MickeyBlueEyes
Eat, Sleep, Ride, Repeat.
- Location
- Derbyshire
SwissStop Black on the best bike and Clarkes on the hack. Best bit of advice from Globalti, keep your rims and blocks cleaned and the difference is well felt.
Brake Pads!
- Thread starter bikeman66
- Start date
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These are the best pads that I have ever come across a short while ago, and with being a heavy rider, no pads prior to these have ever been able to lock my wheels up if I brake too hard (not that I want it to happen) unless I have been on a loose surface or mud. The best part is the price and you also get four pads, shop around and you can find them cheaper sometimes. At the moment, they have lasted me 2500+ miles and still plenty of life left in them and after just using them for a week was that impressed I stocked my spares box up with two more sets.
http://www.raleigh.co.uk/ProductType/ProductRange/Product/Default.aspx?pc=2&pt=47&pg=9494
http://www.raleigh.co.uk/ProductType/ProductRange/Product/Default.aspx?pc=2&pt=47&pg=9494
OP
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bikeman66
Senior Member
- Location
- Isle of Wight
Seems I'm now spoilt for choice. Thanks for the tips guys, and the links. I'm going to order a set of the Raleigh and Swisstop ones, and do a long term comparison test............ Results and reviews coming in around a couple of years I reckon!!!
They are not actually made by Raleigh, but by a company called XLC which I understand is some big european cycle comapany. The following is a link to the XLC website and page listing all there brake pads. I have also got a set to try on my Cantilevers on my cossbike when I get chance to see if their as good.
http://www.xlc-parts.com/produkte_liste_en,1223.html
DaveS
Active Member
- Location
- Suffolk UK
Interesting comment re rim wear. I just had to part with my beloved Mavic Open Pros because one of the rims had corroded right thru by one of the spokes. Braking surfaces were fine though. I should point out here that they are 20 years old and in pretty much daily use LOL. Can't complain at that can I?
Are concerns over rim wear from calliper brakes unfounded?
Are concerns over rim wear from calliper brakes unfounded?
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bikeman66
Senior Member
- Location
- Isle of Wight
Probably not quite such an issue in a road bike DaveS, but I managed to wear a Mavic 517 rim on my MTB down to a point where the sidewall split away from the rest of the rim in the space of just two years. Mind you, that did include two years pretty hard winter series XC events, and countless MTB orienteering weekends. I always used to run quite soft brake pads on the front during the winter, so that combined with gritty, slimy mud used to make for a very abrasive grinding paste on the rim.
DaveS
Active Member
- Location
- Suffolk UK
Wow. Real use case for discs then.
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bikeman66
Senior Member
- Location
- Isle of Wight
I have hydraulic discs on my current MTB DaveS and there is no comparison between the stopping power of them and rim brakes, however it was always possible to pull up pretty quickly with XTR V-brakes and the appropriate pads.
To my mind, there are a few benefits of discs, especially on an MTB, where there is likely to be a load of mud and grime being thrown around. Obviously they save the rim from wear, the power is awesome, good modulation and if you have hydraulics they are virtually maintenance free (apart from replacing pads every so often). One of the biggest problems I used to have with cable operated rim brakes was the drop in performance due to cables that we're starting to corrode and get gummed up inside. This required regular cleaning and lubrication of the cables, which is no problem to do, but eats in to the time when you could actually have been riding the bike instead. No such issue with hydraulic discs!
The brake set-up on my new road bike gives, what I consider to be perfectly adequate stopping power, and because the rims aren't going to be getting coated in mud and abrasive grime, rim wear is not something I'll be too worried about. It's obvious that discs are going to be the next big thing on road bikes and I can very well see their benefit on fast, twisty descents, but for me, a rim brake is still up to the job. Half of the issue with stopping power on a rim brake is having the correct pads for the conditions you are riding in, hence my original post. The current pads work pretty well, but I was almost certain that someone on this forum would be able to identify something just a bit better.
DaveS
Active Member
- Location
- Suffolk UK
Disc brakes also make carbon rims more relevant. Perhaps costs will come down. The current crop of so called direct mount rim brakes are said to rival the performance of V brakes but I have not tried them. I can't see how wheels can be changed in moments though a la Tour with disc brakes, and if racers won't use them, their progress will be slowed. With respect to brake pads, the best results I have had have come from the Clarke's Elite pads. They can be had for around a tenner a pair, are supplied in a Shimano compatible holder, and come with a spare set of pads. Better in the dry than anything else I have tried, and about as good as the best in the wet. Pad is multi \coloured\compound.
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bikeman66
Senior Member
- Location
- Isle of Wight
I actually believe there would be no problem in changing a disc brake wheel in a race situation DaveS. OK, you probably need a little bit of practice to slot the disc straight in to the gap between the two pads, but experience on my MTB tells me it's no big deal. Must admit though, I can't really get excited about discs on road bikes, as I think they just look a bit industrial! I couldn't wait to get them on an MTB because of the obvious benefits in stopping power in less than ideal conditions, but that immense hike in power is not essential on a road bike.
Racing roadkill
Guru
Another vote for Clarkes from me.
Not a one upmanship.. but I was going through rims on my commute bike at a pair every18 months. To me, disc brakes make a lot of sense.
DaveS
Active Member
- Location
- Suffolk UK
I have to say that on my winter wheels the brake grabs a bit where there is a variation in rim width. Presumably disc brakes also overcome this kind offer issue?
Tom B
Guru
- Location
- Lancashire
Disks on my commuter.... Would never go back... If and when I get a road bike I'll be buying disks.
I'd just like and think you could get away with tiny rotors on a road machine.
But then my commute includes the Rammy rake!
I'd just like and think you could get away with tiny rotors on a road machine.
But then my commute includes the Rammy rake!
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outlash
also available in orange
- Location
- ice station zebra
If there's one drop off I made when I bought my cross bike earlier in the year, is that it came with cantilever brakes. Even with Clarkes triple compound pads and a lot of time making adjustments to them, they're not even close to being as good as the calipers on the road bike, especially in wet weather. Should have bought a bike with discs.
Tony.
Tony.
