Best brake pads

[anonymous-user]

I am looking for some pads that will provide decent feel and power. What are you running? Currently using Swisstop green and I am finding them hopeless in the wet despite good reviews

[NitroNick]

Road or MTB?
What type of rims?

[yellowjack]

yonex said:

I am looking for some pads that will provide decent feel and power. What are you running? Currently using Swisstop green and I am finding them hopeless in the wet despite good reviews

Aw, don't say that. I've got a set of Swisstop that I bought two years ago, shortly after I bought my bike, because of the reviews. I haven't fitted them yet, because I'm light on my brakes, and the Ultegra OEM pads haven't yet worn out (VFM and all that). Now I'm having second thoughts about them. I was looking forward to fitting them ready for this winter, and hoping that I would notice a significant performance improvement over the 'stock' pads. Now also

[okgo]

I haven't found a good set of pads in the wet, but given most of my riding is in the dry, I use the ones on ebay that are 4 pairs for £10, they last 2000 miles or so, good value imo.

[Rolls]

Was going to say, is there such a thing as goof raod based brakes in the wet?
I know the brakes on my cross bike are horrific when its wet out!

[anonymous-user]

They're road ally rims. I have found that the only ones that are any good are the ones that I had kicking around in a s/h set of Ultegra calipers. I dont know if these are std Shimano stuff but they are miles better than the Swisstop. At the weekend I was wondering if I actually had the carbon version in by mistake they were so bad!

[NitroNick]

yonex said:

They're road ally rims. I have found that the only ones that are any good are the ones that I had kicking around in a s/h set of Ultegra calipers. I dont know if these are std Shimano stuff but they are miles better than the Swisstop. At the weekend I was wondering if I actually had the carbon version in by mistake they were so bad!

I found that the Dura Ace pads were great with alloy rims in all conditions.

[HundredthIdiot]

Rolls said:

Was going to say, is there such a thing as goof raod based brakes in the wet? I know the brakes on my cross bike are horrific when its wet out!

Cantis are usually terrible with brifters. You can't have short lever travel and loads of power, so the trick is to set them up so they're spongy but powerful.

Proper road calipers are fine in the wet provided decent pads are used and the rims and pads are kept clean.

[nammynake]

I have the standard black (for Aluminium rims) pads and they are exceptional. They work very well even in heavy rain. Only light pressure is required for braking and the pads are made from a specific rubber compound that doesn't pick up as much dirt and grit as normal pads, so less noise and better performance. I should note that I was originally using them with Sora callipers, so it certainly wasn't down to the performance of those!

Swiss Stop recommend aligning the pads flush with the rims, rather than toeing in like many others. This may be causing the performance issues mentioned above.

[itsnotarace]

Try Kool Stop Salmons for wet performance, they are marginally better than the Shimano (ultegra/da) compounds but don't last as long IME

[Matt London]

Swisstop Green here. They work fine in the wet for me. I regularly degrease the rims which makes a massive difference.

[AyBee]

okgo said:

I haven't found a good set of pads in the wet, but given most of my riding is in the dry, I use the ones on ebay that are 4 pairs for £10, they last 2000 miles or so, good value imo.

Link please?

I have Halt Gooey pads on my commuter at the moment which have been alright in the wet (better than the last set) but I'm not sure their life is as good as other pads I've used.

[Raven Flyer]

Koolstop Blacks. Unbelievable performance compared with most OE units.

The arrow design works well when they are wet and they are incredibly kind to your rims, unlike most of the competition.