I purchased a "mountain" style bike back in November, and athough I rode most of the winter but not all, my brakes pads needed to be replaced. I live in Pittsburgh which is hilly, and I go up and down about six somewhat steep hills on my twenty mile ride, I have had other bikes of similar design, and the brakes lasted at least 18 months. I notice these brakes are wider than my others, but the pad is not as thick. I guess it gives me better braking, but less wear. Are original equipment pads of less quality than replacement pads? Would it be alright ro replace them with a thicker but narrower pad?
In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...
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I purchased a "mountain" style bike back in November, and athough I rode most of the winter but not all, my brakes pads needed to be replaced. I live in Pittsburgh which is hilly, and I go up and down about six somewhat steep hills on my twenty mile ride, I have had other bikes of similar design, and the brakes lasted at least 18 months. I notice these brakes are wider than my others, but the pad is not as thick. I guess it gives me better braking, but less wear. Are original equipment pads of less quality than replacement pads? Would it be alright ro replace them with a thicker but narrower pad?
Were your riding conditions wetter with the new pads than with the old? Wet riding conditions eats through pads very, very quickly. --------------------- Alex
"Alex Rodriguez" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
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In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden]
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says...
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I purchased a "mountain" style bike back in November, and athough I rode most of the winter but not all, my brakes pads needed to be replaced. I
live
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
in Pittsburgh which is hilly, and I go up and down about six somewhat steep hills on my twenty mile ride, I have had other bikes of similar design, and the brakes lasted at least 18 months. I notice these brakes are wider than my others, but the pad is not as thick. I guess it gives me better braking, but less wear. Are original equipment pads of less quality than replacement pads? Would it be alright ro replace them with a thicker but narrower pad?
Were your riding conditions wetter with the new pads than with the old? Wet riding conditions eats through pads very, very quickly.
Worse, they wear through rims. Soft pads also pick up road grit in wet weather, accelerating rim wear. Check out KoolStop salmon colored pads. They use a hard compound that gives excellent braking, is long wearing, and doesn't pick up grit. Harris Cyclery has them.
Check out KoolStop salmon colored pads. They use a hard compound that gives excellent braking, is long wearing, and doesn't pick up grit. Harris Cyclery has them.
On the down side, they are more prone to brake squeal. Others have made the same comment so I know my experience isn't unique.
On the down side, they are more prone to brake squeal. Others have made the same comment so I know my experience isn't unique.
That's not a bug, it's a feature. It warns others that you are slowing down so that they don't run into you. 🙂
A few things no one else has asked the OP. This appears to be winter riding so has there been salt spread on the streets? During this bad weather riding has the OP been wiping down his rims and cleaning his pads at least in the evening? Wouldn't hurt to do a quick wipe when arriving. I'm wondering how his rims look after all of this wear on one set of pads. Pads are cheaper than rims. Another thought. He has checked to make sure they were set up correctly and were not been rubbing on the outset, that would have given them a good grinding to start out. I don't recall if this was a LBS set up bike or not. As for brake squeal, both of my MTBs squeak, no matter what pads I've used, but my road bike usually doesn't. Even with the squeak though the pads on the oldest MTB have lasted 12,000 miles.
dvt <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
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Peter Cole said:
Check out KoolStop salmon colored pads. They use a hard compound that gives excellent braking, is long wearing, and doesn't pick up grit. Harris Cyclery has them.
On the down side, they are more prone to brake squeal. Others have made the same comment so I know my experience isn't unique.
Hi, maybe more prone, but not guarranteed. When I put the first set on my old road bike with steel wheels, they really squealled. I picked up a used set of wheels with Mavic MA 40 rims, no squeal. I recently put a set on my LeMond Tourmalet, it uses the Shimano type refills, and those are silent too. The wheels are Matrix Auroras. I do like their stopping abilities, I haven't got enough miles on them, to comment on wear. Life is Good! Jeff
Check out KoolStop salmon colored pads. They use a hard compound that gives excellent braking, is long wearing, and doesn't pick up grit. Harris Cyclery has them.
On the down side, they are more prone to brake squeal. Others have made the same comment so I know my experience isn't unique.
In my experience, when Kool-Stop Salmon pads squeal stubbornly and seemingly can't be adjusted to not do so, it's the brakes that are at fault. Excessive play on mounting studs or too much flex anywhere can cause intractable squealing with good pads. Pads with lower coefficient of friction (that is to say, lousy ones) often don't expose the problems with crappy brakes by making noise.
i had a very similar experience that you described
one part of my problem was that one pad was usually in contact with the rim very lightly, which i figured wouldn't make a big deal, but it turned out that it did
"mary" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
I purchased a "mountain" style bike back in November, and athough I rode most of the winter but not all, my brakes pads needed to be replaced. I
live
Quoted message said:
in Pittsburgh which is hilly, and I go up and down about six somewhat
steep
Quoted message said:
hills on my twenty mile ride, I have had other bikes of similar design,
and
Quoted message said:
the brakes lasted at least 18 months. I notice these brakes are wider than my others, but the pad is not as thick. I guess it gives me better
braking,
Quoted message said:
but less wear. Are original equipment pads of less quality than
replacement
Quoted message said:
pads? Would it be alright ro replace them with a thicker but narrower pad?
I use plain rubber some times sold under the invicta brand name they are two dollars and are much kinder to your rims I ride 12 miles every day and carry a 280 pound total load it rains here 7 months out of the year. With this setup I can get a year out of a front rim using mostly front braking. The worst brake shoes are the cheap plastic ones made by shimano one reason shimano is so hated by some.
