Off road break pads lifetime

[[email protected]]

I've been cycling to work since April. It's about 7 miles (between
Aldershot and Guildford if you're interested) and about 5 miles of the
route is off-road.

I just started cycling again after a break in October. Last week my
break pads completly wore out. I changed them but this morning I had to
adjust my breaks again because the new pads have worn out so much. At
this rate I'll get through two pairs of break pads every fortnight
which will be very expensive. I'm guessing the break pads are wearing
out because of the change in weather since I started cycling again.
Does anyone have an alternative to buying new break pads all the time?

thanks
Thomas

 

[Ian Blake]

On 17 Nov 2005 05:08:59 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

>Does anyone have an alternative to buying new break pads all the time?
>
>thanks
>Thomas


Buy a different type/brand of brake pads. Different pads wear and
brake differently.

 

[Clive George]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I've been cycling to work since April. It's about 7 miles (between
> Aldershot and Guildford if you're interested) and about 5 miles of the
> route is off-road.

What sort of off road? Nice gravel track, muddy gloopy horror, or something
in between?

cheers,
clive

 

[iakobski]

>> Does anyone have an alternative to buying new break pads all the time?

1. Change brand
2. Do less braking
3. Keep them clean of fine abrasive grit and little bits of aluminium
from the rims

(1) is the most important one - some brands are extremely soft
compound. Harder ones may be less efficient and wear rims more, but you
need to strike a compromise, and fortnightly brake pad replacement is
too much.

PS it's BRAKE pads (unless they're broken).

 

[Arthur Clune]

This is why disk brakes have taken of so fast for off-roading in the
UK. I've worn out a set of V-brake pads in one (very wet and muddy
ride).

One thing that will help is keeping the pads clean and making sure grit
etc doesn't get trapped in them.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune

 

[Marz]

I agree with Ian, buy some tougher pads like Kool Stop Salmon. How worn
are your rims? If your rims are grooved they'll trap more winter sloop
and file away your brake pads. It might be time for new rims too.
I've gone through a set of pads in a weekend in **** weather in
Scotland which is one of the reasons I went disk.

Laters,

Marz

 

[Douglas Steel]

[email protected] wrote:
> I've been cycling to work since April. It's about 7 miles (between
> Aldershot and Guildford if you're interested) and about 5 miles of the
> route is off-road.
>
> I just started cycling again after a break in October. Last week my
> break pads completly wore out. I changed them but this morning I had to
> adjust my breaks again because the new pads have worn out so much. At
> this rate I'll get through two pairs of break pads every fortnight
> which will be very expensive. I'm guessing the break pads are wearing
> out because of the change in weather since I started cycling again.
> Does anyone have an alternative to buying new break pads all the time?

Are these disc brakes or rim brakes ?

Resin based disc brake pads are notorious for wearing quickly in
wet/muddy conditions. You are better off with sintered pads in
those sorts of conditions.

Rim brake pads should not wear that quickly (if they do you are
probably wearing out your rims as well, which can lead to a
catastrophic failure - a taco'd rim)

Douglas

 

[David E. Belcher]

Douglas Steel wrote:

> Are these disc brakes or rim brakes ?
>
> Resin based disc brake pads are notorious for wearing quickly in
> wet/muddy conditions. You are better off with sintered pads in
> those sorts of conditions.

I use Fibrax cartridge-type brake shoes [1] with replaceable pads for
off-road use; these come in black and red varieties with slight
differences in stopping characteristics between the two, but the
lifetime of both is more than acceptable.

David Belcher

[1] Intended for V-brakes using a peg-type mount, but equally suited to
cantilevers too.

 

[Tony Raven]

Arthur Clune wrote:
> This is why disk brakes have taken of so fast for off-roading in the
> UK. I've worn out a set of V-brake pads in one (very wet and muddy
> ride).
>
> One thing that will help is keeping the pads clean and making sure grit
> etc doesn't get trapped in them.
>

I got through four pairs in a weekend before I changed to disks. On
Yorkshire gritstone I've seen two pairs go in one ride.

--
Tony

"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the
right."
- Lord Hailsham