Mavic's Exalith Process/Reviews?

[schroeds]

Hey all , anybody got any updates on running cheaper alternatives to Mavics Exalith pads?

Since I purchased my SLEs second hand about 3 months ago, I've been running Swiss stops with no problems, but the braking whilst fine isn't as great as what I read about. I figure for the savings I'm OK with that. Oh, and no scratching of the black so far, fingers scrossed that continues because aesthetics was a big reason I chose these.

Anybody else have long term results of using other pads?

[Gearjunkie]

Which Swisstops have you been using? Black Prince for Carbon?

I tried those, and while similar I didn't think they performed as good as the Exalith pads. Seemed to wear faster and not have as much bite but maybe I'm imagining it.

Either way, the pads were wearing too fast for me and the Exalith pads are hard to find and VERY expensive for something that wears so fast.

So I tried Reynolds blue pads that I had lying around. They seem to work better and last longer. Ditched most of the toe in too, and the Reynolds still run quiet for the most part. There is some blue residue on the rims, but not very noticeable and cleans off.

Anyone got any other experiences?

[lumanz]

I think they are Flash Pro pads

[schroeds]

cant remember what I'm using I'll take a look tonight and get back to you.

can you be bothered to post a photo of the blue residue? If it's bad I wouldn't go that way as Ioooove my black surfaces

[Gearjunkie]

Here you go... hope this works.

The blue is more obvious when viewed from the saddle because you are looking across the "tops" of the Exalith grooves. The blue is less noticeable when viewing the bike from the side.

Hope that helps.

Cheers
GJ

[schroeds]

hey thanks...ok I see it's pretty consistent, no disaster by any means...I guess a stiff brush might remove it.

Must remember to loom what I'm using...they're black and swiss stop I think.

Agree Exalith pads are priced tooo high

[Gearjunkie]

Thanks Lumanz

The trouble is that there are lots of different Swisstop "Flash Pro" pads. Just have a look on any of the online retailers and you'll see what I mean.

Cheers
GJ

[keith]

I'm riding a pair of R-SYS-SLR's had them about 4 weeks. I've done around 2000km on them so far. The horrible screeching has died down. They work wonderfully in the dry, smooth progressive modulated braking. In the wet however they are very bad….

A few days ago I was riding in the actual rain, not just damp roads, and there was no braking at all. Apply the brakes, the bike just carried on with some, barely discernible slowing down, like none at all really. I pump the brakes gently to try and clear the water off the rims as I'm used to on my normal alloy rims, no effect at all, just carried on. Eventually I start to slow down, having to squeeze both brake levers very very hard and then they start grabbing sharply. Lucky I was riding on deserted country roads and was just slowing down for a hill. Hate to think what would have happened if I'd wanted to stop quickly in traffic.

Not impressed at all, so in my mind they are lethal in the wet.

Have been in touch with my (really good) LBS and they are going to talk to the Mavic rep.

[schroeds]

sounds unpleasant...so far I've avoided riding mine in the wet but in Wales I guess that's hard to do! Let us know what the Mavic people say

[Richt1978]

Sounds odd on the wet braking issue - came down a very wet descent off the Col de Peyresourde and was massively impressed how much better they felt over normal alloy rimmed wheels.

[schroeds]

That seems to be the general finding, people rave about the wet performance, so Keith's experience is really odd. Hence looking forward to Mavic response and/or a diagnosis.

[keith]

Thanks for the concern guys. Still waiting for a response. LBS has suggested cleaning the rim thoroughly with disk brake cleaner. I've done this on just the front wheel, so will ride later today, in the rain! To see if it's any different.

Update….

The cleaned front wheel works fine now, wet or dry. The uncleaned rear wheel is noticeably poorer in the rain, as before, and slightly below par in the dry too. Noticeably less 'bite'. So when I clean that too is should be fine!

Ordinary cleaning (wet the bike, apply muck-off and a quick wipe/wash) didn't seem to make any difference. (I tend to wash the bike quickly after most rides to keep the accumulation down rather than a longer 'proper clean'.)

The disk brake cleaner spray left much more reside on the cleaning rag too.

Update 2

I experienced braking issues recently on a Pyrenean Raid trip... No brakes descending the Tourmalet in the rain... Wheels are now with Mavic for inspection.

[dastott]

Had really appalling front brake performance on my Exalith rims today too. Maybe I haven't toed-in properly. Had them for about a year but rarely ride in heavy rain. The rear seemed OK though. Will try toein-in again.

[keith]

Update to my last post,

Mavic replaced the rims with new ones. Not the whole wheel for some reason, kept the hubs and spokes. No explanation at all on what was wrong with the originals.

Haven't ridden them over winter. Seemed fine on a week of riding in Spain last week.

[schroeds]

Still happy with mine... I wouldn't call braking stellar (might have something also to do with my agening ZeroG brakes) but it's really fine and no issues in the wet (living in Sydney that's not much of a concern anyway).

Still looking for some cheaper pads alternative.

PS Keith I want your riding lifestyle!