Fifty Plus (50+) - new brake pads

I did a search but never came up with what I was looking for.

What is a good set of brakes for a bike with a 6'2" 200-205 pound rider on it that likes speed? At least I like the down hill stuff and you do use your brakes a lot in the mountains.

I don't know if mine are ready to change but there isn't much left on the pads & that is something I don't want to fail me.

I have never had to replace my pads - they are the original that came on my campy brakes 12 to 13 years ago - must have over 15K miles on them.

If you like squealing brakes, get Kool Stops. If you don't, get Avid Pros. bk

I like the Kool Stop salmon colored pads. No squealing from mine and they work well when wet.

There is a lot of buzz lately for Swiss Stop pads.

Another vote for Kool Stops. I use the black ones on my dry weather bike (not the Portland I rode with you last month). They stop well, have good modulation, have never squealed, and don't melt on long descents.
Edit: The black ones don't like the wet, BTW.

I like the Kool Stop salmon colored pads. No squealing from mine and they work well when wet.
+1.

I have these on my commuter. :thumb:

Another vote for Kool Stops. I use the black ones on my dry weather bike (not the Portland I rode with you last month). They stop well, have good modulation, have never squealed, and don't melt on long descents.
Edit: The black ones don't like the wet, BTW.
tsl, you know what kind of rides we do so you know what type of brakes I'm looking for.
Today me & my biking buddy gal went over Carter Lake and down the north side. There was a pretty strong north wind but I was still able to hit 53.4 MPH!!!!:thumb: I don't think that is my highest but close.

Today me & my biking buddy gal went over Carter Lake and down the north side.

Dang! I missed that one. Rode by that road all week and kept wondering what was down there. Have to put it on my list for next time.

The stretch I really liked was up at that reservoir near Masonville. Heading north on the east side of that was a wonderful stretch of big-ring ride.

It really doesn't matter what you use. Nobody uses brakes anymore, they just slow you down. ;)

+1 for Salmon Koolstop.
My mAss is 100 kg and I live in a fairly hilly area. Have the salmon pads on my CrossCheck's cantilevers. also on a Trek 520 and a SMGTe StreetMachine, both with Avid V-brakes.
These pads increase stopping effectivness, especially in wet weather; plus they seem to modulate better. The cantilevers do squeal just a little right after installation, but quiet down after a short while and some back road grit. Plus the salmon pads do seem to wear a little faster than other types, I replace the once per year when i do the springtime tune ups.

If you are worried about brake blocks not doing the job- Change them or modify your braking down the long hills. Going too fast downhill so brake hard and bring the speed well down. If that braking is going to take some time- You should have braked earlier. Don't think you can overheat blocks- but it is possible to overheat rims. Happens occasionally on Tandems and an overheated rim has a chance of failure or heating the tube and tyre, hence increasing pressure and causing it to come off the rim.

I still have the original blocks on my road bikes except the OCR where they became contaminated with WD40 when they got sprayed with it once. I still use the OE shimano blocks and yet to have a problem.

I use KoolStop salmons exclusively. Yes, they do squeal as they wear, but this can actually be to one's advantage. Alternatively, I suppose you could keep increasing the toe-in as the pads wear.

I have Kool Stop salmons on my vintage ride but recently switched out brand new Ultegra pads (on my Madone) in favor of new favorite-Swiss Stop. I am using the green compd. Used it on the Civil War century which had approx 8,000' of cumulative climbing and it gave me better modulation and sheer stopping power than the Shimano pads.