Brake pads for road bike (and maybe MTB)

Attention, bicycle related technical topic :-)

Due to the hills here we use lots of brake pads. My road bike has
Shimano 600 brakes. The original pads weren't that great and I am using
Koolstop Cross Dura. They work great but sure are expensive. It's also
kind of tough to find out which curent replacement rubbers fit.

I ride rain or shine. Which other lower cost brands are good all-weather
pads for caliper rim brakes?

In case anyone has info where to obtain ceramic (motorcycle grade) brake
pads in BB5 size that would be nice. My MTB brakes are hydraulic. In
2014 I bought a box full from Vktech at $3/pair. Came from China, best
pads I ever had and lasted almost 1000mi/pair. Now that I've used all of
them they are non-stock everywhere :-(

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 2:35:14 PM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
Attention, bicycle related technical topic :-)

Due to the hills here we use lots of brake pads. My road bike has
Shimano 600 brakes. The original pads weren't that great and I am using
Koolstop Cross Dura. They work great but sure are expensive. It's also
kind of tough to find out which curent replacement rubbers fit.

I ride rain or shine. Which other lower cost brands are good all-weather
pads for caliper rim brakes?

In case anyone has info where to obtain ceramic (motorcycle grade) brake
pads in BB5 size that would be nice. My MTB brakes are hydraulic. In
2014 I bought a box full from Vktech at $3/pair. Came from China, best
pads I ever had and lasted almost 1000mi/pair. Now that I've used all of
them they are non-stock everywhere :-(

Koolstop Salmon are best stopping in wet weather. Standard Shimano pads (current Dura pads) work fine, too. Not cheap, and I haven't looked at Alibaba to see whether there are Chinese bulk shoes available. Speaking of, you will now have to go to eBay for your Chinese ceramic disc pads. http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pairs-Bike...-/380980112869 Looks like Vk Tech is now some other Tech.

I ride rain or shine, too -- and snow. I cut out of work early because another snow storm rolled in. I hadn't been paying attention, and cut out too late and got to do some sledding on my 35mm semi-slick rain tires. I was going to throw on the studs, but they ride like tank tracks.

I got home sooner than if I had driven. The car commuters cut out early, too, and ended up locking up the roads. I got to lay fresh tracks in the bike lane passing long lines of stopped cars -- cars that I hoped didn't do anything stupid like slide into me.

-- Jay Beattie.

On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 3:47:48 PM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 2:35:14 PM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
Attention, bicycle related technical topic :-)

Due to the hills here we use lots of brake pads. My road bike has
Shimano 600 brakes. The original pads weren't that great and I am using
Koolstop Cross Dura. They work great but sure are expensive. It's also
kind of tough to find out which curent replacement rubbers fit.

I ride rain or shine. Which other lower cost brands are good all-weather
pads for caliper rim brakes?

In case anyone has info where to obtain ceramic (motorcycle grade) brake
pads in BB5 size that would be nice. My MTB brakes are hydraulic. In
2014 I bought a box full from Vktech at $3/pair. Came from China, best
pads I ever had and lasted almost 1000mi/pair. Now that I've used all of
them they are non-stock everywhere :-(

Koolstop Salmon are best stopping in wet weather. Standard Shimano pads (current Dura pads) work fine, too. Not cheap, and I haven't looked at Alibaba to see whether there are Chinese bulk shoes available. Speaking of, you will now have to go to eBay for your Chinese ceramic disc pads. http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pairs-Bike...-/380980112869 Looks like Vk Tech is now some other Tech.

I ride rain or shine, too -- and snow. I cut out of work early because another snow storm rolled in. I hadn't been paying attention, and cut out too late and got to do some sledding on my 35mm semi-slick rain tires. I was going to throw on the studs, but they ride like tank tracks.

I got home sooner than if I had driven. The car commuters cut out early, too, and ended up locking up the roads. I got to lay fresh tracks in the bike lane passing long lines of stopped cars -- cars that I hoped didn't do anything stupid like slide into me.

-- Jay Beattie.

How far is your commute Jay?

On 2016-12-14 15:47, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 2:35:14 PM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
Attention, bicycle related technical topic :-)

Due to the hills here we use lots of brake pads. My road bike has
Shimano 600 brakes. The original pads weren't that great and I am
using Koolstop Cross Dura. They work great but sure are expensive.
It's also kind of tough to find out which curent replacement
rubbers fit.

I ride rain or shine. Which other lower cost brands are good
all-weather pads for caliper rim brakes?

In case anyone has info where to obtain ceramic (motorcycle grade)
brake pads in BB5 size that would be nice. My MTB brakes are
hydraulic. In 2014 I bought a box full from Vktech at $3/pair. Came
from China, best pads I ever had and lasted almost 1000mi/pair. Now
that I've used all of them they are non-stock everywhere :-(

Koolstop Salmon are best stopping in wet weather.


That's what I also found, so far. I use the salmon/black combo. So I
probably have to bite the bullet and keep buying those. Thing is, the
inserts for the Cross Dura holders look different now.


... Standard Shimano
pads (current Dura pads) work fine, too. Not cheap, and I haven't
looked at Alibaba to see whether there are Chinese bulk shoes
available. Speaking of, you will now have to go to eBay for your
Chinese ceramic disc pads.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pairs-Bike...-/380980112869
Looks like Vk Tech is now some other Tech.


Yes, I've seen them there but do not have an EBay account. I guess the
day has come where I need one now.


I ride rain or shine, too -- and snow. I cut out of work early
because another snow storm rolled in. I hadn't been paying attention,
and cut out too late and got to do some sledding on my 35mm
semi-slick rain tires. I was going to throw on the studs, but they
ride like tank tracks.


Bike sledding can be a lot of fun. This year my MTB buddy and I want to
do that again on fat bikes up in the Sierra. Many roads become
practically impassible in winter but there will always be guys in their
redneck truck. Not necessarily sober and nowadays maybe stoned. So you
got to watch out. What would drive non-USians nuts is the constant gun
fire out there. Lots of people trying out the new rifles they got for
Christmas. So you also have to watch where you ride for that reason.
What they use as targets is something that can't always be disclosed in
public :-)


I got home sooner than if I had driven. The car commuters cut out
early, too, and ended up locking up the roads. I got to lay fresh
tracks in the bike lane passing long lines of stopped cars -- cars
that I hoped didn't do anything stupid like slide into me.


During summer that happens a lot on Hwy 50 east of Placerville. The
segregated bike path runs nearby at times and while I happily cruise up
and later back down traffic is all snarled up. It eases off a bit when
the Apple Hill farm sales close and then towards Christmas it's plugged
up again. Not for cyclists.

As for sliding I had that once in Germany. Waited in the left turn lane
which was under a pack of snow but I kind of knew where it was supposed
to be. Car came down a hill turning into the road where I waited.
Phhhssseee ... steering pegged, car continued towards me, driver with
widen open panicked eyes. I pulled through the red light so he could
slide past behind me.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 4:06:34 PM UTC-8, Doug Landau wrote:
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 3:47:48 PM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 2:35:14 PM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
Attention, bicycle related technical topic :-)

Due to the hills here we use lots of brake pads. My road bike has
Shimano 600 brakes. The original pads weren't that great and I am using
Koolstop Cross Dura. They work great but sure are expensive. It's also
kind of tough to find out which curent replacement rubbers fit.

I ride rain or shine. Which other lower cost brands are good all-weather
pads for caliper rim brakes?

In case anyone has info where to obtain ceramic (motorcycle grade) brake
pads in BB5 size that would be nice. My MTB brakes are hydraulic. In
2014 I bought a box full from Vktech at $3/pair. Came from China, best
pads I ever had and lasted almost 1000mi/pair. Now that I've used all of
them they are non-stock everywhere :-(

Koolstop Salmon are best stopping in wet weather. Standard Shimano pads (current Dura pads) work fine, too. Not cheap, and I haven't looked at Alibaba to see whether there are Chinese bulk shoes available. Speaking of, you will now have to go to eBay for your Chinese ceramic disc pads. http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pairs-Bike...-/380980112869 Looks like Vk Tech is now some other Tech.

I ride rain or shine, too -- and snow. I cut out of work early because another snow storm rolled in. I hadn't been paying attention, and cut out too late and got to do some sledding on my 35mm semi-slick rain tires. I was going to throw on the studs, but they ride like tank tracks.

I got home sooner than if I had driven. The car commuters cut out early, too, and ended up locking up the roads. I got to lay fresh tracks in the bike lane passing long lines of stopped cars -- cars that I hoped didn't do anything stupid like slide into me.

-- Jay Beattie.

How far is your commute Jay?

The straightest route is a walloping five miles. That's how I came home today. On fresh snow days, I often go home on a slightly longer rolling hill route, but it is a bit of sled run in places, and with a healing hand fracture, I begged off. Any serious climbing over the West Hills was entirely out of the question.

We don't get that much snow -- a few inches at a time, and it melts off generally. We'll get a foot now and then. I couldn't imagine living in the Mid-West. The worst thing we get here is ice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyfjZlOSq2A


-- Jay Beattie

On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 4:41:08 PM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 4:06:34 PM UTC-8, Doug Landau wrote:
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 3:47:48 PM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 2:35:14 PM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
Attention, bicycle related technical topic :-)

Due to the hills here we use lots of brake pads. My road bike has
Shimano 600 brakes. The original pads weren't that great and I am using
Koolstop Cross Dura. They work great but sure are expensive. It's also
kind of tough to find out which curent replacement rubbers fit.

I ride rain or shine. Which other lower cost brands are good all-weather
pads for caliper rim brakes?

In case anyone has info where to obtain ceramic (motorcycle grade) brake
pads in BB5 size that would be nice. My MTB brakes are hydraulic. In
2014 I bought a box full from Vktech at $3/pair. Came from China, best
pads I ever had and lasted almost 1000mi/pair. Now that I've used all of
them they are non-stock everywhere :-(

Koolstop Salmon are best stopping in wet weather. Standard Shimano pads (current Dura pads) work fine, too. Not cheap, and I haven't looked at Alibaba to see whether there are Chinese bulk shoes available. Speaking of, you will now have to go to eBay for your Chinese ceramic disc pads. http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pairs-Bike...-/380980112869 Looks like Vk Tech is now some other Tech.

I ride rain or shine, too -- and snow. I cut out of work early because another snow storm rolled in. I hadn't been paying attention, and cut out too late and got to do some sledding on my 35mm semi-slick rain tires. I was going to throw on the studs, but they ride like tank tracks.

I got home sooner than if I had driven. The car commuters cut out early, too, and ended up locking up the roads. I got to lay fresh tracks in the bike lane passing long lines of stopped cars -- cars that I hoped didn't do anything stupid like slide into me.

-- Jay Beattie.

How far is your commute Jay?

The straightest route is a walloping five miles. That's how I came home today. On fresh snow days, I often go home on a slightly longer rolling hill route, but it is a bit of sled run in places, and with a healing hand fracture, I begged off. Any serious climbing over the West Hills was entirely out of the question.

We don't get that much snow -- a few inches at a time, and it melts off generally. We'll get a foot now and then. I couldn't imagine living in the Mid-West. The worst thing we get here is ice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyfjZlOSq2A


-- Jay Beattie

I am jonesing hardcore. I started a new job in Watsonville 90 days ago and am liking it but have thus far considered commuting by bike to here from Los Gatos to be not in the cards. I haven't found a good time of day to disappear for an hour or two, I haven't dragged my a$$ outta bed at 5 am yet to get here by 6 and ride and shower and eat before meetings start. I tried riding thru watsonville to corralitos and the eureka canyon climb at 5,6,7PM and that sucked.
I was previously commuting from LG to Palo Alto up foothill expy, and loving it. Now I'm over in clean air and beautiful riding country but my bike leans up against the wall and I've gained 20Lbs DOH

Actually the bike commute to here would be splendid - just up old santa cruz hwy, along summit/highland, and down eureka canyon - it's the ride home I'm worried about.

On Wed, 14 Dec 2016 14:35:17 -0800, Joerg
wrote:

Attention, bicycle related technical topic :-)

Due to the hills here we use lots of brake pads. My road bike has
Shimano 600 brakes. The original pads weren't that great and I am using
Koolstop Cross Dura. They work great but sure are expensive. It's also
kind of tough to find out which curent replacement rubbers fit.

I ride rain or shine. Which other lower cost brands are good all-weather
pads for caliper rim brakes?

I don't think you are going to find any. But over here I can buy some
inserts called "FUN" which seem very similar to Koolstops, you mug ht
be able to find them at a cheaper price than the original.

You might have a look at Alibaba. They are generally a listing of
wholesale dealers but sometimes you can find a place that will sell
"one-offs".

Or maybe Amazon? Or ebay?

In case anyone has info where to obtain ceramic (motorcycle grade) brake
pads in BB5 size that would be nice. My MTB brakes are hydraulic. In
2014 I bought a box full from Vktech at $3/pair. Came from China, best
pads I ever had and lasted almost 1000mi/pair. Now that I've used all of
them they are non-stock everywhere :-(
--
cheers,

John B.

On 15/12/16 09:35, Joerg wrote:
Attention, bicycle related technical topic :-)

Due to the hills here we use lots of brake pads. My road bike has
Shimano 600 brakes. The original pads weren't that great and I am using
Koolstop Cross Dura. They work great but sure are expensive. It's also
kind of tough to find out which curent replacement rubbers fit.

I ride rain or shine. Which other lower cost brands are good all-weather
pads for caliper rim brakes?

In case anyone has info where to obtain ceramic (motorcycle grade) brake
pads in BB5 size that would be nice. My MTB brakes are hydraulic. In
2014 I bought a box full from Vktech at $3/pair. Came from China, best
pads I ever had and lasted almost 1000mi/pair. Now that I've used all of
them they are non-stock everywhere :-(



For me to ride any distance on bitumen roads, I have a hill to climb and
descend when I leave home, and when I return. Not just a straight road
hump of a hill, I'm talking average of near 7% with steeper bits of 10%,
tight corners and rough bitumen. Each descent is 2km.

I use regular Campagnolo brake blocks on my Campagnolo brake callipers
with Campagnolo levers.

I don't have a problem.

--
JS

On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 5:15:36 PM UTC-8, Doug Landau wrote:
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 4:41:08 PM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 4:06:34 PM UTC-8, Doug Landau wrote:
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 3:47:48 PM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 2:35:14 PM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
Attention, bicycle related technical topic :-)

Due to the hills here we use lots of brake pads. My road bike has
Shimano 600 brakes. The original pads weren't that great and I am using
Koolstop Cross Dura. They work great but sure are expensive. It's also
kind of tough to find out which curent replacement rubbers fit.

I ride rain or shine. Which other lower cost brands are good all-weather
pads for caliper rim brakes?

In case anyone has info where to obtain ceramic (motorcycle grade) brake
pads in BB5 size that would be nice. My MTB brakes are hydraulic. In
2014 I bought a box full from Vktech at $3/pair. Came from China, best
pads I ever had and lasted almost 1000mi/pair. Now that I've used all of
them they are non-stock everywhere :-(

Koolstop Salmon are best stopping in wet weather. Standard Shimano pads (current Dura pads) work fine, too. Not cheap, and I haven't looked at Alibaba to see whether there are Chinese bulk shoes available. Speaking of, you will now have to go to eBay for your Chinese ceramic disc pads. http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pairs-Bike...-/380980112869 Looks like Vk Tech is now some other Tech.

I ride rain or shine, too -- and snow. I cut out of work early because another snow storm rolled in. I hadn't been paying attention, and cut out too late and got to do some sledding on my 35mm semi-slick rain tires. I was going to throw on the studs, but they ride like tank tracks.

I got home sooner than if I had driven. The car commuters cut out early, too, and ended up locking up the roads. I got to lay fresh tracks in the bike lane passing long lines of stopped cars -- cars that I hoped didn't do anything stupid like slide into me.

-- Jay Beattie.

How far is your commute Jay?

The straightest route is a walloping five miles. That's how I came home today. On fresh snow days, I often go home on a slightly longer rolling hill route, but it is a bit of sled run in places, and with a healing hand fracture, I begged off. Any serious climbing over the West Hills was entirely out of the question.

We don't get that much snow -- a few inches at a time, and it melts off generally. We'll get a foot now and then. I couldn't imagine living in the Mid-West. The worst thing we get here is ice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyfjZlOSq2A


-- Jay Beattie

I am jonesing hardcore. I started a new job in Watsonville 90 days ago and am liking it but have thus far considered commuting by bike to here from Los Gatos to be not in the cards. I haven't found a good time of day to disappear for an hour or two, I haven't dragged my a$$ outta bed at 5 am yet to get here by 6 and ride and shower and eat before meetings start. I tried riding thru watsonville to corralitos and the eureka canyon climb at 5,6,7PM and that sucked.
I was previously commuting from LG to Palo Alto up foothill expy, and loving it. Now I'm over in clean air and beautiful riding country but my bike leans up against the wall and I've gained 20Lbs DOH

Actually the bike commute to here would be splendid - just up old santa cruz hwy, along summit/highland, and down eureka canyon - it's the ride home I'm worried about.

You could ride home by jogging around Aptos and going up San Jose Soquel, which is a whole lot less climbing. No matter how you cut it, you would be doing 75 miles RT. I can extent my commute with a lot of optional routes over the hills, but home is never too far away. I couldn't hack a mandatory 38 mile ride home with lots of climbing, I would also be leery about riding those snaky little roads in the dark. I'd probably find some time during the day to ride, as hard as that is to do. My actual plan has always been to live near work, but even that may change -- and the solution will be an eBike.

-- Jay Beattie.

On 12/14/2016 6:47 PM, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 2:35:14 PM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:


In case anyone has info where to obtain ceramic (motorcycle grade) brake
pads in BB5 size that would be nice. My MTB brakes are hydraulic. In
2014 I bought a box full from Vktech at $3/pair. Came from China, best

Speaking of, you will now have to go to eBay for your Chinese ceramic
disc pads.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pairs-Bike...-/380980112869
Looks like Vk Tech is now some other Tech.

That's a factor that makes me reluctant to go to disc brakes. With
caliper brakes, I figure I'll always be able to get compatible brake
shoes. With dozens of proprietary disc pad designs, I'd never be sure.

Related: A few weeks ago we hosted a bike tourist who was passing
through. I think he was only the second touring cyclist visitor who had
disc brakes, so I asked him how he liked them. (Sorry, I don't remember
the brand or model.)

He liked the high stopping power, and he liked the immunity to the rain.
OTOH, he was very displeased with pad life. He talked about one tour
he had done (across Pennsylvania, IIRC, which is quite hilly) where he
found himself with essentially no brakes one day. His pads had worn
away FAR faster than he thought possible. And he had no way to
immediately buy replacements.

--
- Frank Krygowski