Mavic Exalith - Brake pad wear!

Bullet1
Bullet1 Posts: 161
edited June 2018 in Road general
Just had some new Mavic wheels with the Exalith brake track.
Only had the wheels a week and taken the bike to France - 2 descents of the Folclaz and already the pads are pretty much down to the limit.
I'm 100kg so take some stopping but the wear seems a little excessive!
Anyone else had this problem - does the second lot last longer??
Just ordered some more from Evans with international shipping - until then looks like I'm riding on the flats!
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Comments

  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 16,556
    i got some a few years ago, the initial wear was ferocious, but then eased off as the pads coated and/or smoothed the brake track a bit
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • cgfw201
    cgfw201 Posts: 674
    Just resurfacing this...

    Got a new pair of Ksyrium Exalith wheels last week. Have done 600km, all on the flat and my brand new Exalith Brake Pads now look like this:

    mavic.png

    Is this normal? I'm off to the Pyrenees next week, will need to take about 4 sets of spare pads if this is normal.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,271
    ... maybe I should rethink those Open PRO Exalith I was thinking of buying next year :-(
    left the forum March 2023
  • lostboysaint
    lostboysaint Posts: 4,250
    Will work well with discs!
    Trail fun - Transition Bandit
    Road - Wilier Izoard Centaur/Cube Agree C62 Disc
    Allround - Cotic Solaris
  • fenix
    fenix Posts: 5,437
    Pal got them for the Marmotte - yes brake wear is a lot to begin with but it does ease off.
  • svetty
    svetty Posts: 1,904
    Pad wear indicates high levels of friction aka stopping power. If the wear rate declines after a few weeks this suggests less friction and thus implies reduced braking power.....
    FFS! Harden up and grow a pair :D
  • charlie_potatoes
    charlie_potatoes Posts: 1,921
    Mine have done a few thousand miles including mountain trips and they are still like new. I think they'll probably outlive the wheels. I'm a lot less than 100kg though.
    "You really think you can burn off sugar with exercise?" downhill paul
  • sloppyschleckonds
    sloppyschleckonds Posts: 8,019
    Stop breaking so much.

    And lose some weight.
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • bmxboy10
    bmxboy10 Posts: 1,958
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    ... maybe I should rethink those Open PRO Exalith I was thinking of buying next year :-(
    they are worth it just for the looks and the noise :lol:
  • norvernrob
    norvernrob Posts: 1,447
    Not the same wheels, but when I bought my Fulcrum Racing Zero Nite with similar coating I killed the first set of pads within 150 miles, and I'm ~70kg and not worried on descents. The second set lasted a lot longer, how much longer I'm not sure as I'm still on them ~700 miles later.
  • darkhairedlord
    darkhairedlord Posts: 7,180
    Better the pad than the rim
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,803
    Charlie Potatoes wrote:
    Mine have done a few thousand miles including mountain trips and they are still like new. I think they'll probably outlive the wheels. I'm a lot less than 100kg though.

    Very much this. Im 63kg, bought my RSYS SLRs late 2013 and I'm only just hitting the limit on the first set of pads. They've done thousands of miles inc trips to the Alps and countless Scottish climbs.
  • 964cup
    964cup Posts: 1,362
    The pads wear in; the second set will last much longer. It also helps to toe them in at the front; this will reduce the Mavic squeal. Remember that Exalith really works, so you can brake much later for corners when descending; it's better for speed, and for the pads, if you brake hard and briefly rather than riding the brakes. The rims also appear to last forever; I have 2 pairs, a set of R-SYS SLRs and a set of Cosmic Carbones, and neither is showing any rim wear despite 000s of KM. The SLRs have done a week in the Alps and LBL amongst other things and remain unmarked. I'm 80kg, YMMV.
  • cgfw201
    cgfw201 Posts: 674
    Swapped them out yesterday, 9 days/750km was enough to wear them down to nothing. Normal SwissStops on alu rims lasted 5k-10k km.

    I'm 75kg, and got them toed in after some horrible squealing on first ride.

    Love the stopping power, and the noise they make, just hope the pads last more than a week from now on, which it sounds like they should.

    usnqKEV.jpg
  • philbar72
    philbar72 Posts: 2,229
    Its more about the exalith coating being highly abrasive. My previously indestructible bontrager tyre levers were ripped to shreds by these rims I had with my bike (mavic cosmic exalith).

    they brake really well though!
  • bmxboy10
    bmxboy10 Posts: 1,958
    Picked up what must be a stone chip on my front wheel yesterday and the black finish is ever so slightly scratched. Got me to thinking what is the Exalith? The texture or the black coating?
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,271
    solboy10 wrote:
    Picked up what must be a stone chip on my front wheel yesterday and the black finish is ever so slightly scratched. Got me to thinking what is the Exalith? The texture or the black coating?

    Exalith is the finished product. Ceramic coatings on metal are not new, they are widely used in aerospace, specifically in jet engines. The process of depositing a stable layer of ceramic material (or growing one onto the metal) is not simple and often involves more than one layer and quite advanced processes (does plasma coating sound fancy enough?).

    I have no information on how Mavic coat their rims, but it's not as simple as the classing electrochemically anodised finish you see on most aluminium parts, including some rims (Archetype for one)
    left the forum March 2023
  • bmxboy10
    bmxboy10 Posts: 1,958
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    solboy10 wrote:
    Picked up what must be a stone chip on my front wheel yesterday and the black finish is ever so slightly scratched. Got me to thinking what is the Exalith? The texture or the black coating?

    Exalith is the finished product. Ceramic coatings on metal are not new, they are widely used in aerospace, specifically in jet engines. The process of depositing a stable layer of ceramic material (or growing one onto the metal) is not simple and often involves more than one layer and quite advanced processes (does plasma coating sound fancy enough?).

    I have no information on how Mavic coat their rims, but it's not as simple as the classing electrochemically anodised finish you see on most aluminium parts, including some rims (Archetype for one)

    A guy in GB Cycles said that Mavic send the rims to the UK to have the Exalith finish applied then they go back to Mavic for assembly....
  • keith57
    keith57 Posts: 164
    I have Exalith rims, have done 1000's of Km's on them The pads are still like new! Mine don't seem to wear at all, Did Geneva / Nice 2 weeks ago, still no sign of wear...
    http://www.fachwen.org
    https://www.strava.com/athletes/303457

    Please note: I’ll no longer engage deeply with anonymous forum users :D
  • ogs116
    ogs116 Posts: 6
    Keith57 wrote:
    I have Exalith rims, have done 1000's of Km's on them The pads are still like new! Mine don't seem to wear at all, Did Geneva / Nice 2 weeks ago, still no sign of wear...

    Agree with this - my exalith pads showing very little wear after over 10000km and 3 Etapes - and i brake a lot on mountain descents
  • philbar72
    philbar72 Posts: 2,229
    have a feeling that once bedded in they are a fantastic product. initial wear and squeakiness etc are very high. after that it subsides.
  • Bullet1
    Bullet1 Posts: 161
    SloppySchleckonds wrote:
    Stop breaking so much.

    And lose some weight.

    Blimey - thread resurrected a year on....

    Thanks for the feedback - at 6'8" not got a huge amount to lose but will see what I can do!

    Following my trip to the Alps last year and getting through a full set of pads in the first couple of rides please to say I'm still on the same set of pad since having covered an additional 2,500 miles.
  • cgfw201
    cgfw201 Posts: 674
    100 (flat) kilometres on brand new pads. 900km total on the rims.

    10z0ot0.jpg

    Got one spare set for Pyrenees next week, might go buy about 5 more.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,271
    cgfw201 wrote:
    100 (flat) kilometres on brand new pads. 900km total on the rims.

    10z0ot0.jpg

    Got one spare set for Pyrenees next week, might go buy about 5 more.

    It's not possible to disintegrate a pad like that in 100 km... I am baffled :roll:
    left the forum March 2023
  • philbar72
    philbar72 Posts: 2,229
    unless he rides with the brakes on all the time.
  • cgfw201
    cgfw201 Posts: 674
    philbar72 wrote:
    unless he rides with the brakes on all the time.

    I'm a bit baffled by it too. As mentioned above, i'm 76kg and they are set up right with front toed in slightly. they stop better than any brakes I've had before, but chews through the pads like they're made of jelly baby.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,271
    cgfw201 wrote:
    philbar72 wrote:
    unless he rides with the brakes on all the time.

    I'm a bit baffled by it too. As mentioned above, i'm 76kg and they are set up right with front toed in slightly. they stop better than any brakes I've had before, but chews through the pads like they're made of jelly baby.

    In 100 flat km you will brake what... say 50 times being generous... in fifty brake squeezes you went through 5 mm of pad... I am a bit skeptical here if I have to be honest. You'd get less wear braking on sand paper

    I can show you my near new pads after 4000 km, many of them not flat at all
    left the forum March 2023
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,803
    cgfw201 wrote:
    philbar72 wrote:
    unless he rides with the brakes on all the time.

    I'm a bit baffled by it too. As mentioned above, i'm 76kg and they are set up right with front toed in slightly. they stop better than any brakes I've had before, but chews through the pads like they're made of jelly baby.

    Are you using Exalith pads?
  • cgfw201
    cgfw201 Posts: 674
    thegreatdivide wrote:
    cgfw201 wrote:
    philbar72 wrote:
    unless he rides with the brakes on all the time.

    I'm a bit baffled by it too. As mentioned above, i'm 76kg and they are set up right with front toed in slightly. they stop better than any brakes I've had before, but chews through the pads like they're made of jelly baby.

    Are you using Exalith pads?

    yep
  • feelgoodlost
    feelgoodlost Posts: 313
    cgfw201 wrote:
    thegreatdivide wrote:
    cgfw201 wrote:
    philbar72 wrote:
    unless he rides with the brakes on all the time.

    I'm a bit baffled by it too. As mentioned above, i'm 76kg and they are set up right with front toed in slightly. they stop better than any brakes I've had before, but chews through the pads like they're made of jelly baby.

    Are you using Exalith pads?

    yep

    I had the same issue when I first bought my wheels. I went through about 2 sets on the front before I learnt that it really helps to wind the brake pads back off the rim a touch (so you have more travel in the brake lever) I think I was subconsciously using the brakes more than I thought and it doesn't help to have the pads so close to the rim.

    Also try using a beer mat (the width of one seemed to work for me) behind the fork and toeing in the pads. The squeal doesn't last long if you toe them in correctly.

    I've had the same pads on the front for around 9 months and barely any sign of wear. The rear pads are still the ones that came with the wheels.
    https://www.strava.com/athletes/442763

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