Brake Pad Wear...

Angus Young

What sort of life do pads have? How often are you changing pads and what are the signs that it's time to change?

nicklouse

Months and longer down to hours.

It all depends on conditions and usage.

I have done three pairs in a day before.

Angus Young

What were you doing to go through 3 pairs in a day?

The Rookie

Downhill with uplift and sandy/gritty conditions will do it, especially if running organic pads for better fade characteristics.

Cannock paste did for a mates resin pads (from nearly new to the backplate) in 14 miles the other day while those of us on Kevlar or metal were fine.

UncleMonty

I don't think I'm riding hard enough as mine tend to last years, I probably change my gear cable inners & outers more often then my brake pads.

The Rookie

Depends on your riding. XC riding can mean barely touching your brakes in miles, a day at Antur and they are probably be being actually used for nearly half an hour in total and quite aggressively.

Angus Young

And what are the signs that it's time to change pads? Does braking power drop, do they squeal? Something else? My concern is, if you leave it too long do you go through to the metal and score your discs?

I take it, with some of the rates of wear mentioned, that people are carrying spare pads with them on rides. Any recommendations for pads for Deore brakes?

Chunkers1980

Yes if it's a big ride/day out pads are carried/taken. You also get done buying in an emergency.

I can't fault any of the SuperStar range of pads.

Just inspect them regularly. I use them till they're almost non existent under normal use. But if I was going for a weekend away I might replace or just ensure I have a spare set although trail side changes are no good really.

Usually the separator rubs and you hear it (a metal on metal sound which doesn't sound right) if you push them right to the end. It once was mangled but I like to eeek out every last drop. For £5ish that's a bit silly though.

Angus Young

Thanks. Just checked out the Superstar offerings. Some interesting copy accompanying each variation. Seems they all have pros and cons and there's not one type of pad that does it all, one pad to rule them all.

Chunkers1980

I find the Kevlar the best of all worlds. And they are red, although fast brakes are not the best ;-)

nicklouse

Angus Young wrote:

Thanks. Just checked out the Superstar offerings. Some interesting copy accompanying each variation. Seems they all have pros and cons and there's not one type of pad that does it all, one pad to rule them all.

Correct.

Change for different conditions and use and always have a spare set in the camel back.

Angus Young

Chunkers1980 wrote:

I find the Kevlar the best of all worlds. And they are red, although fast brakes are not the best ;-)

I had a quick scan of the user comments and there were a few people complaining that the Kevlars and eaten their rotors or worn to very quickly. Though, to be fair, some of these users seemed to have missed Superstar's caveats in the copy about the Kevlar pads.

Red is good. Yellow would be nice, though, in my case...

nicklouse wrote:

Correct.

Change for different conditions and use and always have a spare set in the camel back.

Never thought about carrying spare pads. In fact, my brakes work so well that I've given them very little thought at all. I shall be carrying some from now on.

bigmitch41

i'm finding the "Gold" sintered Superstar pads pretty good in our recent wintry conditions, decent braking power in the wet,while offering a good wear rate

njee20

I used to use SS Kevlar, but have recently changed back to organic. Slightly cheaper, don't howl when wet, lasting well for me, and actually giving a better feel.

bennett_346

njee20 wrote:

I used to use SS Kevlar, but have recently changed back to organic. Slightly cheaper, don't howl when wet, lasting well for me, and actually giving a better feel.

Ditto, i take the slightly (and it is slightly ime) increased wear over squealing kevlars.

cooldad

I did the same - tried them all and organic work fine in all conditions. Wear a bit quickly when it's truly horrendous, but cheap enough not to matter.

Angus Young

Might try the organics, then. The extra wear probably won't be an issue - with my rather pedestrian riding I doubt I'm asking all that much from my brakes.

The Rookie

A happy user of Kevlar here and no disc wear issues.

njee20

Yes, certainly never heard of wearing discs with Kevlar pads, very odd.

Angus Young

Superstar Organics ordered. Thanks for the input folks.

bazza333

I found the Kelvars always glazed over so I now run SS Organics on the front and SS Sintered on the rear.
Type of use and riding style play a big part so you have to find out what suits you.

njee20

Yes, that was what made me change too - I had several sets glaze. They'd be absolutely dire at the start of a ride, then they'd come to life and be fine, then be dreadful again next time out.

Angus Young

I've just had notice that my organics have been dispatched. I'll pop them in right away to see what they feel like and keep the old ones as spares if there still some life left in them.

Chunkers1980

That's best I find as if you need to change them on the trail/fly it makes it easier as they are somewhat bedded in and have less material so do not need the pistons fully retracted which again makes for an easier job.

Angus Young

I assume changing pads is easy enough? Time for a bit of YouTube, I think...

By the way, what pads am I likely to have in the Deores to start with? I'm assuming they'd not be Kevlar. So would they be organic or sintered? Or something else, perhaps?

Chunkers1980

Yeah. Best with an old set of done pads which I assume you don't have yet? Put them in and use a screw driver as a key/lever to push both pistons right back home. If not using pads use something softer than the pistons as you can easily damage them.

bennett_346

Angus Young wrote:

I assume changing pads is easy enough? Time for a bit of YouTube, I think...

By the way, what pads am I likely to have in the Deores to start with? I'm assuming they'd not be Kevlar. So would they be organic or sintered? Or something else, perhaps?

They most likely came with organic.

Chunkers1980

I believe they are organic.

The Rookie

Usually called resin by Shimano I believe, but organic (fibre) none the less.

Changing pads on Deore's is as easy as it gets.

Angus Young

I guess it makes sense that they'd be the cheapest given that the Deores are not the most expensive of brakes.

I'm amazed at how good they are, though, considering they're a budget(ish) option. The bike arrived late on a Friday night and the first time I rode it was the following morning at BPW. So, I'd not ridden the bike before, not ridden hydraulic discs before and not ridden BPW either. I felt sure something was going to surprise me, I'd grab a bucket full of brakes and be over the bars. I thought I'd be thinking about the brakes all day. Well, there was plenty that surprised me on the trails but not once did the brakes catch me out. It's testament to how good they are that I didn't give them a single thought all day.

Chunkers1980

I think the whole range all come with the same material as OEM.

They all use the same tech - just different materials (for weight) and features. Like for example the fins, ceramic pistons and tool free reach ect