SwissStop Brake pads

markwb79

I am just about to buy some of the SwissStop Green High Performance pads, but wanted to check that they are ok on my Dura-Ace C24's wheels?

The spec says the rims are Alu/Carbon, and the pads are for use on alu rims?

Thanks
Mark

sheffsimon

Braking surface is ally, green pads are for ally, so all is good.

Great pads, I have them on my winter bike, good stoppers

markwb79

on your winter bike????

Whats on your good bike then?

Monty Dog

Ridiculously expensive for what they are

markwb79

are they?

desweller

Terrifyingly expensive, but mine came already fitted on a 2nd hand pair of calipers, otherwise I would never have bought them. They are great at stopping the bike though; knock the spots off the stock Shimano blocks.

sheffsimon

Markwb79 wrote:

on your winter bike????

Whats on your good bike then?

Campag, cos they came with the Campag calipers.

The green pads are good in wet weather, which we have a bit of in the winter, which is the reason for fitting them.

WRT comments about being ridiculously expensive for what they are - I could apply the same comment to any number of bike components if I totted up the actual cost of the materials etc, but lifes too short to worry about that sh1te.

nickwill

Re price :Swisstop Green about £25 for 4 pads., Dura Ace pads about £18 for 4. Prices at Chain Reaction.
The difference in the stopping power and control beween the two is massive. If you go through 3 sets in a summer (and that's a lot of miles), you are looking at £21 . I would have thought that that was good value for the increased safety and confidence gained from knowing that you have complete control on steep and long descents.

cornerblock

Monty Dog wrote:

Ridiculously expensive for what they are

What? Bits that prevent you crashing into things!

Evil Laugh

That's what I use on my c24 wheels and the performance is fantastic.

I got my sets (4 pads) for a tenner each. So I'd say they were ridiculously cheap.

I don't get why people say they're so expensive, they're normally only about £18 for a set of 4 if you shop around. Do people think there's only 2 in a pack or something? Seem only slightly more than the competition, if at all.

P_Tucker

Nickwill wrote:

Re price :Swisstop Green about £25 for 4 pads., Dura Ace pads about £18 for 4. Prices at Chain Reaction.
The difference in the stopping power and control beween the two is massive. If you go through 3 sets in a summer (and that's a lot of miles), you are looking at £21 . I would have thought that that was good value for the increased safety and confidence gained from knowing that you have complete control on steep and long descents.

I've never tried them, but HOW can there be a difference in stopping power, given that one can easily put oneself over the bars on even the cheapest, crappiest pads?

nickwill

P_Tucker wrote:

Nickwill wrote:

Re price :Swisstop Green about £25 for 4 pads., Dura Ace pads about £18 for 4. Prices at Chain Reaction.
The difference in the stopping power and control beween the two is massive. If you go through 3 sets in a summer (and that's a lot of miles), you are looking at £21 . I would have thought that that was good value for the increased safety and confidence gained from knowing that you have complete control on steep and long descents.

I've never tried them, but HOW can there be a difference in stopping power, given that one can easily put oneself over the bars on even the cheapest, crappiest pads?

Like good brakes on a car, good brakes on a bike are progressive. When used properly the power can be steadily applied and the brakes can exert a great deal of control. Cheap hard brake pads tend to be on or off, better ones impart 'feel' to the brakes.

desweller

P_Tucker wrote:

Nickwill wrote:

Re price :Swisstop Green about £25 for 4 pads., Dura Ace pads about £18 for 4. Prices at Chain Reaction.
The difference in the stopping power and control beween the two is massive. If you go through 3 sets in a summer (and that's a lot of miles), you are looking at £21 . I would have thought that that was good value for the increased safety and confidence gained from knowing that you have complete control on steep and long descents.

I've never tried them, but HOW can there be a difference in stopping power, given that one can easily put oneself over the bars on even the cheapest, crappiest pads?

See, now the Shimano pads that came with my bicycle couldn't do that (not if I was in the drops and had my ar5e hanging over the back wheel). So for me there was a difference.

However, in line with your statement, the el-cheapo V-brake blocks I bought for my hybrid were also vastly better than the stock pads that came with the brakes...

P_Tucker

Nickwill wrote:

P_Tucker wrote:

Nickwill wrote:

Re price :Swisstop Green about £25 for 4 pads., Dura Ace pads about £18 for 4. Prices at Chain Reaction.
The difference in the stopping power and control beween the two is massive. If you go through 3 sets in a summer (and that's a lot of miles), you are looking at £21 . I would have thought that that was good value for the increased safety and confidence gained from knowing that you have complete control on steep and long descents.

I've never tried them, but HOW can there be a difference in stopping power, given that one can easily put oneself over the bars on even the cheapest, crappiest pads?

Like good brakes on a car, good brakes on a bike are progressive. When used properly the power can be steadily applied and the brakes can exert a great deal of control. Cheap hard brake pads tend to be on or off, better ones impart 'feel' to the brakes.

That's a different argument. I was referring specifically to stopping power - as I stated.

Regardless, it must be me, but I find I can control my braking to my satisfaction with £5 pads, let alone the DA ones on my race bike. But like I say, I've not tried the swissstops; I must admit I'm tempted just to see what I might be missing.

nickwill

No, it isn't a different argument!
Cheaper pads lock up because as I said, they are either on or off ,so you can't use the full braking power. Better pads allow you to apply the brakes in such a way that you can stop in a much shorter time and can scrub the speed off much more quickly.

I briefly had a pair of cheap BBB pads on my bike and I was getting dropped on descents because I didn't feel able to commit myself into corners in the same way. I also had a couple of touch and go moments on down hill junctions when I nearly didn't stop on time. A return to the Swisstop pads felt almost like getting a new bike because full control was re-established.

I suppose it depends on how and where you ride, but I regard them as the most cost effective upgrade you can make to a bike! If you haven't tried them I suggest you give them a go.

APIII

Cheapo pads may be prone to fade under continuous breaking

Ron Stuart

Check out these... http://www.dotbike.com/p/7584 image 6 of 6 the BBS-23T

nickwill

Ron Stuart wrote:

Check out these... http://www.dotbike.com/p/7584 image 6 of 6 the BBS-23T

These are the blocks i mentioned previously. They are very poor. They seem like quite a hard compound they don't stop you very effectively and they leave your rims coated in grey sludge. I'm afraid you get what you pay for!

John.T

I went down Rosedale Chimney with BBB blocks. It was absolutely lethal. They were OK until they warmed up a bit. They were then either off or locking up. I binned them as soon as I got home. I now use Koolstop Salmon on my bikes. They work very well on all except the rims on my Madone 5.2 which do not modulate so well (no idea why). Koolstop Black work fine on that. They cost around £7 a pair so are not expensive.

Ron Stuart

Nickwill wrote:

Ron Stuart wrote:

Check out these... http://www.dotbike.com/p/7584 image 6 of 6 the BBS-23T

These are the blocks i mentioned previously. They are very poor. They seem like quite a hard compound they don't stop you very effectively and they leave your rims coated in grey sludge. I'm afraid you get what you pay for!

Not a compound here but three compounds and you get grey sludge from Dura Ace cartridges.
Thinks maybe you are referring to another type of BBB cartridge?

Check out this review.... http://road.cc/content/review/12663-bbb ... brake-pads

Dura Ace similar price... http://www.parker-international.co.uk/1 ... Cartridges

and squelled like made on fast descents for me.

Ron Stuart

John.T wrote:

I went down Rosedale Chimney with BBB blocks. It was absolutely lethal. They were OK until they warmed up a bit. They were then either off or locking up. I binned them as soon as I got home. I now use Koolstop Salmon on my bikes. They work very well on all except the rims on my Madone 5.2 which do not modulate so well (no idea why). Koolstop Black work fine on that. They cost around £7 a pair so are not expensive.

BBB do many versions of cartridge are you sure we are talking about the same thing?

nickwill

Apologies Ron, serves me right for not looking at the link carefully enough! :oops:

Scrumple

Brakes will squeal if you don't toe them in.....

Something I had no idea about at first!!

Ron Stuart

Scrumple wrote:

Brakes will squeal if you don't toe them in.....

Something I had no idea about at first!!

This will work with new cartridges but after a while with wear more on the trailing edge(front) the toe-in disappears because the trailing edge wears down stlightly quicker than the rest of the block and once again becomes parallel to rim. Often the squeal doesn't return but with some rim/compound interfaces it does and may only be apparent when the rim heats up (hot day long hairpin descents).
Do not try and bend caliper inwards at trailing edge this once was a trick with steel calipers but don't try on alloy!
Some folk resort to filling the block down to create a wedge this is very hit and miss and may well produce hollows etc and reduce the braking surface area.
In my experience just a change of cartridge type did the trick and I continued using the original type on the front as the squeal was just apparent on the rear.

MattJWL

APIII wrote:

Cheapo pads may be prone to fade under continuous breaking

Yes, and when you're on an Apline descent like I was yesterday, it can make for a brown-shorts moment or two...