensha 4y ago
Again, I have no idea what you're talking about. What brakes do you have exactly? There are only a handful of manufacturers (Shimano, SRAM, Tektro/TRP, Hope, maybe a couple others). And no, you shouldn't be losing anything. Bleeding is easy: you take connect a hose to the caliper, and a cup to the level/master cylinder, and pump some new fluid in there with a syringe. (In practice, it's somewhat fiddly and can be a little messy if you're not careful.) There's no parts to lose, except the screw that seals the master cylinder, and maybe the bleed port screw on the caliper if it doesn't use a nipple.
- ggm 4y ago
  They're Tektro. That "in practice its somewhat fiddly" bit sounds like where I am. I'll go canvas my options with some other stores. Who knows? Maybe I'm being sold a line of guff here? (and its a Merida 200 not a Movida. I was having a bad hair day)
  - PascLeRasc 4y ago
    Your brakes use mineral oil, and you can use any kind of mineral oil you want in there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63VIuPiX3CA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63VIuPiX3CA
  - midoridensha 4y ago
    I have Tektro on one bike. They work fine, but maintenance on them is more of a pain than Shimano. I'm probably going to swap them out for Shimano later, because the Shimano brakes on my road bike are so much easier to work with.