How often does one change oil in hybrid disc brakes?

[54ny77]

I just tot a bike with TRP hybrid mechanical discs (it has a reservoir). No idea how often i’m supposed to change the stuff or what to do….and yea i’ll read the manual….

Paceliners always give better answers anyway.

[tellyho]

You can just pop off the reservoir cover and swap out oil. Not sure how often it's supposed to happen. Be careful with the bladder seal under the cover - it's a little delicate. My suspicion is you're not supposed to actually do it, as TRP will do it for you if you send them in. I had a set that was used and leaky, TRP rebuilt but I ended up replacing with growtac.

[bewheels]

I don't know about the TRP hybrid mechanical, but full hydro disc set ups can go several years without ever changing the fluid.

The variables are things like how heavily the brakes are used (hilly terrain versus flat terrain, a lot of intersections versus no intersections, group rides versus solo rides) as well as conditions (sloppy versus dry, etc).

If someone were to ride solo in a flatter/rolly area and rarely have intersections, they could never change their hydro fluid and the brakes would work fine.
I live in a hilly area with a lot of dirt roads, do group rides, and I have not changed the hydro fluid in over 5 years in any of my bikes. This includes mountain bikes. They all work perfectly fine. I have had to change pads many times. As well as the rotors on one bike that has +10,000 miles on it. The fluid is the same as when I set it up when new.

[lorenbike]

I have a cheap set of sram level hydro brakes on my hardtail and just changed the fluid for the first time in 5yrs. That includes some pretty heavy use. Pads and rotors more frequently though.

[LesW]

Never

[benb]

Yep, it can last a really long time. Look at areas where it's under inspection/regulation like your car, it goes years and years.

The whole mineral oil vs DOT scare tactics thing doesn't matter there either as you see with the car because the DOT fluid boiling point drops in a predictable/understood way over a long time.

The only thing.. a motorcycle has less fluid than a car, and a bike has less fluid than a motorcycle, and a hybrid brake has even less fluid than a normal brake.

Less fluid to me means less ability to deal with heat I think.. so I would maybe be more careful with those, but they seem like they also ought to be super easy to change the fluid and bleed?

I changed the fluid on my SRAM MTB brakes after a year though.. the pads were toast (resin pads, super dumb spec on a trail bike) and I wanted fresh fluid in with the new pads to ensure everything was 100% optimal.