Originally Posted by
Pars
On my Campag NR sidepulls, I tried the Koolstop red and black. While both stopped much better than the OEM 20+ yr old pads, I could not get rid of the brake squeal and didn't want to bend the arms. I tried the new production Campag pads (
Velomine) and these stop as well as the Koolstops in my experience, and don't squeal, so are what I am using. I didn't try these in wet conditions on severe downhill however, so your experiences may differ.
On my Trek 500 with Tektro brakes, I run the Koolstop Cross pads/holders, which are a triple compound of red, gray and black. These work very well, but might not trip your vintage trigger. They use Dura Ace type pad.
BITD, I always preferred the genuine Campagnolo pads on NR brakes also. They were kind of soft, but gave the best feedback and control. A few people used to use the red Scott-Mathauser campy replacement pads, and they tended to squeak then too.
I generally don't see a point to using the red pads unless you live in a rainy area like the PNW. Black ones stop close to the same, and you don't have to keep chasing after them to de-squeak them every few weeks. If it happens to be wet, squeeze harder. If pads are squealing, they're not fully working. That said I have the dual compound pads on two of my bikes. Best of both worlds. Not available for MAFAC holders.
BTW, the pithy saying I always heard when someone started rattling on about their brakes was: "Brakes only slow you down."