Brake pads

gingernash

I have Tiagra brakes at the moment and am in need of some new pads. Having had a quick look on Wiggle I am a bit confused about what I need.

Do I just need pad inserts or the pad and aluminum piece too? Any advice on what are the best to get?

Thanks!

Secteur

Just the pad inserts.

I like Salmon KoolStops, but they wear out relatively fast (but I do a lot of braking due to training in a hilly area).

I believe SwissStops come highly reccomended

Bar Shaker

Koolstop blacks or Swisstop Greens are about as good as it gets.

The blacks are designed to be a summer pad but work fine all year round. They are a bit harder than the salmons. These pads are also less abrasive on your rims.

gingernash

Thanks, got some salmons off Wiggle so cheers for help!

Secteur

I noticed a MASSIVE improvement when I fist went from standard black shimano pads to the KoolStop Salmons.

Althouogh the Salmons are wet weather pads, 95% of their use has been in the dry and they perform very well - they just wear out quicker being softer (but should still last me a season, even with all my downhill braking - if you do generally flat runs then they'll last you the year or more, I reckon)

Wrath Rob

Brake pads for rim brakes come in 2 varieties, block with non-replacable pads such as these or blocks with replacable pads such as these.

The advantage over replacable ones is that you just need to undo the allen key holding the pad into the block and then slide the worn pad out, slide new pads in, do up the allen key and then adjust the brake cable tension to suit. If you need to replace the blocks too then you've got to adjust the pad position every time.

My advice is to get the blocks with changeable pads and then when the pads have worn out, get some decent pads such as the Kool Stops