Bicycle Mechanics - Brake Pads

I know. Not a real glamorous subject.

I built my son a no holds barred serious BMX bike. But these "top of the line" Odysey Evolver U-brakes don't stop the thing.

Stock 2BY4 pads just slide on the chromed Araya RBJ1 rim. The levers are Odysee Modulevers with brand new Odysey cables & Gyro3.

I've heard they're even worse on anodized black aluminum rims. I can't imagind how they could be worse than this. I have sanded the pads. Aligned them with & without toe. Cleaned the rim with Simple Green (helped for 30 seconds). I even went so far as to swap out a pair of Siesta Hombres to see if that made a difference. Same pathetic results.

I've heard that kids are known to use ketchup on their brakes to make them work. This is absurd. Are these U-Brakes really this bad? If so, why are we using them?

The Evolvers are mounted under the seat stays which puts them out of harms way, but creates a serious mechanical disadvantage.

I'm wondering if there are any softer pads out there that might stick better. Koolstop Reds still around maybe?

If pads don't solve this issue maybe a V-Brake is the only solution?

Thanks in advance.

Steve

V brakes wont work; the mounts are in the wrong place, and they're not compatible with the levers or Gyro.

As for the pads, I use Kool Stop grey/salmon and they work fine (I have the same setup but with Araya Super 7x rims). Any Kool Stop pad should be fine, but grey/salmon are held in very high opinion.

Kool Stops are the way to go- either the dual compound or all salmon should do the trick. You may also want to run some emery paper on the rims to break the surface of the chrome just slightly. The problem with chrome is that it is too smooth to build up an appreciable amount of friction against the pads. Good luck!!!

DEMON

as for pads I would go with demon on this one. Give Koolstops (http://www.koolstop.com/) a try.

:beer:

On some of my customers bikes I have put red kool stops coupled with U brakes and they work well with chrome or black rims. You can also try roughing up the sidewall with light grit wet/dry sandpaper this works good as well.

I'll try these suggestions. Starting with pads. I saw on the provided link (Thanks!) that "Phat Padd" is the only one specifically reommended for use on 990 style U-brakes. Is this the one we're after? In salmon.

Thanks for the help!

U could get disc brakes and a conversion kit. Check this site out. They are working on a bmx bike with disc brakes now. CHECK IT OUT http://www.therapycomponents.com/BRAKETHERAPY.htm

That's pretty cool. I just sent them an email. I like that.