Brake pads for carbon & alu rims

GF22

I was wondering if someone could help me?

Are there a set of brake pads that will work on both carbon and aluminium rims equally (or close to equally) well?

I have vague recollections that Swisstop may do a set but cannot seem to find this on their website, but I suspect I am goind mad as I think they require completely different compounds!!

Any help would be much appreciated.

Gavin

Yossie

Not really - carbon pads will work on ali rims but pretty gash - they will stop you but eventually.

Ali pads will work on carbon rims but pretty gash - will stop you eventually and squeal lots while doing it and will jazz up your rims as the compound is too hard.

Best bet is to do what I do - one set of pads and shoes for carbon, one set for ali - two minute job to change the wheels, 2 minute job to change the shoes as a whole: just mark with coloured dots on the outside of the shoes which one goes where (ie front left, rear left, etc) to maintain wear patterns.

For the spare pair of shoes, just buy/borrow/steal the cheapest ones you can find, throw the rubbish pads into next door's garden, fit decent pads and off you go.

Swissstop yellow for carbon, Koolstop Salmon/Black for ali.

HTH

Y

TommyEss

The other issue is that pads used on an aluminium rim will pick up small metal filings - which you would then force into yor carbon rims. It only takes a couple of minutes to loosen off the retaining screw and change pads, for the peace of mind and increased braking performance, I'd be swapping with the wheels.

amaferanga

Never use pads that have been used on alu rims on carbon rims.

Many people use standard pads on carbon rims though - the dura ace ones are often recommended (I do mean regular pads - not the carbon-specific dura ace ones). But these pads never get used on alu rims as well.

I swap pads over through the summer with alu rims for training and carbon for racing. I swap out the pads themselves, not the pads + shoes and it only takes a couple of minutes.

Monty Dog

If running clinchers for training and tubs for training, you need to readjust the pad height anyway - I have an extra set of shoes and pads with carbon pads that I swap over. Bike Fridge on ebay are a good source for cheap brake shoes and the carbon pads are adequate - most carbon-specific pads are pretty rubbish anyway. The quickest way to trash a carbon rim is to use pads with embedded metal shards / grit.

GF22

Thanks for all the advice! I thought I was wrong!!!

Gavin

celbianchi

amaferanga wrote:

Never use pads that have been used on alu rims on carbon rims.

Many people use standard pads on carbon rims though - the dura ace ones are often recommended (I do mean regular pads - not the carbon-specific dura ace ones). But these pads never get used on alu rims as well.

I swap pads over through the summer with alu rims for training and carbon for racing. I swap out the pads themselves, not the pads + shoes and it only takes a couple of minutes.

I disagree - I have used Swiss Stop yellow across my bikes and frequently use alloy rims for training and carbon for racing. I have never had a problem of alloy shards picked up by the yellows in the 4 or 5 years or so I have been doing this.

Also :-
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/produ ... .20.1.html

"SwissStop makes it clear that there's no need to swap out pads from carbon-specific to non if you switch wheels from your carbon race-day gems to your aluminum training set. However, we'd recommend always checking your pads and removing aluminum debris before installing your carbon race-day wheels. Any metal flakes embedded in the pads could be disastrous for your composite rims!"

amaferanga

That's interesting, but I'd probably rather swap over pads than check the pads for metal debris, which is probably as much of a hassle.

celbianchi

Yeah, it maybe pays to err on the side of caution to be honest. I take Swiss Stops claim at face value, but I'd be gutted to guouge the braking surface of some expensive carbon hoops.

Monty Dog

You could always 'dress' a pad in-situ with a file to remove any glaze/metal shards - but with Swisstop charging nearly £10/pad they ain't gonna last very long. £10 will buy a set a regular alloy pads and holders.