Carbon pads, expensive or cheap ?
Moderator: robbosmans
- stella-azzurra
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- Location: New York
Good pad life and performance is attributed to a clean, smooth (preferably machined rim) and little or no wet condition cycling.
I never took drugs to improve my performance at any time. I will be willing to stick my finger into a polygraph test if anyone with big media pull wants to take issue. If you buy a signed poster now it will not be tarnished later. --Graeme Obree
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I've run SwissStop yellow, Reynolds Cryo-Blue and now SwissStop Black Prince on my Zipps (first a set of 606 non-FC and now some 404 FC's), the Black Prince are definitely the best of the bunch- they're consistent whether it's the first application of the brakes, or the end of a mountain descent, bags of power and great modulation.
I'm using second gen EE Cycleworks calipers.
That said, on my commuter I have Farsports rims with their "basalt" surface, and whilst it grinds through brake pads like you wouldn't believe the braking (no matter if it's baking sunshine or driving rain) is always very strong.
I've got loads of old pads kicking around which I feed to the commuter on a regular basis:
I'm using second gen EE Cycleworks calipers.
That said, on my commuter I have Farsports rims with their "basalt" surface, and whilst it grinds through brake pads like you wouldn't believe the braking (no matter if it's baking sunshine or driving rain) is always very strong.
I've got loads of old pads kicking around which I feed to the commuter on a regular basis:
- MarkGiardini
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I've commuted on carbon clincher plenty of times. Mostly cos I'm too lazy to swap out pads and wheels , and secondly that it's quicker to swap out a tyre and tube on my Reynolds carbon than my Fulcrum Zeros.
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kulivontot wrote:Who the hell commutes on carbon wheels?
Me, every day into London (32 mile round trip) on FarSports Carbon Clinchers with Black Prince pads, stopping is great in wet or dry, but there certainly wear down very quickly.
Cervelo S3 Disc - 6.78Kg/14.94Ib
Scott CR1 - 5.69Kg/12.54Ib
Scott Addict RC - 6.92Kg/15.25Ib
OnOne - Free Ranger - 8.68Kg/19.1Ib
Scott CR1 - 5.69Kg/12.54Ib
Scott Addict RC - 6.92Kg/15.25Ib
OnOne - Free Ranger - 8.68Kg/19.1Ib
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How much time does it shave off your commute?
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Hey Dammit, was the Jack Kerouac 'on the road' deliberate?! Subtle!!
- HammerTime2
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Do you have both brake levers connected to the front brake, via that black tube thing?
Dammit wrote:
Yep, it's a Problem Solvers doubler- means that you can apply the front brake with either lever.
I used it partially because the SRAM levers don't have a return spring, so without a cable in them the lever flaps around, but also because I didn't want to have a lever that didn't do anything.
It's actually really handy being able to use either side.
I used it partially because the SRAM levers don't have a return spring, so without a cable in them the lever flaps around, but also because I didn't want to have a lever that didn't do anything.
It's actually really handy being able to use either side.
- stella-azzurra
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- Location: New York
I have the same brake setup on my fixed.
I never took drugs to improve my performance at any time. I will be willing to stick my finger into a polygraph test if anyone with big media pull wants to take issue. If you buy a signed poster now it will not be tarnished later. --Graeme Obree
Geoff wrote:Personally, I don't like the synthetic pads for carbon brake surfaces. You might try natural cork pads, instead.
Not all carbon rims are the same.
Cork pads will ruin some carbon rims (i.e. Reynolds).
On others they work best, and Swiss Stop yellows will ruin the rims (i.e. Bontrager). A big Trek shop I know regularly gets customers with rims ruined by Yellows because they listened to people on the internet rather than reading the manufacturer's documentation. Yet the shop owner got 17k miles out of a set of cork pads on Bontrager rims, which were not worn at all.
You need to know what kind of rim you have. Fortunately the rim maker does the research for you and publishes it.
For example, Reynolds says to use their pads and any others will void the warranty. They used to recommend SwissStop Yellow and Kool Stop Carbon before they came out with their own blue pads. The blue pads are far superior to the Yellows. The Kool Stops are even worse than Yellows- they are utter crap. They did not stop, squealed like a garbage truck and started chunking after an hour.
Black Prince pads are not quite as good as Reynolds blue (on Farsports rims, I have not tried them on Reynolds). They don't have quite as much bite and require a bit more lever pressure. But they are much better than the Yellows. I like strong brakes even though I am light and know how to descend- I do a lot of steep technical descents and stiff levers or brakes that need a lot of force give mu hands nerve pain at the end of a long day of climbing and descending. I'm used to strong brakes on motorcycles so I know not to jam them on in an emergency.
For aluminium I have used Dura-Ace, Kool stop salmon, and SwissStop black. The Blacks work as well as DA in the dry but not in the wet. They don't pick up rim shards like the DA pads do and wear faster. Salmons work as well in the wet as new DA and almost as well when dry and also do not pick up shards. But they wear faster although not as fast as the Blacks.
- carbonLORD
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I feel like I'm the only person who cant stop on their ENVE wheels.
I eventually stop.
Here's the kicker I have two sets of wheels, same brakes and manufacturers specific pads.
2013 ENVE 6.7 with ENVE pads on ZG brakes.
2013 ZIPP 404's with ZIPP (Swisstop Platinum Pro) pads on same brakes.
Zipps feel just like my aluminum HED wheels with regards to braking, excellent, almost too well, (when I switch between bikes).
ENVE's feel like old cork pads on Corimas. The wheel itself is phenomenal, performance, deflection, stiffness all there but extremely poor braking. They seem to bite better after the first few initial stops I'm assuming that the pad heats up and this allows more friction but still pales in comparison to the Zipp's stopping power.
Zipp's braking surface is clearly different then the fairing constriction while the ENVE wheels look like there is no braking surface between the fairing and rim track.
I contacted ENVE about the use of the Black Prince pad and they said they were just finishing testing but that it appeared to be fine, they also sent me a new set of pads, but I have yet to try them.
I can't be alone here.
I eventually stop.
Here's the kicker I have two sets of wheels, same brakes and manufacturers specific pads.
2013 ENVE 6.7 with ENVE pads on ZG brakes.
2013 ZIPP 404's with ZIPP (Swisstop Platinum Pro) pads on same brakes.
Zipps feel just like my aluminum HED wheels with regards to braking, excellent, almost too well, (when I switch between bikes).
ENVE's feel like old cork pads on Corimas. The wheel itself is phenomenal, performance, deflection, stiffness all there but extremely poor braking. They seem to bite better after the first few initial stops I'm assuming that the pad heats up and this allows more friction but still pales in comparison to the Zipp's stopping power.
Zipp's braking surface is clearly different then the fairing constriction while the ENVE wheels look like there is no braking surface between the fairing and rim track.
I contacted ENVE about the use of the Black Prince pad and they said they were just finishing testing but that it appeared to be fine, they also sent me a new set of pads, but I have yet to try them.
I can't be alone here.
carbonLORD.com
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The Reynolds blue pads work very well, but I actually prefer the Enve pads in vet weather. They are pretty comparable in the dry though. I didn't like the yellow residue that the SWiss Stops left on my rims though.
Just dig in and climb it!!!