Shimano 105 Brake Pads

Anonymous

I am new to road bikes, just moved over from mountain bikes and disc brakes, I was just wondering how hard wearing the standard 105 brake pads are, i.e will i need a lot of standby sets? I do about 150-200miles per week in all weather conditions and hope to do more now that I am on a road bike.

And Is there a better alternative to the official Shimano ones? Links appreciated

I am lost with all the roadie gear and my plastic is in meltdown

redddraggon

They should last months, like 6-9months.

Depends how much you brake though really.

GavH

I've just replaced mine with Koolstop salmon pads. There was some obvious wear to the 105 ones after about 9 months use but not enough to warrant changing them. I just changed them because I heard the Salmon ones were kinder on rims. I have to say, the 'tip' on the end really does scoop up some amount of sh1t throughout rides in the wet.

brownbosh

My new training bike has 105 pads, all my other stuff has koolstop. The lack of breaking with 105 is noticeable compared to the others - they will be going immediately! I reckon 105 would probably last longer though.

31satara

In winter in all weathers my rear inserts don't last long - maybe two to three sets per winter. That is with infrequent cleaning and storing outside in the shed. (Put away wet, stays wet). I get about a year out of a rear rim. If I cleaned carefully after each ride they would last longer but it's not worth the effort for a winter hack/commuter. I find I get a grey grinding paste on the rim surfaces and little alloy fragments embedded in the blocks!
Fronts last much longer. I've tried various blocks but all are soon crap and last a similar time in these conditions. Also really being an MTBer I'm used to disc performance - one day all winter hacks will have a rear disc..........

redddraggon

31satara wrote:

In winter in all weathers my rear inserts don't last long - maybe two to three sets per winter. That is with infrequent cleaning and storing outside in the shed. (Put away wet, stays wet). I get about a year out of a rear rim. If I cleaned carefully after each ride they would last longer but it's not worth the effort for a winter hack/commuter. I find I get a grey grinding paste on the rim surfaces and little alloy fragments embedded in the blocks!
Fronts last much longer. I've tried various blocks but all are soon crap and last a similar time in these conditions. Also really being an MTBer I'm used to disc performance - one day all winter hacks will have a rear disc..........

Do you do most of your braking with the rear or something?

31satara

Tend to when I'm not in a rush, and when the roads are slippery.

31satara

Just checked order history - my last mavic open pro rim lasted just over a year, and I was pushing it to get that. Blocks I bought from the lbs so I can't be sure how many I use.

rogerthecat

I got about 3500 miles out of a pair, June - October, I changed to some swiss stop yellow and they need changing soon about 500 miles, not happy about that to be honest, BTW I break with front and rear at the same time and always wash down after a ride.

redddraggon

rogerthecat wrote:

I got about 3500 miles out of a pair, June - October, I changed to some swiss stop yellow and they need changing soon about 500 miles, not happy about that to be honest, BTW I break with front and rear at the same time and always wash down after a ride.

Swiss stop yellow are for carbon rims, if you used them on alloy rims it's no wonder they only lasted 500 miles.

rogerthecat

:oops:

Suitable for Alloy rims is stated, however it look like the green should have been my option.

:oops: