Formula cura mineral oil alternatives?

[BaGearA]

Just now, The Ouzo said:

sure I get that, I'm in the motor industry, I know what people do.

But, the question still remains, are they using some secret formula for their mineral oil, or is it just mineral oil with a colour dye added and a huge markup to boost revenue.

Both and they look after the people that do as they say.

 

Not taking a shot at anyone but what's the point of paying a premium for a product but then not being willing to look after it in the way the manufacturer suggests.

[Headshot]

16 hours ago, MarcHD said:

As the official agents for Formula I can confirm this is the case. 

Formula brakes need Formula mineral oil to perform at their optimum as well as keep their warranty

We would not expect you to do anything less than tow the company line. The performance requirement is probably BS of course - there is no magic in hydraulic mineral oil and as far as I know, Formula isn't an oil company so theirs is probably made by Total or Motul or one of the other companies. My Shimano XTs work perfectly on Total. 

[Headshot]

4 minutes ago, BaGearA said:

This stuff works but is thick and it translates to the lever feeling very clearly.

Obviously it works its mineral hydraulic fluid. You didnt complete your sentence  or do you mean to say the lever feels funny with Total? Actually, it doesn't at least not with Shimano and its hard to see how it could - if it is thicker, its ever so slight so no, don't worry the rest of you, you can use it and save a packet rather than get reamed by the push bike industry.

[Swift01]

3 minutes ago, Headshot said:

We would not expect you to do anything less than tow the company line. The performance requirement is probably BS of course - there is no magic in hydraulic mineral oil and as far as I know, Formula isn't an oil company so theirs is probably made by Total or Motul or one of the other companies. My Shimano XTs work perfectly on Total. 

Ever had wandering brake lever feel on Shimano brakes. When using them a fair amount, the bite point can be ok the first time you pull the lever, let go and quickly pull again the bite point can be totally different. Something to do with the fluid not returning fast enough from what I can read up about. Some suggest using Putoline mineral oil which is not as thick and returns quicker. Never tested it, just got a set of Hope brakes to solve it 🙂

I think Magura said something about a higher boiling point for their blue blood and safe for the seals. I doubt the leaking lever had anything to do with topping up the levers with shimano oil once as I could not get blue blood.

[Headshot]

1 minute ago, Swift01 said:

Ever had wandering brake lever feel on Shimano brakes. When using them a fair amount, the bite point can be ok the first time you pull the lever, let go and quickly pull again the bite point can be totally different. Something to do with the fluid not returning fast enough from what I can read up about. Some suggest using Putoline mineral oil which is not as thick and returns quicker. Never tested it, just got a set of Hope brakes to solve it 🙂

I think Magura said something about a higher boiling point for their blue blood and safe for the seals. I doubt the leaking lever had anything to do with topping up the levers with shimano oil once as I could not get blue blood.

Yes I have, with Shimano and Total. There are many many claims as to the cause of the bite point issue. All I can say is that since properly cleaning and servicing my old 785's and using Total in them, I haven't had this particular issue. The lever feel is brilliant and that's not just my opinion.

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, The Ouzo said:

and what makes their unicorn sperm infused oil better than the other brands of unicorn sperm infused oil ?

Not all unicorns are created equal….

that’s because their sperm is different 

[DieselnDust]

45 minutes ago, The Ouzo said:

sure I get that, I'm in the motor industry, I know what people do.

But, the question still remains, are they using some secret formula for their mineral oil, or is it just mineral oil with a colour dye added and a huge markup to boost revenue.

Unlikely that either Shimano, SRAM , Madura or Formula use formulated for their specific needs hydraulic oil. Their volumes are just too small and the requirement is too light. I have been down this road and at one point worked for the supplier of the hydraulic oil for one of the brake manufacturers. The key issue is seal compatibility so not any thing is plug and play but the majority is. 

44 minutes ago, BaGearA said:

This stuff works but is thick and it translates to the lever feeling very clearly.

Not sure what you mean by very think or clearly as LHM isn’t very viscous. 

41 minutes ago, Headshot said:

We would not expect you to do anything less than tow the company line. The performance requirement is probably BS of course - there is no magic in hydraulic mineral oil and as far as I know, Formula isn't an oil company so theirs is probably made by Total or Motul or one of the other companies. My Shimano XTs work perfectly on Total. 

Being based in Italy, formula probably use an Eni product and its likely pharma grade to be compatible with everything. I use a caltex pharma oil in the Poploc spring t remote of my Lefty. It works well across a wide temperature range 

I have it seen Formula brake fluid in stock ina Cape Town shop so I suspect most shops are using the SRAM or Shimano mineral oils in mineral oil brake systems.

Mature blue blood is pretty rare too

[Headshot]

My last post on the topic I swear. imagine if moto and car manufacturers said you had to use their overpriced fluids rather than generic brake and engine oil or you'd void your warranty. Obviously if you were to put LHM in your Dot5 brakes or two stroke in your turbo diesel sump there would be a problem but where the stuff is the same product effectively, and you're supposed to pay 5x as much as the generic if you can get it or void your warranty I just get irritated and put off the product. The bicycle industry needs to evolve a bit and stop trying to rip consumers a new one.

[ChrisF]

14 minutes ago, Headshot said:

My last post on the topic I swear. imagine if moto and car manufacturers said you had to use their overpriced fluids rather than generic brake and engine oil or you'd void your warranty. Obviously if you were to put LHM in your Dot5 brakes or two stroke in your turbo diesel sump there would be a problem but where the stuff is the same product effectively, and you're supposed to pay 5x as much as the generic if you can get it or void your warranty I just get irritated and put off the product. The bicycle industry needs to evolve a bit and stop trying to rip consumers a new one.

 

Uhmmm .... VW .... Audi .... 

[Danger Dassie]

16 minutes ago, Headshot said:

My last post on the topic I swear. imagine if moto and car manufacturers said you had to use their overpriced fluids rather than generic brake and engine oil or you'd void your warranty. Obviously if you were to put LHM in your Dot5 brakes or two stroke in your turbo diesel sump there would be a problem but where the stuff is the same product effectively, and you're supposed to pay 5x as much as the generic if you can get it or void your warranty I just get irritated and put off the product. The bicycle industry needs to evolve a bit and stop trying to rip consumers a new one.

Plenty examples of the motor industry doing just that. Ever tried to deal with a dealership vs an independent parts supplier. Motorbikes especially.

Droo provided a fair explanation on the practice, also consider that cycle manufacturers don’t carry anywhere near the buying power volume on product, so by default their pricing will be higher per unit.

Regardless, I myself use the generic stuff. 

[DieselnDust]

15 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

Uhmmm .... VW .... Audi .... 

they use DoT 4 brake fluid in Audi /vw bottles. But it’s generic stuff. They do charge more for it though….

[Mongoose!]

Does the same apply to disc brake cleaner?

Muc off price vs Midas inhouse brand price    ... vs mild soap water   

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

they use DoT 4 brake fluid in Audi /vw bottles. But it’s generic stuff. They do charge more for it though….

 

Sure.

 

But the post I replied to referred to:

" imagine if moto and car manufacturers said you had to use their overpriced fluids rather than generic brake and engine oil or you'd void your warranty."

 

Both VW and Audi and various others used specific oils in the engine and gearbox.  Use the incorrect replacement and the seals go ....

 

Actually, at one stage Toyota had a different colour anti-freeze ..... various generic stuff worked perfectly, but it was easy to see the owner used non-Toyota materials.  Dont know if they ever refuted a claim due to this ....

[The Ouzo]

28 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

Sure.

 

But the post I replied to referred to:

" imagine if moto and car manufacturers said you had to use their overpriced fluids rather than generic brake and engine oil or you'd void your warranty."

 

Both VW and Audi and various others used specific oils in the engine and gearbox.  Use the incorrect replacement and the seals go ....

 

Actually, at one stage Toyota had a different colour anti-freeze ..... various generic stuff worked perfectly, but it was easy to see the owner used non-Toyota materials.  Dont know if they ever refuted a claim due to this ....

Before right to repair came in, you HAD to service your car at the manufacturer dealership or your warranty would be null and void. Even if you bought and used the branded parts.

 

however. Buy a new gearbox for your car, it comes with x months warranty on the gearbox, provided the correct spec fluids are used. It does not have to be the branded stuff, as long as the fluids meet the correct specifications. 

[DieselnDust]

12 minutes ago, The Ouzo said:

Before right to repair came in, you HAD to service your car at the manufacturer dealership or your warranty would be null and void. Even if you bought and used the branded parts.

 

however. Buy a new gearbox for your car, it comes with x months warranty on the gearbox, provided the correct spec fluids are used. It does not have to be the branded stuff, as long as the fluids meet the correct specifications. 

Specs are key here. 
DSG gearboxes need some special gearbox fluid that costs a few baby Jesuses but nothing else meets the VW spec that VW wrote and administer….

[PhilipV]

5 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

Specs are key here. 
DSG gearboxes need some special gearbox fluid that costs a few baby Jesuses but nothing else meets the VW spec that VW wrote and administer….

Too bad they can't seem to make reliable mechatronic units for said gearbox. One theory I read is that the gearbox oil is corrosive and that it damages the sensors that is part of the mecatronic unit.