Carbon pads, expensive or cheap ?

Back by popular demand, the general all-things Road forum!

Moderator: robbosmans

User avatar
nickf
Posts: 1427
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 10:34 pm

by nickf

I like the williams cycling blue pads. Gotta keep them clean but they work great in the dry and good in the wet. Much better then the black pads the wheels came with. $15 bucks.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



User avatar
stella-azzurra
Posts: 5066
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:35 am
Location: New York

by stella-azzurra

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

Dammit
Posts: 437
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:16 pm

by Dammit

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:

Image

kulivontot
Posts: 1163
Joined: Sun May 16, 2010 7:28 pm

by kulivontot

Who the hell commutes on carbon wheels?

User avatar
MarkGiardini
Posts: 493
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2013 5:55 am
Location: Vladivostok

by MarkGiardini

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.
KWalker wrote:chill out perv dogs, homegirl is still only 17.

stevec1975
Posts: 552
Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:37 pm
Location: London

by stevec1975

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.

Dammit
Posts: 437
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:16 pm

by Dammit

kulivontot wrote:Who the hell commutes on carbon wheels?


I do, 20 miles/day in London, on tubs:

Image

kulivontot
Posts: 1163
Joined: Sun May 16, 2010 7:28 pm

by kulivontot

How much time does it shave off your commute?

Monkeyboy3333
Posts: 632
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2011 7:41 pm

by Monkeyboy3333

Hey Dammit, was the Jack Kerouac 'on the road' deliberate?! Subtle!!

User avatar
HammerTime2
Posts: 5813
Joined: Thu May 04, 2006 4:43 pm
Location: Wherever there's a mountain beckoning to be climbed

by HammerTime2

Do you have both brake levers connected to the front brake, via that black tube thing?

Dammit wrote:Image

Dammit
Posts: 437
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:16 pm

by Dammit

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.

User avatar
stella-azzurra
Posts: 5066
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:35 am
Location: New York

by stella-azzurra

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

eric
Posts: 2196
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 9:47 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, California, USA
Contact:

by eric

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.

User avatar
carbonLORD
in the industry
Posts: 459
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2004 6:31 pm
Contact:

by carbonLORD

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.
carbonLORD.com

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



bman11
Posts: 71
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 3:07 am
Location: San Antonio, TX

by bman11

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!!!

Post Reply