Carbon wheels and pad life?

sigorman85

I have got a set of pro lite carbon clinchers on my new de rosa superking and was wondering what sort of mileage I should get out of them ? Also what about the pads how long do they last? I live in a fairly hilly are in Dorset so have to get on the brakes a lot also I no I shouldn't use these as training wheels but I haven't got another set just yet but it's nice to get used to them and the 50mm deep rim

If I've missed any please let me no

964cup

It will depend on the pad and how soft it is, and on the weather you ride in. For instance I got about 2,500km out of a set of Black Prince Carbons, used on 808s for fast lap work in varied weather around the park - so no big descents, but lots of hard stops from speed and plenty of feathering in the chain gang. Then again I've also got around 2,500km on a set of Enve pads used on 45s for club rides in dry weather in hilly countryside, and those aren't even half-worn.

sigorman85

Ok cheers for the info what they like in the wet? I haven't used them much yet done 80 k max on them

964cup

Depends on the pad and the rim. Enve pads + Enve classic rim = almost completely useless - you end up with sore hands from grabbing the levers so hard, and have to half-wheel the whole time to avoid running into the rider in front if he brakes. Black Prince on (old) 808s not too bad, but hard stop distance roughly triples. Black Prince on DTSwiss RRC, okay-ish (did the piss-wet 2014 RLS100 on these, didn't die) but again quite scary if you need to stop quickly. Yellows on Vision TC24s actually pretty good, but that's in Normandy which is fairly flat and empty, so braking tends to be planned.

I'll happily ride carbon rims if it's damp or drizzly, but I tend to revert to alloy, or better Exalith, or better yet discs if it's pissing down.

sigorman85

Think mine are koolstop pads on bracciano pro-lite 50 wheels

cycleclinic

I had 6000 miles from my last set if campagnolo carbon pads. Rims where not worn and i the wheels where raced alot. Ridden in all weather too. It depends on the pads and rims.

The first set of generic pads i tried evaporated in one ride and creatdd a buring smell.

philbar72

It depends on weather conditions and your style of braking. best all round carbon pads are swiss stop black carbon ones I've found.

Vslowpace

I've found my Campag red pads wore down really quickly, almost in front of my eyes. After 300 - 400km they seemed to have stabilised and now after about 1600km they've not worn down much further.

cycleclinic

It depends on the rim though. I use campag pads with my own rims. Actually the manufacturer supplied something different and quite rubbish. I had to try several and various brown shorts moments before I tried the campag pads. 6000 miles from a set of pads is not something I get even close too on my alloy wheelsets.

With carbon rims there is no best pad. There is the best pad for a particular rim.

sigorman85

Got Swiss stop yellow kings on there they wore quite quickly but have slowed down now definitely a lot better but when I'm on them coming down a hill and have to slow for the hair pin the squeal like a piggy

Devastazione2

philbar72 wrote:

It depends on weather conditions and your style of braking. best all round carbon pads are swiss stop black carbon ones I've found.

+1 on everything. Too many factors to consider. Your body weight is called in too,but generally style of braking makes a big difference. I have 5000 kms on my original black Swiss stops and I'm alfway there even if I'm a heavy rider. But ehi...who needs to brake when you're using carbon rims ? You don't wanna waste your hard earned cash and besides that why brake when braking forces are inexistent ?