ctak

What do you like, dislike and/or would like to try? Might be helpful to know the make/model of your wheelset and whether most of your rides are in hilly or flat areas.

1) Mavic Cosmic Carbone 40s
2) Hilly
3) Like: Swiss Stop FlashPro Black Prince. Excellent stopping power in the dry. They aren't exactly inexpensive and I only get about 400 miles per rear pair (600 for the front), at which point I replace them.
4) Dislike: Kool Stop Dura-Type carbon. These wear about 2x faster for me than the BP pads. Dura-Type 2 pads are supposed to be thicker, but haven't tried them.
5) Would like to try: Swiss Stop Yellow King or FlashPro Yellow. I've heard these last longer than BP pads but leave yellow residue and utilize an older compound with reduced stopping power.

SoSmellyAir

I recall other BF posts also stating that Yellow King has less stopping power than Black Prince, which is contradicted by the information on SwissStop's own website (Rim Brake Pads | SwissStop)

Yellow King: Stopping Power 9; Longevity 8; Modulation 7 (FlashPro Yellow King | SwissStop)
Black Prince: Stopping Power 8; Longevity 7; Modulation 9 (FlashPro Black Prince | SwissStop)

So perhaps the perception of increased stopping power may be due to (a) placebo effect, (b) new brake pads, or (c) better modulation so increased braking confidence?

I have just bought a set of Mavic Cosmic 40 SLR which comes with black brake pads for carbon wheels, which may be SwissStop Black Prince if the rumors to that effect can be believed.

I have also ordered a set of Yellow King pads because I heard rim brake pads for carbon wheels wear out much faster than Shimano R55C4 pads on alloy wheels.

ctak

I'll be curious to hear which pads you end up liking with your new wheels. What I've used doesn't last long, but pretty much every ride in my hood involves at least 3k ft of climbing. I've been happy with the black prince pads, just wish they weren't so $$$. If the yellows last somewhere in the vicinity of 1k miles in hilly conditions, I'd be fine with the colorful residue.

SoSmellyAir

I live in an area which I used to think was pretty much flat until I bought a bike. I have two "go to" rides in my neighborhood: (1) a 26 mile loop that involves ~ 1,000 ft of elevation gain, and (2) a 36 mile loop that involves ~ 1,500 ft of elevation gain, which I tackle with 50/34 chain rings and a 12-25 cassette. This also means that there are few long challenging descents. So nowhere near as challenging as where you ride.

tempocyclist

Only 400 miles to a set of brake blocks?!?! 😮

I've been using the Black Prince pads for years now. They do the job. Certainly get a LOT more than 400 miles out of them.

yaw

Wait people ride rim brakes in 2022?

GhostRider62

fify

GhostRider62

I like Swissstop Prince black. Most of my rides are 50-70'/mile. I get WAY more than 400 miles off pads on Reynolds and Flo carbon rims....is there a zero missing? 4,000

phrantic09

I like the black prince flash.

SoSmellyAir

So very original.

eduskator

Wait... rim brakes still exist in 2022?

SoSmellyAir

Presumably, unless everyone threw away their rim brake road bikes at the end of 2021.

I have just bought a set of Mavic Cosmic 40 SLR for my rim brake bike. Before this purchase I considered buying a disc brake road bike (instead), and the only Ultegra mechanical one I could find < 18 lbs. was a Canyon Endurace SL, which sold out within a day.

I appreciate that disc brakes provide much better braking force modulation and I have nothing against them. But it is hardly a death wish to ride a rim brake bike with carbon wheels, especially in sunny SoCal.

yaw

No it's certainly not. I get that people with rim brake bikes that do not wish to throw all their bikes and wheels out for something they don't need have good reason to continue in the ecosystem.

It's a genuine sentiment though, even if not original. When I was a kid, every kid soon was on a mountainbike with disc brakes and I vaguely recall rim brakes as being on less desirable or cheap bikes, and the discs were all cool and mighty.

When you then make it to adulthood without looking at bikes for another 15 years or so and discover that 'rim vs disc' is the current hot debate in the road cycling world... well it's kind of like 'wait...'

But call it mostly ignorance because then I understood that there's an aero and weight element to them when it comes to road biking specifically that we didn't care about on those super heavy things as kids. I could have saved so much energy with a few bike optimisations back then! Anyway, so maybe that, with a bit of traditionalism, kept them around.

And I think if it feels right and good for enough people, an industry that should be concerned with what makes fun machines fun for people should keep serving those wants diligently. If that includes coming up with solutions for the carbon brake track then that's a beauty.

cxwrench

It's the laser etched texture on the brake surface...eats brake pads.

caloso

I still have a cache of blue Williams branded pads, which were Reynolds clones. Work great, last a heckuva lot longer than 400 miles.

SoSmellyAir

That's OK. I would rather my $50 brake pads wear out than my $1,600 plain fancy (i.e., not fancy schmancy) CF wheels.

Bike Forums - View Single Post - New Wheelset Thoughts

MinnMan

Black Prince

beeballman

I use the Black Prince pads because that is what Roval says to use on their carbon wheels. I question the 400/600 mile replacement of these. I have 3500 miles on the original pads, I just was in the shop for new tires and the brake pads still our fine, I have not had to replace them yet. Wondering why you would need to replace them at 400/600 miles?

ctak

I think it is a combination of the textured brake surface of the Mavics and fact that I average over 20k ft of climbing per week with aggressive descending. According to my Strava, this year I've put in 2,560 miles with 182k ft of elevation. Just bought a Canyon Aeroad disc so I'll be training mostly on that going forward and save my weight-weenie-approved rim brake bike for PR attempts.

jaxgtr

Black Prince

tempocyclist

My rim braked Canyon Aeroad has done ~200,000 feet of elevation gain (and loss) on the same brake blocks! 😮 That's spread over ~4000 mostly dry miles though. The DT Swiss carbon wheels have a super smooth braking service so that probably helps pad life (no so much stopping in a hurry). I should probably check the brake pads are still ok. Adding that to the weekend job list!

You'll love the disc brake version. Top bike.

ctak

Thanks man. To your point, I think my pad issues have mostly been a function of the textured Mavic rims. Excellent stopping power and modulation, but even the black prince wears down fast for me. So I guess its a trade off.

Re: Canyon, I couldn't tell a difference between the SL and SLX (90s test at 600w) frameset as far as bb stiffness/flex, so went with a '19 SL (which has the same fork as the SLX). Since then it seems Canyon has changed things up a bit. It performed well on today's century test ride and descending was nothing short of confidence inspiring.

tFUnK

Limited experience here but I've been happy with Reynolds Cryo Blue pads.

SoSmellyAir

Does anyone at all like SwissStop Yellow Kings? Why or why not?

Sy Reene

No mention yet either of the Campy red pads.. no takers?