Campag brake blocks for Boras?

on-yer-bike

The blocks that came with my Bora Ones were for Shimano brakes and I have Record brakes. I didnt realise this until after much swearing, liquid soap and a scalpel I got them into the shoes and rode with them. Upon realisation I had the online retailer send me the correct blocks. I notice that the compound on the replacements is completely different from the blocks that came with the wheels which had a very strong smell and were a matt brown colour. Have Campag changed the compound of their carbon blocks recently? And which is the new and which is the old compound? Should I ride with the Shimano blocks now they are on the bike?

louismichaels

I don't know much about carbon rims, apart from that I'm not rich enough and I'm envious!
If pads are carbon specific, then it probably doesn't matter whether it's Campag or Shimano.
Have a look at SwissStop brake pads, they'll have something to suite your needs. I use them on a pair of very old Campag Delta brakes and they offer very good performance, and they offer carbon specific pads too.

Monty Dog

By all account Swisstop yellows are the ones to have - at £40/set they ought to be! As I only use my carbon wheels for racing, I'm still working my way through the pads I bought 5 years ago!

Wheelspinner

Monty Dog wrote:

By all account Swisstop yellows are the ones to have - at £40/set they ought to be! As I only use my carbon wheels for racing, I'm still working my way through the pads I bought 5 years ago!

DO I take it then that as well as a wheel change, every time you use the carbon wheels, you change the brake pads?

I know the carbon wheels do require special pads, but if you have only one race bike, are there any pads that will work fine on both carbon and aluminium rims?

I'm considering buying a pair of Bora wheels too, but ar$ing about every time to swap brakes would drive me mad.

James_London

With Boras or Hyperons I'd use the Campag carbon pads or SwissStop Yellows (or the Lightweight branded SwissStop carbon pads which are very nearly the same compound but black rather than yellow). I've not had brown blocks supplied with either set of the Campag carbon wheels I've bought (with Campag freehub and therefore blocks).

You must have had to do a fair bit of fiddling to get the Shimano pads into Record calipers and personally I wouldn't risk losing a pad whilst riding. Unilkely as it may seem, I have seen it happen to riding buddies - at the top of a 500m hill which wasn't ideal.

James_London

louismichaels wrote:

I don't know much about carbon rims, apart from that I'm not rich enough and I'm envious!
If pads are carbon specific, then it probably doesn't matter whether it's Campag or Shimano.

The pad compound is carbon specific and the block shape is also specific to the brake caliper it needs to fit into (Shimano/SRAM or (recent) Campagnolo broadly).

James_London

Wheelspinner wrote:

DO I take it then that as well as a wheel change, every time you use the carbon wheels, you change the brake pads?

Yes. Using pads that have been on alloy rims will mean the small alloy shards embedded in the pads eat away the brake track on your carbon rims. The compounds are also different and so you won't have optimal braking on both alloy and carbon with the same compound.

Changing pads is a 5 minute job anyhow so if you're changing wheels it's not much additional hassle.

Monty Dog

Yes, I have a spare set of holders and pads that I only use with my carbon wheels - it only takes a few minutes and besides, I need to adjust pad height as it is different for clinchers vs tubs. Metal shards / grit gets embedded in pads from normal use and would wear a carbon rim in no time.

louismichaels

James_London wrote:

louismichaels wrote:

I don't know much about carbon rims, apart from that I'm not rich enough and I'm envious!
If pads are carbon specific, then it probably doesn't matter whether it's Campag or Shimano.

The pad compound is carbon specific and the block shape is also specific to the brake caliper it needs to fit into (Shimano/SRAM or (recent) Campagnolo broadly).

Indeed.
What I meant was both Shimano and Campag carbon specific pads can be used on a carbon rim.
It is unwise (and unsafe) to try to fit a Campag brake block into a Shimano shoe and vice versa. Apologies for the ambiguity.

on-yer-bike

Yes you change the shoes and pads when you change wheels. I couldn't find Campy shoes so I got a set of black BBB from Parker for my alu wheels. I'm now wondering if I should leave the Shimano blocks in and use them or change to the Campag pads that I now have.