Pad upgrade

The secret rider

Have these brakes on my bike they are only basic brakes but i need a replacement pad ideally something that works better than whats in there from the factory.

Can anyone recommend one.

Tektro R312

http://www.primeauvelo.com/media/catalo ... 025_1_.jpg

Matthewfalle

Expect the standard replies - Swisstop, Kool Stop (salmon or salmon and black), Shimano, probably a couple of others.

I use Swisstop Yellow and black Prince on carbon rims with no problems, used to use Kool Stop salmon and salmon/black on Ali rims all year round with no problems and have used Dura Ace and Ultegra pads without dying for years.

Bizarrely, the best Ali pads I ever bought were a set of £5 Clarkes ones from CRC - I've just bought some more but haven't used them yet.

Best to do a search on here to see what's what - fairly common question.

Grill

Swissstop Green or BXP.

The secret rider

I did a search thanks guy but read something about the better pads needing to be inserts or something with this style brake ?

Hoping for a simple pad change

freestyle_gus

Matthewfalle wrote:

Expect the standard replies - Swisstop, Kool Stop (salmon or salmon and black), Shimano, probably a couple of others.

I use Swisstop Yellow and black Prince on carbon rims with no problems, used to use Kool Stop salmon and salmon/black on Ali rims all year round with no problems and have used Dura Ace and Ultegra pads without dying for years.

Bizarrely, the best Ali pads I ever bought were a set of £5 Clarkes ones from CRC - I've just bought some more but haven't used them yet.

Best to do a search on here to see what's what - fairly common question.

Agreed, the triple compound Clarkes seem like a bargain, but they are VERY abrasive, so I'd steer well clear... see previous post.

viewtopic.php?f=40013&t=13012156

Very happy now on the Kool Stop Salmon

The secret rider

Thanks for the links. They certainly look abrasive !

I did not think / or could not find a kool stop pad that fitted direct without a back plate thing.

Sorry for simple questions new to all this.

northpole

Swissstop green pads work well for me on aluminium rims. No other fittings needed to make them fit.

Peter

schlepcycling

northpole wrote:

Swissstop green pads work well for me on aluminium rims. No other fittings needed to make them fit.

Peter

+1
I upgraded my stock Shimano pads to these and they're much better in my opinion.

IanRCarter

You can get cheap holders for inserts. One of the cheapest would be the Lifeline ones from Wiggle, or Clarks from CRC. The pads on the Lifeline ones seem quite hard, so I swapped them straight out for the Koolstop Salmon pads. Pads on the Clarks are ok, but need regular cleaning, they pick up a lot more muck off the rim than other pads I've used and so become inefficient far too quickly. They also become embedded with small metal fragments off the rim, which makes a horrible sound when braking and surely can't be good for the brake track!

My advice is get a set of the holders, keep the pads as spares and go for either Koolstop salmon or Swisstop green pads. I purchased Swisstop green recently, they're great and come in a pack of four, so they're not quite as expensive as they first appear. I think I paid about £16, click and collect from Halfords with 10% BC discount.

The secret rider

northpole wrote:

Swissstop green pads work well for me on aluminium rims. No other fittings needed to make them fit.

Peter

OK maybe i am being dumb !

These are the pads you say I should buy

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/swissstop-flash ... ance-pads/

But this is my brakes . . see how they have a threaded bar in the pad and a nut the other end. If i buy these how do i fit them ?

http://www.primeauvelo.com/media/catalo ... 025_1_.jpg

sorry for such basic questions.

freestyle_gus

The secret rider wrote:

northpole wrote:

Swissstop green pads work well for me on aluminium rims. No other fittings needed to make them fit.

Peter

OK maybe i am being dumb !

These are the pads you say I should buy

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/swissstop-flash ... ance-pads/

But this is my brakes . . see how they have a threaded bar in the pad and a nut the other end. If i buy these how do i fit them ?

http://www.primeauvelo.com/media/catalo ... 025_1_.jpg

sorry for such basic questions.

The full flash pro includes the shoes too.
http://m.evanscycles.com/products/swiss ... r-ec064855

You just need to remove the old all in one pads replace with these and toe them in a bit.

k1875

Get cheap shoes and good pads. I've just replaced the stock (all in one) pads from a tiagra brakeset with clarks shoes and pads. Braking now makes a horrible noise, as noted above, and is surely ruining my rims. Will be slotting something better in very shortly, but the shoes seem fine ~ no give when applying the brakes.

However, before fitting i tried loosening the grub bolt with two allen keys of .5mm difference and neither seem to fit. Hoping a bit of weather will help.

The secret rider

ok cheers

Matthewfalle

The Clarks ones I had weren't triple compound - just plain black ones I used for a 300k training weekend in the persisting rain en France. No idea what the triple compound jobs are like.

The secret rider

Ok can someone point me in the direction of some 'OK' back plate things, then i can order just the pads.

Plates ideally black, all the ones i can find that are not silly money are white or yellow :-0

Matthewfalle

Clarks jobs from CRC - £4.99 the pair, black, free postage. Or just paint what you can get cheapest with Airfix gloss black.

I think CRC may even have cheaper.

Pigtail

I'd forget all that and buy new brake calipers with holders. For example you can get a pair of these for £40
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shim ... -prod50502

Another £10 would get you 5800s

I had Tiagra 9 speed, a fairly decent gear set but the brakes didn't have holders. I struggled with them and found a huge difference by upgrading to 105s with stock pads. People claim it is all about the pad, but better calipers with holders also have an impact.

The secret rider

Pigtail wrote:

I'd forget all that and buy new brake calipers with holders. For example you can get a pair of these for £40
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shim ... -prod50502

Another £10 would get you 5800s

I had Tiagra 9 speed, a fairly decent gear set but the brakes didn't have holders. I struggled with them and found a huge difference by upgrading to 105s with stock pads. People claim it is all about the pad, but better calipers with holders also have an impact.

This would be nice if i had the money but sadly i don't but its a good point you make. One i had not considered. Maybe some will come up for sale on here soon ? I will keep an eye out.

In the mean time picked up some pads swisstop green pro X 4 just need shoes now.