Bang for buck hydraulic oil, brake cleaner, assembly grease etc

[kbernstein]

Not strictly aliexpress but I would love to know what fluids you guys use on a budget, if there are any replacement or hacks. What mineral brake oil do you use? Assembly grease, to clean brakes etc. Are there hardware stock hacks that are a lot cheaper than buying the bike specific maintenance products?

[Tijoe]

So far so good using this mineral oil brake fluid.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805718248821.html

[coffeebreak]

Not related to brakes as such but I use Dawn dish soap to clean the drive train of my bike. And for grease once I finished my tiny bottle of Shimano grease I just resorted to using Mobil1 synthetic grease. I had it already and don't know why I didn't think of it using earlier. I guess the bike snobbery got to me. There are coupons and discounts on it regularly and a tub can be had for under $10 v/s $15 for 50 grams of Shimano. Any automotive bearing grease will work e.g. Valvoline or Lucas oil and work out exponentially cheaper.

[TidyDinosaur]

I get cans of brake cleaner for cars in the "Action". I use them for everything that needs de-greasing (rims before applying tubeless tape, brake discs, ....
For cleaning my bike I get 2l car shampoo bottles on Amazon for 8€. They last for ages. I wax my chains, so a bucket of soapy water is all I need to totally clean my bike.

[PLA]

Any brake & parts cleaner on sale from any local automotive store will work just fine.

Grease is better to just go bulk I reckon. A big tub of decent nlgi2. motorex2k is popular, i have a big tub i use that seems to last forever. I have a 1L thing of nlgi00 mobil shc007 I use in bearings.

Some people use generic mineral oil or even baby oil in their brakes with success. 1L of shimano mineral oil can be had on sale pretty cheap though.

[Ryan_M]

So far so good using this mineral oil brake fluid.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805718248821.html

That's pricy stuff! Nearly double the cost of Shimano.... could just be because I'm in Canada though

[Tijoe]

I paid just over $14 US when I purchased mine.  Looks like they have raised prices.  Perhaps no sales going on now, or because it is close to spring, they raise prices just like happens elsewhere when consumers think more about buying bike parts.   

[Cerps]

I recall reading not to use the automotive brake cleaner on bike brake rotors because it leaves a residue that doesn't get burnt off at bike temperatures like it would on an automobile.

I recently used automotive electronic cleaner to spray out my suspension bearings and clean off my hub ratchets.  It cleans off the grease and flashes off really fast. 

[PLA]

I recall reading not to use the automotive brake cleaner on bike brake rotors because it leaves a residue that doesn't get burnt off at bike temperatures like it would on an automobile.

Good call on that. A wipe down with an alcohol based on the bike yesterday leaner afterwards would be safe

[maza]

For oil I'm using Citroen (also for Rolls Royce and Bentley) hydraulic mineral oil by Comma. 8€ for 1 litre. Works perfect.