Brake pads

[PJ79LIZARD]

Need some new pads, was thinking of kool stop, which is best salmon or black? Any others I should consider?

 

[Tynan]

koolstop usually for the wet I think, the pink ones wear faster

very happy with Ultegra pads myself, you can only lock the wheel

 

[Banjo]

I have had kool stop salmon ones on for a while now. They are softer than the black so will wear out quicker but are better in the wet and cause less wear on your wheels.

They were a huge improvement over the original Scot Pro ones that came on my bike.Especially in the wet. Also dont produce the horrible black brake ink.

 

[TheDoctor]

I've tended to use salmon on the front and black on the back. You can brake much harder on the front, but the back...well, as Tynan says, once it's locked, it's locked.

 

[John the Monkey]

As others say, Salmon is good for the front brake - but they wear fairly quickly.

If you want to buy British, Fibrax do an "Xtreme" compound that's excellent (easily as good as Kool Stop Salmon) - I think the pad is a slightly better shape than Kool Stop too. My LBS does these for £6 a pair.

I've had good results in road calipers with the Ultegra blocks Tynan mentions - my feeling is that they're harder on rims than the salmon-a-like pads though. Aztec's grey/dark grey dual compound pads aren't half bad either.

 

[siadwell]

I've recently fitted Clarks pads (these) on my road bike and although I've not used them much, they are evidently better than the stock Promax pads and great value.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Am using Kool Stop Eagle 2's They are sold as BMX pads but do a bloody good job at stopping the road bike.

 

[threefingerjoe]

Who cares about how long a pad lasts, as long as it stops the bike well? I like the Kool Stop salmons, and they come in several different shapes, so you should be able to find them to fit most bikes. I don't know if they're the best, but I like them, and with that squeegee leading edge that wipes the water from the rim, they stop GREAT in the wet.

Now, that being said, here is a little annecdote: I was an automotive mechanic for 23 years. I always thought it was interesting, that when selling a customer new brakes for his car, he would often ask "How long will these brakes last?" I NEVER heard anyone ask, "How well will these brakes stop my car?" IMHO, I consider stopping power of brakes to be more important than longevity.

 

[andytheflyer]

Need some new pads, was thinking of kool stop, which is best salmon or black? Any others I should consider?

Just put Kool Stops on the front of my Defy 2.5 - the mixed black/pink variety. Much, much better than the original blocks. More feel, quieter, progressive. Difficult to beat I suspect. Must get some more for the rear!

 

[Nebulous]

I was looking at replacing my Tiagra brakes with something better and the snag is that most of the better brakes need metal pad holders, rather than being all-in-ones like the Tiagra ones. That adds up to a fair cost. I have eventually gone for the Ultegra ones with the plastic holders, though I haven't tried them yet. It's good to see them recommended.

As far as cars are concerned - my company car did almost 70,000 miles on its first set of pads. The garage didn't believe me. A combination of a fair amount of long runs on dual carriageways and good anticipation and slowing down before hazards. So of course I want brakes that will stop me, but I also want some life from them as well!

 

[PJ79LIZARD]

Ive currently got Dura - Ace pads on, they were better than the stock, but i wasnt that impressed with stopping power in the wet, thats why I was looking at the kool stop pads.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Ive currently got Dura - Ace pads on, they were better than the stock, but i wasnt that impressed with stopping power in the wet, thats why I was looking at the kool stop pads.

What brake mechanism do you have. Tiagra I assure? I get the impression that good pads on a lousy calliper is a waste of time.

 

[John the Monkey]

I was looking at replacing my Tiagra brakes with something better and the snag is that most of the better brakes need metal pad holders, rather than being all-in-ones like the Tiagra ones. That adds up to a fair cost. I have eventually gone for the Ultegra ones with the plastic holders, though I haven't tried them yet. It's good to see them recommended.

I love cartridge holders - no need to set toe in every time you change the pads

 

[PJ79LIZARD]

What brake mechanism do you have. Tiagra I assure? I get the impression that good pads on a lousy calliper is a waste of time.

Put it this way there is a noticeable difference with the same pads between the brakes on my commuter and the ultegra calipers on my best road bike, but I'm looking for a bit of improvement if possible with a different pad, rather than forking out a load of cash on a new set of calipers. I've used the set on my commuter for about 12 months, I've had one incident when I thought I wasn't going to stop, but to be fair I was doing 25 and trying to do an emergency stop, had to go sideways with feet down speedway style lol.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Put it this way there is a noticeable difference with the same pads between the brakes on my commuter and the ultegra calipers on my best road bike, but I'm looking for a bit of improvement if possible with a different pad, rather than forking out a load of cash on a new set of calipers. I've used the set on my commuter for about 12 months, I've had one incident when I thought I wasn't going to stop, but to be fair I was doing 25 and trying to do an emergency stop, had to go sideways with feet down speedway style lol.

Fair enough. Then go for the KoolStop Salmons - They seem to have the best rep by far.