RockiesDad

Looking for new road pads and was wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a brand or vendor who has pads that are pretty good? TRP, Shimano, KoolStop, SwissStop are the major players but was wondering about other brands out there. Or should I stick with known brands due to brakes being a safety concern? Just wondering...

DrIsotope

I used these basically no-name, 4-pairs-for-$16 pads for around 10,000 miles-- and didn't even wear them out, I changed calipers, so they're still in use on the back-up bike. Absolutely no issues. I've found no remarkable differences between any of the brands I've used, regardless of brand. Some are a little quieter, some are a little more dusty, but they all work about the same. Nothing wrong with the cheap ones.

HerrKaLeun

they say they are "semi metallic". Do they squeal when wet?
reason I'm asking is I had similar generic semi-metallic pads, which were fine. but whenever it was wet my brakes sounded like a train braking until the water dried off. therefore I went back to resin pads. So I'm wondering if i could try these or if they will have the same issue?

fietsbob

what comes in the OEM factory pick = generic After market its your choice ...

want to offer specifics?

u235

I have several no name from eBay in China, like $2/pair. They worked great until they did not. Normal and spirited riding they were perfectly fine. One steep down hill with an abrupt emergency stop and they were shot. Burnt and useless after that. I was able to sand them down and try again but never good after that. Entry level Shimano seem to be a great value.

taz777

I've used a company called Uberbike for replacement disc brake pads:

https://www.uberbikecomponents.com/c...isc-Brake-Pads

Great value and great quality. Their Race-Matrix pads are my preferred ones. They're based in the UK, so I'm not sure how convenient they'll be for you, but they do deliver outside of the UK.

dsaul

I like the kevlar pads from this company. https://www.discobrakes.com/

They greatly improved the performance of the SRAM hydro disc brakes on my gravel bike. The Kevlar compound is similar to a resin pad, but with longer life.

DrIsotope

I don't know if it's unique to IceTechs, but my brakes honk like an angry goose when wet. I don't mind, actually. But not any squeaking/squealing during my use.

My current pads will occasionally "chitter" a little, like the sound of a small bird chirping. I think this probably has more to do with the fact that the rotors have over 18,000 miles on them than it does with pad composition.

Bigbus

I've found the cheap resin pads to be much more quiet than semi-metallic. Won't use anything else in the future. My mistake was trying all kinds of disc's before figuring out it was the pads that made the noise...

NoWhammies

@DrIsotope I have IceTech rotors on my bike and the make TONS of noise when wet. When dry they are quiet, but man. Add a bit of water and you can hear my stopping from blocks away.

I'm impressed on the mileage on those rotors. I replaced my front rotor with approx 8,000kms. Mind I'm doing a lot of downhill descents and I'm on the brakes like a granny. But I'm ok with that.

But its me 

I tried generic pads from an Amazon vendor (Gekors), but was not impressed. The power was poor and the pad thickness appeared (not measured, mind you) variable from pad to pad. After trying to bed them in and a few weeks of riding they were tossed. Stopping distance was worse than the SwissStop pads the Gekors replaced. My safety is worth the not major cost difference, so I have switched to SwissStop E series, which are organic pads. Braking performance is fine with the E series. As others have noted, organic pads are generally less expensive than rotors, so another benefit.

MikeyMK

Best pads I've had in my Deore/Zee calipers are no-name pads. Dunno who they're made by, obviously, but they're painted gold.

downhillmaster

Seriously?
You are only referencing ‘pretty good’ and already named four pretty good(to great)brands but you are looking for something different?
On an already low priced safety related item.
Are you that bored?
Everything that is silly about online forums in a nutshell 🙄

Brocephus

What's the word 'round here on Trucker Co. pads? I'd read good stuff about them, and nearly everyone but the OP in this thread said they like them......
https://forums.mtbr.com/brake-time/t...do-941748.html

veganbikes

I never understand going super cheap on already low cost items. Go expensive on this stuff and get better braking performance and you still won't spend that much. I like SwissStop personally and have been running their rim brake pads for two years now and the disc brake pads for about a year and they are fantastic. Great stopping power at not a whole lot extra cost and they seem to last a while.