The best brake pads you've ever used.

[medoramas]

What are/were they?
I cycle every day. In this lovely country it means that 99% of the rides are in wet My commute route has few sections with long downhills, where braking is required (on one of them up to stop), so I had a chance to test few brands of pads.

And so, Shimano and Clarks and BBB - they don't exist to me anymore. In rain they don't stop the bike at all. You press both brakes so hard that the brake cables are almost transparent, but the only thing what the pads do is "grrrrsshhhhhhhhh", without the slightest feeling of slowing the bike down...

Koolstops Salmon - quite good, if it's not too wet. I always find that the rear is as unresponsive during the heavier rain as the above mentioned. It takes good few pre-brakes to get them working reasonably good.

Swissstops Green - they stop the bike every time, everywhere. I think they don't even notice if it's pouring down from Heavens. But despite the fact they say that they don't contain any abrasive materials, the pads tend to pick grit up - you know what it means... After every longer ride in wet I have to remove the pads and using Mac Gyver's knife remove all the aluminium bits shaved from the rims... But on the other side I have not noticed any rim wear after 3 winter months of using them. So they are my favourites.

I haven't tried Aztec's, any other KS or SS, Avid's, etc. Are they good?

 

[rider]

But on the other side I have not noticed any rim wear after 3 winter months of using them.

You are LUCKY!
I have now some noname brake pads and it seems so I have to change rims instead of brakepads! :shock:
It used to be other way around!
I must try them because I am very disapointed with mine brakes in wet.

 

[medoramas]

But on the other side I have not noticed any rim wear after 3 winter months of using them.

You are LUCKY!
I have now some noname brake pads and it seems so I have to change rims instead of brakepads! :shock:
It used to be other way around!
I must try them because I am very disapointed with mine brakes in wet.

I started buying better ones after I got my XC717 rims. Before I didn't care what pads are on. Before I replaced the wheels my front one was so eaten by the pads, that you could see the through the rim in places...

 

[rider]

Mine front brake squeak in the wet so loud that I rather not use it.I destroyed rear rim this winter,just cannot help it.I tried to not brake from hills and this was simply not good idea.
I did not see forward due to dirt on mine glasses.
I did not use fenders so I can have cantilevers set properly,and they did not perform anyway. Irony of wet riding!

 

[Rev Cannon Dale]

Best? Winwood Polymers. Able to do stoppies in the snow :-D
Worst? Anything with Magura in the title.....
Fibrax "cardboard" are pretty poor too!

Anything with any oomph will chow down on rims though; you cant have it both ways :roll:

 

[chiho080]

I tried to not brake from hills and this was simply not good idea.

 

[Raging_Bulls]

No idea what brake pads are on my bikes, but they're probably no-name ones as well.
The bike will happily flip over in the dry, it'll lock up either wheel in the wet, they don't wear quickly and don't seem to eat the rims either.

I'm quite pleased with them.

 

[cornholio's RC200]

If you use ceramics Swissstop blue are the way to go. Stop you on a sixpence.

Similarly Green for non ceramic.

Whatever you do though don't use Shimano if you want some rims left after a week's worth of mud. Seriously abrasive but with seemingly little stopping power compared to the Swissstops.

 

[tintin40]

KCNC blocks work well for me

 

[FluffyChicken]

Best? Winwood Polymers. Able to do stoppies in the snow :-D

While I think they stop very well in the dry, with lots of water they where crap.

I always found the studs bent though so you had to retoe them ever now and again.

Saying htat I have two new boxed pairs in a draw. and the older ones can still be used, apart from the bent studs